Update on disability from Crip Video Productions Producer

Happy New Year from Crip Video Productions! Rabbinical Student and Crip Video Productions Producer Dylan Rothbein shares an update on her blindness and other disabilities. https://youtu.be/NAka1rqGGHQ

Disability Advocacy Talk Part 2

 Disability Advocacy talk Part 2: 

Today(February 4th 2021) we had a "part 2" to another online video call presentation myself and my Crip Video Productions cast members gave in November 2020. We talked about Cerebral Palsy, blindness, autism and eye surgeries. I(Margot) mentioned that Cerebral Palsy is caused by stroke and that it is actually easier for a baby to have a stroke than an adult(according to "Cerebral Palsy Foundation"). We got questions from people in the UK(England) about educating on disability issues. We had a discussion of adapted martial arts, adapted yoga(called chair yoga apparently), and adapted dance for those with physical disability. We discussed therapeutic Neuroplasticity involved in martial arts and dance for people with neurologic conditions. A woman with a physical disability in the audience spoke a lot about her personal experience. Many audience members mentioned bad experiences with inaccessible public transit. A cast member who is able bodied talked about her experience needing accommodations for a temporary condition and how it helped her empathize more with people with disabilities. Some audience members wanted us to do more presentations. At the end we received feedback that people saw the humanity of the disabled community through us. 

Michael Lettman talked about his youtube channel, blog and autism advocacy project and how I started writing a series of guest blog posts for him during the presentation. https://masterml9502.wixsite.com/livingwithautism/post/disability-in-the-media-guest-post-by-margot  I will continue to guest post for Michael Lettman.

Special thanks to all of the panelists and attendees! We have full permission from everyone involved to write this blog post!

In other news Julesworks which collaborates with Teatro Paraguas featured Crip Video Productions trailer and blooper video in another live stream on January 30 2021 here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9hqoMUqvpKc Crip Video Productions is featured at 1:09:00 and 1:58:00 roughly. 

Disability Advocacy online presentation

 

Today(November 19th 2020) we had another presentation over video conferencing call that also included disability rights advocates/activists outside of the immediate Crip Video Productions circles which added a new perspective to the online discussion. We talked a lot about Cerebral Palsy, visual impairments and issues that black disabled people face. We got questions about what disabilities were genetic, which disabilities were not genetic, and how to help disabled people that are bullied. One person asked about Disability Studies. We discussed surgeries for Cerebral Palsy and organizations that are meant to help disabled people find employment. We met audience members with invisible disabilities. The turnout was probably one of the largest audiences we have had online. About 79 people including one person from the UK. We had such a large turnout with a ton of people asking for another presentation to be created! So we will make that happen.

Super Special thanks to everyone involved with this live video presentation! Crip Video Productions has full permission from all the people involved in the presentation to write this blog post.

In other news, the collaboration project with the working title "Students Talk" is coming along well. 

Live Video Presentations Summer 2020

As the COVID19 pandemic is ongoing Crip Video Productions continues to operate well online. 

On July 21 2020 Crip Video Productions did another video call presentation on disability. We had more of the disabled and non-disabled cast members of “Crips Not Creeps” and “A Stroke Of Endurance” presenting.  A lot of the presentation was focused on Cerebral Palsy, as well as visual impairment and another disability called dyspraxia. We talked about the ongoing effects of coronavirus on the disability community since our last COVID19 talk. We talked about IEPs, disability terminology, social model vs medical model of disability, hypotonia, hypertonia, and AFOs. We talked about the 30th anniversary of the Americans With Disabilities Act and the positive impact and rights the Americans With Disabilities Act provides to our cast and crew and all other disabled citizens. One person asked if everything was hard with a disability and we responded that disability is not suffering or tragedy. We discussed media and disability portrayal and noticed non-verbal people were more rarely depicted in the media. One person asked if “disability” should be used instead of “disorder”. One person asked if disabled kids tend to be overprotected. One woman asked us if we had advice for disabled kids and parents of disabled kids and even brought up the idea of Crip Video Productions talking to kids and parents as well as more college faulty in the Fall of 2020.  We got very positive feedback about the presentation after it ended. 

Please contact Crip Video Productions via email if you want to use the films as online teaching tools. 

Please note that we have full permission from all people involved with the presentation to write this post. 

Adapting due to COVID19-Live video presentations

We are writing to you, our international fans from social distancing and hope that our fans, especially fans who are high risk and have disabilities are staying healthy. 

"A Stroke Of Endurance" has 21 likes on youtube as this post! I heard from a new film fan via email that she found my film "A Stroke Of Endurance" to be a "soothing comfort" to her in isolation during coronavirus. 

