The 2010 Media Access Awards, a press breakfast honoring individuals and organizations in the entertainment and broadcast industries for their efforts in promoting the awareness of the disability experience, accessibility for people with disabilities, and the accurate depiction of characters with disabilities, will be held on October 8, 2010, from 9:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. at the Peninsula Hotel in Beverly Hills, Calif.

The 2010 Media Access Awards are co-sponsored by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (AFTRA), the Casting Society of America (CSA), the Producers Guild of America (PGA), Screen Actors Guild (SAG), the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW), Friends of Californians with Disabilities, the Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities, and the R.J. Mitte Scholarship.

This year’s Media Access Awards also marks the 20th anniversary of the American’s With Disabilities Act.  Signed in 1990, the Americans with Disabilities Act has fostered independence, empowerment and inclusion for millions of Americans. With an aging society in America, combined with a growing number of disabled veterans, recognizing the talents of disabled persons in the entertainment and broadcast industries is even more important than ever.

There are an estimated 56 million Americans living with disabilities.  The entertainment unions and guilds recognize the social impact of films, television and broadcasting, and strive for an open dialogue regarding the portrayal of disability and increased employment opportunities in front of and behind the scenes. To that end, the Media Access Awards celebrate producers, actors, writers, broadcasters and casting directors who have made positive contributions to more accurate, inclusive portrayals of people with disabilities in film, television, and the media – and are pioneers in affecting change.

The following awards will be presented at the breakfast:  Governor’s Committee/Friends of Californians with Disabilities Award for Outstanding Contributions, AFTRA Disability Awareness Award, SAG Harold Russell Award, CSA Award, WGAW Joan Young Award, and PGA Sunga Award.

The Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation, the major sponsor of the awards, is awarding the Christopher Reeve Acting Scholarship to honor a young actor with a disability.  RJ Mitte, co-star of the Emmy-winning AMC drama Breaking Bad, understanding the plight of the actor with a disability will award the 2010 RJ Mitte Diversity Award to an actor as well.

Past Media Access Awards recipients include: Michael J. Fox, Jose Feliciano, Robert David Hall, Anthony Edwards, Nancy Davis, Norman Lear, Peter and Bobby Farrelly, Ray Charles, Diane Schuur, the Blind Boys of Alabama, Leeza Gibbons, Verne Troyer, Patty Duke, Carrie Fischer, Robert Guillaume, Montel Williams, Aaron Spelling, and many more.

The Media Access Awards was created in 1979 by the California Governor’s Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities and producer Fern Field and her late husband Norman Brooks to recognize and encourage the accurate portrayal of people with disabilities.  The Media Access Awards seek to increase the inclusion of disability in what we see and hear, and to raise public awareness, understanding and acceptance.

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