Press

Press Release

Crip Club launches as the first ever completely accessible film podcast with a rally cry to end the awarding of cripping up*

*cripping up is when a non-disabled actor plays the role of a disabled person

–   Crip Club is a film discussion podcast on all major platforms with BSL translation, the first of its kind.

–   Crip Club uses disabled joy and film discussion to raise awareness of ableism on screen, behind the camera and in our cinemas.

–   A non-disabled Oscar-nominated actor in a disabled role has a 50 percent chance of taking home the trophy. Yet oOnly 3 disabled people have ever won an Oscar –, that’s less than 1% of awards ever.

–   Even though people with a visible or invisible disability are 1 in 4 of the US adult population, only 2.3% of the speaking characters in our most popular movies have a disability. Just 12% of disabled characters are played by disabled people. Disabled crew in the U.S. are so scarce, the numbers don’t even rate as a statistic.

–   In the UK In TV Disabled people are 22% of this population, and yet Ofcom found that disabled people are under-represented at all organisational levels, making up just 7% of television employees overall. Disabled people are 22% of this population, and yet 8.2% of on-screen represent them, 5.4% of people work off screen, and at the top, just 3.6% of Executive Producers are disabled.

Crip club is an online community & an accessible podcast, the first of its kind. It uses film discussion to bring into mainstream conversation the ableism behind the camera, on screen and in cinemas disabled people have been experiencing for the past decade. It dissects the history of Cripping up, celebrate disabled filmmakers and showcases disabled joy. Each week, Crip club will be joined by disabled talent working within the film and tv industry to highlight their career and journey! Then together, we will review an Oscar nominated disability portrayal. Crip Club redefines the podcast format, making it truly accessible; which is why it will include BSL translation & a transcript, ensuring it will be accessible by all mainstream platforms.

Crip Club’s aims are to create:

–   Conversation

–   Community

–   A truly accessible experience

And ultimately end the practice of awarding Cripping Up performances.

Clare Baines, founder of Crip Club said:

“Disabled joy is rarely allowed to enter the mainstream. Disability has been condoned to be a pity party, only allowed to exist on the periphery of culture. When it does exist it is told not by those who live it but those who view disability through their deeply ableist lens. This has led to portrayals that continue to impact disabled people, if you’re autistic you’re supposed to be a savant, if you’re blind you’re supposed to be ominous and spooky, if you’re Deaf you’re supposed to be isolated. Film dictates that as a disabled person you are only allowed to exist as if you are exceptional, if you transcend your disability. No thank you. Myself and my disabled mates are the funniest, sexiest and sometimes laziest people I know, I would love to see that reflected on screen.”