Crip Video Productions had multiple in person screenings planned for Spring 2020 including a continuation of the creation of the media project “Students Talk” with Professor Mary Lynn Navarro. Unfortunately: Due to the virus any in-person Crip Video Productions projects and screenings are cancelled and/or delayed until further notice, but I'm doing presentations via video call and made a series of pre made, pre recorded totally private videos throughout April 2020. I had to learn new video call softwares. On Tuesday May 12 2020, we did a 1hr and 15 minute long private live stream video call for a few college classes. Myself and my actors, Tim Snoha, Daniel Lirano, and John Diodato presented. We had about 45 people on the video call. We discussed the films "Only Those Who Limp Allowed", "Crips Not Creeps" and "A Stroke Of Endurance". We discussed coronavirus and the effects of the virus on the disability community. We answered questions related to general disability issues and specific coronavirus issues that the disability community faces. The people who joined the live video included some fans from previous screenings. One person from a pervious screening shared a funny story in which a fire drill occurred during the middle of my talk at a previous screening. My actor Tim Snoha gave a beautiful, very poetic description of what Cerebral Palsy is. Daniel Lirano gave examples of the different types of Cerebral Palsy. John Diodato talked about blindness. One student expressed to us that she was sadly grieving the death of a relative due to COVID19 which led to a discussion of suicide and mental health. Another student expressed that after meeting us she felt she needed disability accommodations in school. Many students said we inspired them. Many students enjoyed how self confident myself and my actors were. Many people on the call enjoyed having a connection to other human beings during the pandemic albeit via a computer screen because they missed being around people. One person who worked in the school system asked how we as a society could improve education for disabled students. An able bodied person commented that hearing our experiences as actual disabled people helped her have a more inside view of disability. 

Even after the presentation I received even more questions via email about therapies for Cerebral Palsy, disability discrimination, and plans for future films. 

This blog post is posted with full permission from everyone involved. Thank you so much to every single person who joined the video call! 

Meeting and Teaching

On February 11th my actor John Diodato from “A Stroke Of Endurance”, and I met with the professor who screened my films and had me and my actors do presentations about disability like blindness and cerebral palsy, as it relates psychology and human behavior in for in Spring 2019 and Fall 2019. During the meeting we planned future screenings for Spring 2020 and the professor shared feedback her students wrote to me and John saying that their perceptions of disabilities changed. The students said they realized how independent disabled people can be and appreciated and admired our ability to talk about disability openly and honestly. One person even said they had never met a person with CP who could talk verbally before meeting me. They loved how my actor John approached life in general. 

On March 5th 2020 I was invited to show "Drama Sighted" as a teaching tool to talk with early childhood educators about the importance of privacy and consent for disabled students. I spoke about hidden and invisible disabilities in particular, like the eye condition Juvenile Macular Degeneration(sometimes called Stargardts) which the blind character Lisa has in "Drama Sighted" and about how chronic illnesses can also be invisible. The student teachers responded well and even allowed me to see how they write lesson plans for their future kindergarten students. 

More screenings are planned for the rest of March and April 2020! 

I have full permission to write this post from everyone involved. 

Screenings October 2019

Possible Spoiler Alert for “Drama Sighted”! 

On October 17th 2019, I(Margot) privately screened our first film “Drama Sighted” to teach about education and accommodations for disabled students like we did in April 2019. https://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/184588551231/spring-2019-screenings  During the Q&A, we discussed Individual Education Programs(IEPs), bullying and Invisible Disability. One student commented that she noticed the main character named Brandon internalized anger from being bullied and became angry himself, and angry at himself when in reality, it was not Brandon’s fault. Another student commented that people with disabilities wanted to be “noticed” and not have their disability ignored, and guessed that Brandon had his Cerebral Palsy ignored in the past before meeting Lisa. One person noticed how the female students at the beginning of the film liked Brandon at first but then turned on him. They thought the girls, Tina and Maggie, turning on Brandon was a very realistic depiction of bullying. Some people were inspired to share about their own disability experiences with things like ADHD, diabetes, and injuries, and some students shared stories about meeting deaf and intellectually disabled people who they thought had not been disabled at all at initially. We got into the topic of sensory overload and speech impairment in some disabled students. We discussed safety for disabled students in emergency situations in school environments and how teachers should never attempt to diagnose students on their own. 

On October 23rd, myself(Margot) and 2 actors from our films “A Stroke Of Endurance” http://cripvideoproductions.com/astrokeofendurance.php  and “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” http://cripvideoproductions.com/limpallowed.php spoke to a class of students about the 2 films to teach about disability as it relates psychology and human behavior. I was thrilled that the instructor wanted perspectives from multiple people with all different disabilities. We discussed Cerebral Palsy, bullying, blindness, diabetes, education, and mental health. One student was a mother to a disabled child and asked about the differences between being born with a disability and acquiring a disability later. One woman was newly disabled and was so touched by our stories that she cried while sharing her own story. This student asked to be part of Crip Video Productions future work. 

Today(October 24) One actor from our film “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” and I(Margot) did another screening presentation today where we discussed, Invisible Disability, Cerebral Palsy, IEPs(Individual Education Plans) bullying, and physical therapy. We made it clear that disability is NOT worse than death, or a tragedy, and grieving a disability is NOT like grieving a death. One person asked how IEPs could be improved. One person asked how physical therapy can be improved. One person commented that they wished the presentation and Q&A had been recorded. We are thrilled to impact hearts and minds in a positive way.

Please use our website contact page to get in touch, if you want to use the Crip Video Productions films as a teaching tool. 

Super Special thanks to the Professor(s) and students for inviting us!!! We have full permission to write this post from everyone involved.    

Crip Video Productions Google plus page shutting down

First, Some more exciting Crip Video Productions news!

John Diodato, an actor who played a student in "A Stroke Of Endurance" who is blind in real life was featured in a news story about an ice hockey team for blind hockey players here https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2019/01/29/new-players-score-with-the-ny-metro-blind-hockey# Check it out! We are all so proud of you John!

