Bus Stop Films heads to Hollywood
Disability-led not for profit production company will showcase their work in LA during Oscars season.
- Published by David Knox
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Bus Stop Films, which specialises in inclusive filmmaking, will lead a delegation to Los Angeles next month to showcase their work.
Winner of the 2023 SPA Award for Breakthrough Business of the Year, Bus Stop Films is a disability-led not for profit social enterprise.
The delegation led by Chairman, Peter Tonagh, Co-Founder Genevieve Clay-Smith and CEO Tracey Corbin-Matchett, will also include Bus Stop’s COO and producer Dianna La Grassa, Film Distribution Development Manager Ivria Dubs, Paralympian and Advisory Board Member, Paul Nunnari, tutor Dr Veronica Wain, who has a PHD in Film and Inclusion, and two participants from Bus Stop’s Accessible Film Studies Program in Brisbane, Allycia Staples and Oliva Hargroder. Olivia, who lives with Down syndrome, will star in Bus Stop’s upcoming feature film Baby Cat, to be produced by LA based Eleanor Winkler, the organisation’s other co-founder.
“The purpose of our visit is to showcase our films, celebrate inclusion on screen and connect to LA-based production companies about our work, so we can promote our disability employment and consultancy services, especially with companies who may bring in bound productions to Australia. We’re thrilled to finally take the Bus to Hollywood and share the inclusivity of the Australian screen industry with the US,” said CEO Tracey Corbin-Matchett.
“With the Oscars on March 10 being the first time that the Academy’s new representation and inclusion standards apply, it’s an apt time to be in LA.”
As well as meetings with several of the major studios, arranged by AusFilm, and networking with screen creatives including Australians in Film, Bus Stop Films will host a screening of their films on March 6 in partnership with ReelAbilities Film Festival LA and the City of Los Angeles Department on Disability, as part of a night celebrating inclusion in film at the Mark Taper Auditorium at the LA Central Library.
The event will include a Q&A hosted by LA-based disability advocate Keely Cat-Wells, with Genevieve Clay-Smith, Veronica Wain, Allycia Staples, Oliva Hargroder and Paul Nunnari.