Ever since the Campaign for Disability Employment (CDE) announced its second annual video contest back in February, we’ve been waiting eagerly to see what kinds of creative ways people will communicate the “What Can YOU Do?” theme as it relates to work opportunities for people with disabilities. So when the press release hit the wire on Tuesday, we didn’t wait for media pickup before heading on over to the CDE website to watch the vids.
The three first-place winners in the categories of youth, employer, and general public each received an Apple iPad. Judging criteria included originality, accessibility, production values, and reflection of campaign themes, described thusly in the press release:
This nationwide contest challenged filmmakers to produce disability employment awareness videos that reflect the diversity of skills people with disabilities offer, challenge common misconceptions about disability employment and reinforce the CDE’s core message that, at work, it’s what people CAN do that matters.
It’s safe to say that all three winners did an excellent job of meeting these criteria. The winning entry for the “Employment” category, created by Adam Dylewski and the American Chemical Society’s Chemists with Disabilities Committee, features several people with disabilities who are forwarding the science of chemistry while working in private companies as well as for government agencies and institutions of higher education:
Not surprisingly, the best production values among the three winners can be found in the youth category, where Jake Johnson of Clarence, New York, tells the story of achieving his goals despite some people telling him he couldn’t. Jake’s use of the scrapbook motif for scene transitions interspersed with short text messages that appear and disappear in sync with his voiceover add even more energy to his one-minute-and-17-second pep talk:
Putting a lump in the viewer’s throat was not a criterion the judges were asked to use in their assessments; but Dylan Johanson’s winning entry, in the General Public category, has done that to me every time I’ve watched it so far. Johanson, who like Jake Johnson is also from New York (Rosendale, to be exact), has some great B-roll footage of his subject, Margaret, performing her daily duties in the school cafeteria while the superintendent and a student share her heroic story. It isn’t until the last few seconds of the video that you hear Margaret’s own voice:
The CDE is encouraging everyone to share the winning videos in order to help “challenge negative perceptions about disability employment and increase knowledge and understanding of the skills and talents of people with disabilities.” You can do that by sharing this post through the social media tools at the top of the page. We also welcome your opinions on the videos in the comments section below.
Image by M4D Group, used under its Creative Commons license.