To see John Diodato in "A Stroke Of Endurance" for free see here http://cripvideoproductions.com/astrokeofendurance.php 

As a reminder our director Margot Cole was also featured on "The Stromies" Stroke Survivor blog here in an article about "A Stroke Of
Endurance" https://www.stromies.com/blog/guest-blog-margot-of-stroke-of-endurance

A fan of Crip Video Productions Saim Sarwar is selling shirts again here https://www.bonfire.com/ss-drifter/ 5 shirts must be sold in order for the shirts to ship. Orders will ship in late February if successful. All profits go entirely to Saim Sarwar https://www.instagram.com/p/BsGNp_Blqrr/ NOT Crip Video Productions!

Most importantly. Please note: Our Crip Video Productions google plus page https://plus.google.com/103662816758572885430 is apparently going to be shut down in April 2019 because Google Plus will no longer exist as of April 2019. This is not the decision of Crip Video Productions. Google itself has decided to close all of Google Plus down entirely.  If anybody on this blog has been following us on google plus please be advised that we will be moving all of the data from the Google Plus page to the back up blog here https://cripvideoproductions.blogspot.com so please check there for updates and archival posts. Some google plus posts have already been archived like our Cerebral Palsy Awareness google plus posts, in our previous archived posts. This sort of situation is exactly why we made this back up blog in the first place. Anything new that would have been posted to the google plus will be posted here. 

If you experience any difficulty with the Crip Video Productions Tumblr page or any aspect of Crip Video Productions please contact us immediately at http://cripvideoproductions.com/contact.php or email at cripvideoproductions@yahoo.com or feel free to comment on this post. Also feel free to comment at any point on this blog if you like our work and want to tell us.

"A Stroke Of Endurance" upload anniversary archive

This is a special archived post from November 21 2018.

“A Stroke Of Endurance” upload anniversary

Please note! This blog post contains major spoilers for all 4 Crip Video Productions films. Please go to the “films” tab on our official website or simply scroll down to earlier posts to watch the films before reading this post!

Today is the anniversary of when “A Stroke Of Endurance” http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/167756665756/a-stroke-of-endurance-a-film-by-margot-cole-the  was uploaded. “A Stroke Of Endurance” has really come a long way in 1 year. As of this post “A Stroke Of Endurance” has 1,713 views and 13 likes on youtube(plus about 432 views and 5 likes on the open captioned version which is a separate video) In response to “A Stroke Of Endurance” many,many people asked me why I created Crip Video Productions. This writing is about my inspirations behind creating Crip Video Productions. 

Meeting my disabled friends and mentors inspired me in many ways. For the first time, I became interested in the lives of other people with disabilities. I originally wanted to write plays about my experience of being a disabled person. I heard about a playwriting contest in Bay Ridge Brooklyn called “A Playwright Grows in Brooklyn” when my mom took me to see one of their performances. Thomas Kane, the artistic director, suggested   that I write a play for the contest. I wasn’t even sure if I could write a play. My mom, who is also a playwright, promised to help me write the play. I decided to base the play called “Drama Sighted” on a little of myself plus other people I knew, creating a fictional story. I ended up winning the contest which was a huge surprise.  The prize for winning the contest was that BrooklynOne performed the 5 winning plays and the kids who wrote the plays would help direct the performance! I went to the little rehearsals of the winning plays every week before the performance. I quickly realized that directing was not easy. I had to teach an able bodied boy playing my Brandon character how to walk with crutches. My play was performed twice. I got my own “writer bio” in the playbill. That was very exciting. I felt like I was a real theater professional for the first time. As I watched my play both times on stage, I listened to see how the other people watching were reacting. Everyone,especially my mom, seemed to love it. One woman said my play was the best of the 5 plays being performed. During the second performance, a person I knew who also had CP came to see it. I didnʼt really think she would like it because she sees flaws in everything but she really enjoyed the play. All the winners were given these special award cerificates from the city council after the last performance with our names on them. The experience of winning the contest was a wonderful time in my life that I will always remember.

A few months after that another friend of mine with CP(who saw “Drama Sighted” performed as a play at BrooklynOne) told me to join a group called “DISLABELEDtv” which made videos about people with disabilities. One day during a meeting at a Mexican cafe with DISLABELEDtv one of the other members, Walei Sabry who is blind and has always been a fan of “Drama Sighted”, suggested I turn “Drama Sighted” into a short film. I agreed to the idea. I had no idea what I was getting myself into. I had to learn the process of filmmaking from scratch. As I have said many times it was one of the hardest things I have ever done. I had to cast the film myself, direct it, and eventually find someone to edit the film. My friend with CP was disappointed that BrooklynOne had not casted disabled actors in “Drama Sighted” but this was simply not possible for BrooklynOne to do because the BrooklyOne cast was playing multiple roles in all five of the winning plays as an ensemble piece and the other five plays had no disabled characters and no disabled actors were part of that theater at the time. Regardless I was determined to cast disabled actors. I found an editor named Rich. The person who Lisa was roughly based on was kind enough to describe her blind spot to me so that Rich and I could make a special effect that looked like a real blind spot. Thomas unfortunately died before we finished editing “Drama Sighted”. “Drama Sighted” was uploaded to youtube on October 12 2011. Drama Sighted still gets positive feedback to this day! “Drama Sighted” has 2,315 views and 7 likes.

