8th Annual Entertainment Lab
Application Deadline Extended to January 25th, 2026
Virtual Lab Dates: May – September 2026 (Tuesdays from 12 p.m.–2 p.m. Pacific Time, 3 p.m.–5 p.m. Eastern Time)
Since 2019, the Disability Belongs™ Entertainment Lab elevates disabled creatives, focusing on building community, networking, and career advancement.
The 2026 Virtual Entertainment Lab is a five-month program (May – September 2026) where up to 25 Fellows will meet weekly on Tuesday afternoons. In between sessions, Lab Fellows will have time to put the information they are learning into practice.
The Disability Belongs™ Entertainment Lab is for disabled creatives working in development, production and/or post-production, and careers as writers, directors, producers, cinematographers, animators, and other production roles.
During the Lab, Fellows will enjoy:
- Interactive presentations, roundtables, and other workshops with high-level executives and talent from major studios, networks, and production companies
- Informal networking with your cohort and alumni from previous cohorts
- Opportunity to pursue an independent creative pursuit (script, short film) and receive feedback through project workshops and table reads
Since 2019, the Disability Belongs™ Entertainment Lab has been achieving two goals:
- Create an ecosystem of disabled creatives supporting each other by developing and elevating a community of disabled entertainment professionals working behind-the-scenes in television, film, and streaming.
- Connect disabled creatives to studio executives and other decision makers who will provide mentorship leading to higher employment rates among the talent pipeline of alumni. No one should have an excuse that they could not find a disabled writer, director, producer, or any other creative professional.
Lab alumni currently are working at Disney, Netflix, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment, and more.
Disability Belongs™ provides ASL interpreters and captioning for all events, and welcomes other accommodations requests.
For questions pertaining to the Entertainment Lab, please contact Isabella V. at [email protected] or 323-315-5718.
Important Details for Lab Applicants
- Fellows should exhibit leadership skills to complete their own projects.
- A bachelor’s degree is not required.
- Commit attendance for all Lab sessions, with exceptions for medical or religious reasons.
- The value of this Lab is thousands of dollars. However, there is no cost to apply for or participate in this competitive program.
- While people at all income levels are encouraged to apply, extra consideration will be given to people on SSI, SNAP, and TANF.
- Up to 25 candidates will be selected for the Virtual Lab.
- Your application materials will be evaluated by Disability Belongs™ staff members as well as industry advisors who are experts in each field.
Disability Belongs™ Labs are supported in part by The Golden Globe Foundation and The Nielsen Foundation
Recipient of The Roddenberry Foundation Impact Award
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.disabilitybelongs.org ’
