CBC on Wednesday announced 13 new participants for AccessCBC: A CBC Initiative for Creators with a Disability, a national program providing pre-development training, mentorship and financing support for creators with disabilities.
For its fourth edition, AccessCBC will support seven participants across four projects selected for the scripted comedy/drama and kids streams, plus a participant for the podcast stream assigned to the CBC podcast Sickboy, and three unscripted projects from five creators across the country.
CBC is once again collaborating with the Disability Screen Office (DSO) for the fourth iteration of the AccessCBC program. Award-winning writer and performer Ophira Calof returns as a consultant, and Julie Di Cresce, a seasoned development executive with experience in broadcasting and as an independent producer, joins the program as a consultant and mentor for the scripted stream.
AccessCBC also welcomes back Toronto-based production company Neshama Entertainment as an official sponsor for a second consecutive year. With Neshama’s continued support, next year AccessCBC participants will attend the Canadian Media Producers Association’s Prime Time in Ottawa, where they will have the opportunity to network and build community with others in the broadcasting, television and feature film industries, CBC said.
The scripted comedy/drama and kids projects selected and the AccessCBC participants involved are:
- The Co-op (comedy): Adrian Morphy (Toronto) and Nicholas Ewart (Toronto)
- Juvenile (drama): Matt Sadowski (Toronto)
- Hyperspace Hotel (kids): Daniel Share-Strom (Peterborough, Ont.) and Katie Lafferty (Toronto)
- Story Lab (kids): Ebony R. Gooden (Calgary) and Alexandra Hickox (Toronto)
The successful candidate for the podcast stream is Vanessa Leu (Toronto), who will have an opportunity to hone her audio production skills working on Sickboy through chasing, researching and assisting with writing scripts and conducting interviews, helping to create up to four new episodes of the podcast, CBC said.
As part of the unscripted stream, the following three projects from creators and filmmakers working with the CBC Creator Network and the local news team out of CBC Manitoba will be available on CBC platforms in the coming months:
- Getting Around (CBC Creator Network): Summan Kandola, Kevin Wong and Agasha Mutesasira (Vancouver)
- Birding Bros (CBC Creator Network): Sarah Taylor (Edmonton)
- The Forgotten and Invisible (CBC News Manitoba): Alex Lytwyn (Winnipeg)
More information about the participants for the fourth year of Access CBC is available here.