After that DISLABELED told me to make a special trailer for Drama Sighted to be shown at their first film screening in 2012 with their brand new name DISLABELED Film Series. Once DISLABELEDtv changed their name to DISLABELED Film Series and decided to screen other people’s work instead of making their own films and media I had to branch out on my own with the name Crip Video Productions as soon as I had decided to go ahead and make “Only Those Who Limp Allowed”. “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” was roughly inspired by 2 people I knew who told me over the phone they each needed roommates but never wanted to be roommates with each other. In the plot of “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” and for a little bit of the plot in “Crips Not Creeps” I wanted to show the characters Nellie and Randy in a romantic relationship without objectifying the characters because I often saw disabled characters written as asexual or in a hypersexualized way and found both options extremely objectifying so I focused more on the relationship and how disability may or may not affect their interaction with each other. I decided to make this blog and, much later on, my official website, to keep all news and events related to Crip Video Productions in one central easy-to-access place. I had to take on a lot more responsibility with “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” compared to “Drama Sighted” like learning how to manage scheduling. I had to find my own voice a lot more with “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” has 9,731 views. 

Then I decided to make “Crips Not Creeps”. http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/109840448686/crips-not-creeps-enhanced-visual-quality-version  I started developing “Crips Not Creeps” just days after I uploaded “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” I knew I wanted to write a fictional mystery plot. I wanted to explore the idea of morals. I wanted to try to have the disability be part of the plot without the disability being the main point of the plot. Frank is a guy who has let his pride and jealously towards Brandon turn him evil. He is smart in a manipulative way and stops at nothing to get what he wants. He feels that his position in the world of disabled performers is threatened by Brandon’s presence. Before Brandon came along Frank would get a lot of attention and had a reputation for being a great actor. Now Frank and Brandon and often compete for similar roles in stage plays. Frank knows that Brandon is more talented than he is, so he feels he has to go to drastic measures to get Brandon out of the way. I wanted it to be clear in this film that Frank is NOT jealous of Brandon over physical abilities. Frank is not bitter over being disabled. Frank just has an intense fear of being replaced. I absolutely hate being falsely accused so I wanted to explore the idea of what would happened to Brandon if he was falsely accused by his able bodied ex girlfriend due to a misunderstanding. “Crips Not Creeps” involved a lot more planning in regards to locations and visuals. I was honored to work with all of the cast and crew. “Crips Not Creeps” quickly became the fan favorite in 2015 before “A Stroke Of Endurance” was released and replaced it as fan favorite.  

Since “Crips Not Creeps” has been uploaded, my films have been getting a lot of attention in the form of good feedback,interviews, reviews,http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/167846364446/autistichistorymonth-astrokeofendurance  and successful screenings in  Santa Fe New Mexico,Kingsborough Community College and various outreach events. We did outreach for the Russian-American disability advocacy group where my words about the film “Crips Not Creeps” and my mission were translated to Russian and the film clips were played in English. http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/131307985176/charity-event-and-self-advocacy

October 2015 was Crip Video Productions film outreach month essentially because we did one outreach after the other. The 2015 and 2018 New Mexico screenings were special bittersweet experiences because I got to see some very old friends who I have not seen in years. I would advise anyone reading this not to take anyone they love in their life for granted. In terms of impact, I was able to teach an able bodied girl that CP comes in many forms, not just the most severe forms commonly seen in media and teach her about visual impairments. Like I mentioned in the previous posts I met someone who injured himself in such a way that it caused his body to tense up tremendously. His alignment was actually a lot like a person with CP after this happened. He ended up asking me about my physical therapy experiences after seeing my films and I hope I was able to assist him in this area. Like many people I know, he found physical therapy to be incredibly boring. This person was able to look at the films and be encouraged in his road to recovery. Hopefully his bout with spasticity will not be permanent, but even if he has continued muscle issues he knows tight muscles and loss of some balancing ability is not the end of the world. Life goes on either way. I think something people have to remember is unlike a person with CP like myself, who are born with a disability, people who become disabled later in life need to adapt to the new disability and may need that extra encouragement that some other disabled people don’t want or find patronizing. 

I happened to do an educational talk about Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) and Cerebral Palsy http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/130787737671/brain-injury-presentation  where I met people with types of brain damage that I had never even heard of before, such as brain damage that affects sleep patterns and sensory processing. These types of brain damage are almost completely invisible. I see from meeting these people that these types of brain injury are a night and day difference from my own. These people had to adjust to doing things differently which was emotionally difficult because the disabilities happened instantly but they accepted it as just part of life just as the characters in the films do. 

I got to meet people with conditions that I hardly understood like diabetes and epilepsy. For whatever reason these people felt that they could share the details of their conditions with me after seeing the films. The person with diabetes told me what low blood sugar episodes felt like. The person with epilepsy told me what a seizure felt like. I’m honored that these people were affected by the films in such a way where they would trust me without even really knowing me. It was a very brave thing for them to do. I also got a message online from somebody all the way in Italy who saw Crips Not Creeps. I don’t know how this person got around the language barrier since my films are only available in english on youtube at the moment(we would love to translate the films to other languages in the future perhaps,) but it sounded like he was somehow able to read the open captions in english or translate the open captions to Italian on his own judging from his comments. He said he appreciated my work since he had been disabled through polio. I have been contacted multiple times by both disabled and able bodied film students for advice. One of our actors, Dustin Jones, who plays Frank in “Crips Not Creeps” has also gotten a lot of attention when he appeared in various TV ads after the films release.  I have built connections through the films that I never knew were even possible! A Sociology professor even offered to show my films to her classes as a teaching tool in 2016. A Biology professor asked permission to use the films as part of his lessons in 2017 and 2018.

