The 2024 edition of the Media Access Awards (MAA) are airing tonight on PBS SoCal. On its website, the MAAs describe the disability community as “robust, diverse, and integral part of our global fabric” while rightly saying disabled people comprise “the largest minority group on the planet [and] the only minority group that anyone can join at any point of his or her life.” The MAAs, then, exist as a means of “honoring, highlighting, and promoting disability and its representation in film, television, and new media” with the goal of “[recognizing] depictions of disability that are accurate, inclusive, and multi-faceted.”
This year’s MAAs sees Michael J. Fox receive the Lifetime Achievement Award. Fox, who has coped with Parkinson’s since being diagnosed in 1991 at 29, was featured in the 2023 Apple TV+ documentary Still.
The MAAs were hosted last year by co-hosts Academy Award winners Marlee Matlin and Troy Kotsur. This year’s host is actor Daryl Mitchell. Mitchell, who affectionately goes by “Chill,” became disabled in November 2001 as a result of a motorcycle crash in South Carolina. The incident left him paraplegic, after which he became a staunch disability advocate and serves as the minority outreach spokesperson for the Christopher and Dana Reeves Foundation. In an interview with me conducted last week via videoconference, Mitchell told me he’s “thrilled” to host this year’s MAAs after having presented in prior years. He said becoming disabled “opened my eyes” to the fact many disabled people in Hollywood were so talented, adding it “mesmerized” him. He was acting for years when the accident happened; his accident helped him realize actors in the disability community “weren’t getting the visibility or accolades they deserved.” Mitchell wants audiences to feel part of a “celebration.”
The co-CEO of the MAAs, Deborah Calla, wholeheartedly agreed with Mitchell. In a concurrent interview to his, she explained the show was an in-person soiree from 2010 through 2020 when the pandemic hit, noting the devotion to keep in going virtually since due to the “importance of the message.” She called Mitchell “so funny” and “wonderful” to have on the show. Calla told me the MAAs are vital because it raises awareness of, and shines a spotlight on, the disability community. She said most people “don’t have a personal relationship” with disability, leaving them to avoid disabled people altogether because they don’t know how to interact with them. The thing is, Calla told me, disabled people “have the same needs, desires, and passions as anybody else.” She recounted having with conversations with people in the industry, whose names she wished to remain anonymous, who admitted to being “afraid” to hire disabled people to work on projects because of their disability, mainly due to laws around disclosure of a person’s condition(s). Because of it, Calla said the people conceded “it was easier not to hire” in the end.
“I wish we could normalize the disability experience,” Calla said of her desire to make the experiences of disabled people more mainstream. “If we can break it down… it’s unfortunate we have to do that. I wish people just got it, but it’s not like that. People who are in power positions, dismiss what it is to work with disabled talent. People forget is we’re not embracing such a unique experience and point of view… a truthful perspective from a human stance. We hear people of different races or practicing different religions, but we need to include disabled people in everything we do because it’s such a unique and powerful experience.”
As a Black person, Mitchell acknowledged he has a “long history” of fighting for the diversification in show business. He said it took “so many years” until Black people were allowed on television, noting diversity has oftentimes felt like meeting a soulless quota rather than earnest investment. As time has marched on and society has become more ideologically inclusive, racial depictions in entertainment “has gotten better, but there’s a ways to go,” Mitchell said. The same is true for disability community: better, but improvement looms. He lamented both race and disability “should be automatic now,” adding he had an advantage getting work after becoming disabled because he had an extensive résumé to back him up. Producers and others are willing to accommodate Mitchell with whatever he needs or wants to work.
“We gotta take charge in [continuing] to advocate for ourselves and keep pushing forward for more inclusion,” Mitchell said of the call to action.
Humans are hardwired to fear the unknown, which is what Mitchell attributes to the lack of interaction with disabled people. He reiterated “things are getting better” but said the work is—as ever—evergreen.
Mitchell said he hypes up the MAAs every chance he gets, reminding people when the show takes place and telling them to tune in. He mentioned working on a new show with Tim Allen, saying he’s told Allen to watch the MAAs. For her part, Calla said anyone who’s associated with the MAAs is “super excited” for the show because “it’s such a special experience.” People appreciate the MAAs are “different” from standard Hollywood awards shows, with Calla telling me “everyone feels connected to the show [and] everyone is looking forward to it.”
“What we’ve been trying to do in these last many years is to grow so more people can watch the show,” Calla said of organizers’ goal for the MAAs. “We want to change their lives and change the world.”
Mitchell concurred. “I’ve been to a lot of award shows,” he said. “This show is so genuine. A lot of times, you you leave feeling these other shows lack talent. These people that’s on the [MAA] stage have talent.”
He continued: “I’ve been [acting] for 40 years. These [disabled] people performing are artists. They have a canvas. They have the paint. They have the brushes. They paint a picture for you that whether they’re writing or acting or singing, they have genuine talent. People are going to be astonished when they see this show—when they watch, they’re going to be like ‘Wow!’ because it’s real talent. It’s beautiful.”
Looking towards the future, both Calla and Mitchell expressed their desire to keep the MAAs going into perpetuity. Mitchell told me he hopes to see “ore participation from the networks” such that the show can get even more visibility and promotion. He called the MAAs “much-needed” and said “it puts things in perspective as far as the world goes… it’s informative, enlightening, and uplifting.” Calla agreed, saying the MAAs is “an honest show full of talent” and “does a lot of good for people.”
“We would like to see the show have a broader audience [and] have more support,” Calla said of her wishes for the MAA’s future. “[We want] to not have people be surprised by the connectivity of the different people who come on stage, who have all kinds of disabilities, and it works organically… it works beautiful and smooth. It’s amazing to see people of all different shapes, sizes, disabilities, color, coming together to do something meaningful without being pedantic about it. It’s a really good experience. My desire is to have more people watch [and] be impacted by it and be open to the nature of humanity so we can all celebrate.”
The Media Access Awards will be broadcast nationally on local PBS stations leading up to the International Day of Persons with Disabilities on December 3. The show also is available to stream on the PBS app.