EXCLUSIVE: A British producer-director is working on what is believed to be the first major documentary about the learning disabled and autistic community in the film and TV industry.
Lizzie Evans is in pre-production on the 90-minute feature that has working titles This Is The Industry and Where Do You Want Us?, with a number of celebs already signed up for the doc, Evans told Deadline.
The doc is the first to “spotlight the thriving but often-overlooked subculture of learning disabled, autistic, and neurodivergent creatives already working in our industry.” “They exist both in front of and behind the camera, but often on the margins — and the scale of this community may surprise people,” says its synopsis. The project will also examine “the sustainability of the UK screen industries from environmental challenges to structural inequity and social impact.”
The doc started life as a grassroots feature but has grown in scope, landed several celebrity contributors who will be revealed soon, and attracted attention from broadcasters and disability institutions, who Evans said she is now in conversation with. Evans posted on LinkedIn about the project last week and the post garnered attention from all corners of the industry. She is an advocate who has worked on the likes of Still Open More Hours and Homework.
“This is my major directorial debut — and as an autistic filmmaker, I’ve faced a lot of invisible barriers that still exist across the industry,” Evans told Deadline. “Those same barriers are the very themes this documentary tackles, and it’s why I have to make this film. Not just for me, but for everyone who’s coming forward with similar stories.”
The doc will be taken to next year’s Oska Bright Film Festival, which calls itself the “world’s leading festival for films made by or featuring people with learning disabilities or autism.”
Disability in UK film and TV has been in the spotlight since Adolescence creator Jack Thorne’s blistering 2021 MacTaggart, in which he blasted the industry for “utterly and totally” failing disabled people. Since then, campaigners have been working to improve opportunities in the industry for a minority that makes up around 20% of the UK population. Around one in seven people in the UK are thought to be neurodivergent.