For “A Stroke Of Endurance”, it was roughly based on my experience with my Professor who had a stroke in November 2015. When I first met him I could immediately see he was very kind,generous, and very smart,and not just book smart. He could understand people very well and had good instincts. He was very expressive with his body language when teaching and had a vast knowledge of many subjects. On the first day of class after the other students left, he asked “You have Cerebral Palsy?” in one of the most honest ways I had ever heard. His curiosity was refreshing. Weeks later he had a stroke. When he returned to class told me he had the stroke on campus and was rushed to the hospital near the college. “I don’t even live here!” he exclaimed. 

On his second day back to class after the stroke he had a bad dizzy spell. He had signed an accommodation form for somebody then looked up at the ceiling with his mouth open in a weird expression, panting in distress, as his eyeballs rolled up and back and then side to side. His eye drifted down towards me at one point so I looked away to save him any embarrassment and stop me from panicking. When I looked back he had his head turned away with his hand over his closed eyes. “How are you?” he said to the class. “Good. How are you?” I said. “I’m a little dizzy” he replied. “Oh! Do you need help or anything?” I asked worried. “No” he said smiling as he turned off the classroom computer. He looked fine for the rest of the semester and said he guessed he had gotten dizzy because he was tired. 

Through my experiences in making “A Stroke of Endurance”. I realized that I knew things about life because of the CP that could be valuable to others. 

Some of the emotion behind "A Stroke Of Endurance” was also inspired by when one of my friends had a bad health scare with complications that could have killed her caused by a different type of blood clotting issue. I said some bad things to her face a week before she had the health scare and because I was young I exaggerated things like the Ava character did about Professor Ben’s stroke. Ava’s anxieties are highly, highly exaggerated versions of my own anxieties. So it’s the most emotional film. With “A Stroke Of Endurance” I wanted to show disability comes with both good and bad, because I felt certain movies only put emphasis on the bad aspects of disability. Putting emphasis on only the bad aspects of disability turns disabled characters into one dimensional stereotypes that are plot devices, because they focus on an external surface of a character the character has no control over. Since I kept seeing mass produced movies about disabled characters who wanted to die shortly after becoming newly disabled I wanted to make a film about a newly disabled person who wanted to live, not to die. My Professor had this vibrancy where he would embrace life head on. He did not let fear control him. If I could re create even just a small piece of that spark, the bright light I saw in him, I knew I would create something wonderful.  I wanted people who were new to the experience of life with a disability to know that they can come to us who have lived with disability from birth or childhood for support. “A Stroke Of Endurance” was the first time I attempted to act in a lead role. Up until that point I had only played secondary characters so I did my best to use all of the skills I learned from my acting mentors to bring Ava to life. 

During the writing process in 2016 I spoke to a lovely lady who had a stroke for an hour with her full permission as research to add to the realism of Professor Ben’s stroke and physical and emotional recovery. I’m forever grateful for her insights and generosity!

During the production one creative experiment I wanted to try was to see if I could make a disabled actor appear able bodied for a scene that takes place before Professor Ben becomes disabled from his stroke. I really wanted a disabled actor to play Professor Ben and I needed to show Professor Ben before he has the stroke for the story to make sense. When we shot the film the actor Tim Snoha simply stood behind a desk in such a way that his Cerebral Palsy was not visible. Later on at the shoot, Tim Snoha suggested a shot in which we see the students looking down at Professor Ben from his point of view that he filmed with his iphone while sitting on the floor. I wanted to show that while Ava was the main character, it was really Professor Ben who was experiencing the stroke directly. Ava is only an observer of Professor Ben’s experiences. Tim’s suggestion was an extension of my storytelling idea. I already had the scene where Professor Ben sees the ceiling spinning from his point of view in the script, so Tim’s idea made perfect sense. To improve the audio we had the dialogue as a separate audio layer recorded with a small recording device separate from the camera.

Through making this film, I was reminded that God gave me Cerebral Palsy and writing talents so I can help others with my films. It is my hope that my current and future work can let people know that disabled people have lives that are highly valuable. 

Once the film was released I heard from stroke survivors who said they thought the film was very accurate to their experiences. One stroke survivor loved how the Professor Ben character mentioned the stroke itself was not physically painful at all.  One person whose mother had a stroke told me they finally understood stroke from the stroke survivors perspective because of the film.  They were used to seeing films about stroke only from the caretaker perspective, not the perspective of the person with the stroke. Another caregiver to a person with a very massive stroke that caused the stroke survivor to need a ventilator also connected with the film a lot. I heard from someone in the Netherlands who loved the film and said their father-in-law had a stroke. I had comments from people saying they connected with Ava’s love of Biology. A nurse found the film helpful to her medical training. A woman in India told me she prefered my American film style to the Hindi Bollywood movies produced in India. A woman who survived a brain cyst causing a stroke told me her entire survival story after seeing the film. I had screenings for colleges where I introduced the film and we had a Q&A. Tim said he approached Professor Ben’s character as “How would it feel to not be sure if you can communicate as well as you used to and do your job, because the professor loves to teach.” and used his Cerebral Palsy as a reference. On May 10th 2018, I did a small private screening for a writing class. http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/173896946731/image-description-group-of-good-looking-college  We discussed the theme of empathy in the film. Part of the discussion was also about the effects of trauma and I was able to bring up how the effects of the physical trauma to the brain in Cerebral Palsy and Stroke led to certain symptoms. One student in that class asked how long it took to make the film. Many of the actors from “A Stroke Of Endurance” were inspired by the process of making the film to continue acting and were accepted into acting classes and other film based projects. 

