Craig Blankenhorn / Hulu / Courtesy of the Everett Collection
The Inevitable Foundation, a nonprofit that works on behalf of the disability filmmaking community, released a new report on Wednesday examining how disabled audiences around the world are a large and engaged demographic, yet remain underserved in streaming and theaters.
The report, “Audiences Are Waiting for Hollywood to Acknowledge Disability,” published by the foundation’s research institute surveyed more than 1,000 people, both disabled and able-bodied, about the current state of on-screen representation of disability and mental health.
The survey results are as follows:
- 66% of audiences are dissatisfied with the current portrayal of disability and mental health in film and television.
- 35% of people with disabilities watch more than 20 hours of television per week, compared with 25% of people without disabilities.
- 20% of all audiences would subscribe to a new streaming service and attend more cinemas if a film contained realistic portrayals of people with disabilities or mental illnesses.
- 40% of audience members, both with and without disabilities, are very likely to recommend a film or TV show that features authentic representations of disabilities and mental illnesses to a friend or family member.
A report by the Inevitable Foundation was released shedding light on public preferences in a context where, according to the U.S. Census, 20 million U.S. households have at least one person with a disability. There are 1 billion people with disabilities in the world, which is 15% of the world’s population. Moreover, according to the American Institute of Research, people with disabilities contribute $21 billion in disposable income to the U.S. economy every year.
“The findings of the Greenlight Disability Report make it clear that all audiences, both disabled and able-bodied, are highly dissatisfied with the choices in film and television when it comes to disability representation,” said Saga Darnell, head of research and communications at the Inevitable Foundation.
The group recommends that by investing in authentic disability storytelling and featuring multifaceted portrayals of characters with disabilities and mental illnesses, entertainment industry leaders have the opportunity to reach underserved market segments, increase audience satisfaction, and foster trust.
Complete Greenlight Outage Report You can see it at the link.