In August 2018 Crip Video Productions finally managed to release audio described versions of all of our films. I knew what audio description was in 2009 even before Crip Video Productions was made but providing audio description proved more difficult than we imagined. http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/155491546901/learning-to-audio-describe-film  After multiple failed attempts at trying to edit audio description directly into all of the films from scratch that were ruined by hard drive failures on my end, we finally discovered the free service “YouDescribe” provided by youtube. http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/177003288296/a-stroke-of-endurance-audio-described

I hope to keep making more films and inspiring others creatively in the future.

Crip Video Productions films audio described!

This is an archived post from August 2018:

https://youdescribe.org/video/KIZProYn7R4?ad=5b730bb0e6cc7f461fb09d43

http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/177003288296/a-stroke-of-endurance-audio-described 

“A Stroke Of Endurance” audio described by Tucker Salovaara 

Synopsis: A film about friendship, faith, and endurance. The story, written and directed by filmmaker, Margot Cole, is about how a college student named Ava, who has Cerebral Palsy and her classmates must deal with varying forms of fall-out when mid-semester, their professor has a stroke that leaves him disabled. 

Starring (in order of appearance)

Margot Cole as Ava

Jorgiana Cole as Ava’s Mom

Syndia Batise as Disabled Student 1

Emma Lemanski as Disabled Student 2

Betty Lewin as Professor 1

David Salsbery Fry as Professor 2

Jill Marrello as Academic Advisor

Tim Snoha as Professor Ben

Mark Pauling as Student 1

Pedrin Villaman as Student 2

Johnny Diodato as Student 3

Krysta Williams as Student 4

Ashley Villanueva as Student 5

Izabela Ginda as Bella

Ketrina Hazell as Alice

Written and Directed by Margot Cole

Story editing by Jorgiana Cole

Casting by Margot Cole

Cinematography by Jorgiana Cole. Additional Cinematography by Tim Snoha, Johnny Diodato, Krysta Williams

Music composed by Walei Sabry

Special thanks to

Kingsborough Community College

Lori Zucker

JoJo Tarnoff 

Super special thanks to Jorgiana Cole 

This film is audio described for blind and low vision viewers. Crip Video Productions is offering audio description on our films for the very first time. Crip Video Productions apologizes for taking this long to provide audio described versions to our blind/visually impaired/low vision fan base. We attempted to add audio description to the films multiple times http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/155491546901/learning-to-audio-describe-film    https://plus.google.com/103662816758572885430/posts/QYAUkTfeQQv  Unfortunately the pervious attempts failed due to technical difficulties on my end. Luckily Tucker Salovaara who acted in our film “Crips Not Creeps” was kind enough to use a service called “You Describe” to audio describe the films for us. Special thanks to Tucker! If anyone reading this would like to use the audio described versions for screenings please contact us using our contact page http://cripvideoproductions.com/contact.php our main email cripvideoproductions@yahoo.com or our screenings email screenings@cripvideoproductions.com for instructions and details. 

©2017 Margot Cole  

https://youdescribe.org/video/KLl1NzexjP8?ad=5b71c97f7c83643ee058a9b4 

http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/177002764186/crips-not-creeps-audio-described

“Crips Not Creeps” audio described by Tucker Salovaara 

Synopsis: A few months after the events of “Only Those Who Limp Allowed” Brandon and Randy (who both have Cerebral Palsy) are still living together and things are going well, until Brandon gets accused of stalking his ex girlfriend Madison and must prove he is innocent before he loses Randy’s trust and possibly everything else he has ever worked for.

This film is audio described for blind and low vision viewers. Please note that the use of the word “Crip” (which is a shortened version of the word cripple that people in the disability community use as a slang term to refer to physically disabled individuals) is not meant as an offense to anyone who is physically disabled (such as the characters in these films) or mentally disabled, or otherwise. All of the characters in the film who are disabled are portrayed by actors who are disabled in real life. We have full legal permission to use all of the locations seen in the full film. This film has cursing in it and may not be suitable for very young children.

Crip Video Productions is offering audio description on our films for the very first time. Crip Video Productions apologizes for taking this long to provide audio described versions to our blind/visually impaired/low vision fan base. We attempted to add audio description to the films multiple times http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/155491546901/learning-to-audio-describe-film 

https://plus.google.com/103662816758572885430/posts/QYAUkTfeQQv  Unfortunately the pervious attempts failed due to technical difficulties on my end. Luckily Tucker Salovaara who acted in our film “Crips Not Creeps” was kind enough to use a service called “You Describe” to audio describe all of the films for us. Special thanks to Tucker! If anyone reading this would like to use the audio described versions for screenings please contact us using our contact page http://cripvideoproductions.com/contact.php our main email cripvideoproductions@yahoo.com or our screenings email screenings@cripvideoproductions.com for instructions and details. 

A Crip Video Production. “Crips Not Creeps” is the sole property of Margot Cole/Crip Video Productions.

https://youdescribe.org/video/zmE3aeMd1yc?ad=5b72fbc17c83643ee058a9d4 

http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/177002446116/only-those-who-limp-allowed-audio-described 

“Only Those Who Limp Allowed” audio described by Tucker Salovaara 

Synopsis: The sequel to “Drama Sighted”. Brandon, now 23, is adjusting to life with a roommate named Randy who also has Cerebral Palsy after breaking up with his girlfriend. Randy sets Brandon up on a blind date in an effort to help him move on. Tensions arise as conflicting thoughts on disability, dating, and identity are brought into the open.

Please note: This film is audio described for blind and low vision viewers. The use of the words “Gimp”, “Cripple”, and “Crip” (which is a shortened version of the word cripple that people in the disability community use to as a slang term to refer to the physically disabled such as the characters in these films) is not meant as an offense to anyone physically or mentally disabled, or associated with these films or otherwise. All of the characters in the film are portrayed by actors who are disabled in real life. This film is for educational and entertainment purposes only. We sincerely apologize for any camera shaking which may make it difficult for those prone to dizziness/vertigo or certain types of seizures to watch the film. 

Crip Video Productions is offering audio description on our films for the very first time. Crip Video Productions apologizes for taking this long to provide audio described versions to our blind/visually impaired/low vision fanbase. We attempted to add audio description to the films multiple times http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/155491546901/learning-to-audio-describe-film     https://plus.google.com/103662816758572885430/posts/QYAUkTfeQQv  Unfortunately the pervious attempts failed due to technical difficulties on my end. Luckily Tucker Salovaara who acted in our film “Crips Not Creeps” was kind enough to use a service called “You Describe” to audio describe the films for us. Special thanks to Tucker! If anyone reading this would like to use the audio described versions for screenings please contact us using our contact page http://cripvideoproductions.com/contact.php our main email cripvideoproductions@yahoo.com or our screenings email screenings@cripvideoproductions.com for instructions and details. 

https://youdescribe.org/video/WvxTwlzEAYk?ad=5b719fd25673f74614a1e3c6


http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/176961547671/drama-sighted-audio-described  

“Drama Sighted” audio described by Tucker Salovaara 

Film Synopsis: A teenage boy with Spastic Diplegia Cerebral Palsy named Brandon learns first impressions can be deceiving when he meets a drama teacher with Juvenile Macular Degeneration(a rare form of blindness)

This film is audio described for blind viewers and open captioned for deaf viewers. The characters in the film who are disabled are portrayed by actors who are disabled in real life. We were advised by someone who has Juvenile Macular Degeneration in real life when making the special effects. The special effects are based solely on this persons’ description of their disability. “Drama Sighted” was originally a one-act play that was performed at BrooklynOne Theater’s “A Playwright Grows In Brooklyn” youth playwriting contest in 2009. “A Playwright Grows in Brooklyn” was a short one act play writing contest for teens created by artistic directors Thomas Kane (who unfortunately passed away) and Anthony Marino of BrooklynOne Theater. Then it was turned into a short film. If you watch the film on Youtube you will see a logo saying “DISLABELEDtv Productions”. DISLABELEDtv was a media organization for and by people with disabilities. All the members had some sort of disability. Their original goal was to make a TV series and other short video projects centered around disability. “Drama Sighted” was one of these projects. Since “Drama Sighted” was a collaboration you may notice some slight style differences from other Crip Video Productions films. In 2012 DISLABELEDtv became “DISLABELED Film Series” http://dislabeledfilm.wordpress.com https://www.facebook.com/DislabeledPhilly which is modeled after the screening series disTHIS. https://www.facebook.com/disthis Once DISLABELED decided that they would no longer be making videos I had to branch out on my own with my own name “Crip Video Productions” “Drama Sighted” is the sole property of Margot Cole/Crip Video Productions.

Crip Video Productions is offering audio description on our films for the very first time. Crip Video Productions apologizes for taking this long to provide audio described versions to our blind/visually impaired/low vision fan base. We attempted to add audio description to the films multiple times http://cripvideoproductions.tumblr.com/post/155491546901/learning-to-audio-describe-film 

https://plus.google.com/103662816758572885430/posts/QYAUkTfeQQv Unfortunately the pervious attempts failed due to technical difficulties on my end. Luckily Tucker Salovaara who acted in our film “Crips Not Creeps” was kind enough to use a service called “You Describe” to audio described the films for us. Special thanks to Tucker! If anyone reading this would like to use the audio described versions for screenings please contact us using our contact page http://cripvideoproductions.com/contact.php our main email cripvideoproductions@yahoo.com or our screenings email screenings@cripvideoproductions.com for instructions and details. 

Summer 2015 screening archive

This are archived posts from Summer 2015. Older posts are on the bottom.

“Margot,
You were so eloquent and down to earth in the Q and A.  My daughter was really impressed and I am sure all of the others were too.  You rock!
Michael”

— 

Michael Sheppard

Michael Sheppard sent this wonderful message to me after our Crips Not Creeps screening last night. This message is posted with Michael’s full permission! He set up the entire screening for the Big Sky Learning summer camp in Santa Fe New Mexico. Michael is an amazing person and an even greater friend! I am forever grateful to him for all of his efforts! Special thanks to Michael for this fantastic once in a lifetime opportunity! 

Big Sky Learning screening report

We just had our screening at Big Sky Learning and it was another SMASHING SUCCESS!! To start at the beginning I use to be a math and writing student at Big Sky Learning in 2007 where I met Michael Sheppard. I became very close to Michael. I was fascinated by his vast intelligence. He had a very unique way of explaining math and the methods behind it. Years later we reconnected via email. I would send him each of my films after they were released. 

Then in May 2015 when Teatro Paraguas showed all 3 of my films Michael came in person with some members of his family. He met up with my very dear friend JoJo Sena Tarnoff and her husband at the end of that screening and suggested that we do a similar screening at a high school in the Santa Fe area. I was overjoyed by this wonderful news! Just roughly a few weeks later Michael emailed me and suggested showing Crips Not Creeps to his summer camp. We only showed Crips Not Creeps simply for/due to time and length reasons. Walei was happy to join us a second time for a Q&A. I was thrilled when JoJo Tarnoff, Jeff Tarnoff and Argos from Teatro Paraguas were able to aid Michael by setting up all technical aspects of the screening from the sound to the projector. I got on Skype two hours before the screening and got to meet some wonderful people that Michael is currently working with as mentors. We had a last minute snafu with the sound coming from the projector,but we were able to fix it just in time,thank goodness, thanks to Jeff. I was relieved I actually remembered what I wanted to say about Crips Not Creeps and Big Sky Learning. I got to see the audience through Skype. We luckily had a much larger turnout than for the Teatro Paraguas screening. The audience was a nice mix of ages. Many people were slightly younger than my usual target audience. I got to hear some audience reactions through Skype like giggling. Walei came on Skype after the film ended. We answered some fantastic questions! A lot of the questions had to do with different aspects of the film production like what software was used to edit the film(iMovie and Final Cut Pro) and the music(Garage Band) and how we work around Walei’s visual impairment. Somebody asked how Walei became interested in music. One person asked if the films were ever meant to be television episodes. I told them how the first film Drama Sighted was originally written as a DISLABELEDtv episode. The idea of me using a crowd funding website like kickstarter or indiegogo was suggested. 

Super special thanks to Michael, JoJo Tarnoff,Jeff,Tarnoff and Walei Sabry!!!! I was truly honored that they all made special time for me and put in such beautiful efforts to make this screening possible!! Thanks to the wonderful audience for coming out to join us and for their insights and curiosity!! I loved meeting everybody! I’m thrilled that a little film like Crips Not Creeps can bring together so many people from different places. Please note that Crip Video Productions did NOT receive any monetary gain or monetary sponsorship from this screening! This screening was completely free.

Quote from our fan Amina  

“Hi Margot, and thank you very much for inviting me to watch your film :)
I like the idea of showing how you guys are having a social life just like anyone and connecting to each other and to other people despite your disabilities!
you have chosen a sweet music to start with; it give feeling of happiness and freshness <3
your actors are handsome Brandon, Randy and even Madison’s new boy friend!
I love it and I’m so proud that I have met you because you have showed me a beautiful world that include lovely, intelligent and talent people like you.
you told me in the class that not all of you are Christy Brown; I think you, with your awesome personality and talent, are capable to achieve greater success than Brown.
I’m strongly waiting to see your next films. ( I saw Drama Sighted, Only Those Who Limp Allowed , and Crips Not Creeps).
Amina”

— 

Amina

A review of Crips Not Creeps from a brand new fan of Crip Video Productions named Amina. Super special thanks to Amina!!! This review was posted with Amina’s permission! If you’d like to check out Crips Not Creeps in person please come to our public screening at Big Sky Learningtomorrow July 29th 5:00pm MDT in Santa Fe New Mexico!!! For those of you reading this blog who don’t know, Christy Brown is an artist and writer from Ireland who had Cerebral Palsy(he has passed away) like myself and 2 of the characters in Crips Not Creeps. Christy Brown is most widely known because of the movie “My Left Foot” starring Daniel Day Lewis. Unlike “My Left Foot” all of the disabled characters in our films are played by actors who have disabilities in real life. 

EDIT: The Big Sky Learning screening has already happened 

Official Big Sky Learning Screening announcement

On Wednesday July 29th 2015 at 5:00pm (at the Santa Fe Waldorf School) we will kick things off with a special showing of the short independent film Crips Not Creeps by past Big Sky student Margot Cole. Margot is the founder and director of Crips Video Productions which makes short independent films that increase understanding of disability through engaging characters and storytelling. The films are created by people with disabilities and are written, directed and produced by Margot Cole,a student at Kingsborough Community College in New York. Margot and the film’s composer Walei will answer questions via Skype after the showing.

DATE: Wednesday July 29th 2015 at 5:00pm MDT.

ADDRESS:
Santa Fe Waldorf High School
26 Puesta del Sol
Santa Fe, NM 87508 

EDIT: The Big Sky Learning screening has already happened

Press page

A brand new press page has been added to our official Crip Video Productions website! Check it out to see links,interviews and reviews about Crip Video Productions. The Press page includes our director Margot’s blog writing and drawings for Enter The Faun  centered around Cerebral Palsy and dance(the bodywork mentioned in the Enter The Faun post is NOT a cure for Cerebral Palsy!)and our Able Pathways Media interview,

We have also confirmed a new public screening of “Crips Not Creeps” for July 29th 2015 at 5:00pm MDT in Santa Fe New Mexico! The screening is part of Big Sky Learning. If you are interested in this screening please contact us via email as most of our promotion is being targeted at New Mexico specifically rather than nationwide. 

EDIT: The Big Sky Learning screening has already happened