RespectAbility—a leading advocacy organization for people with disabilities—is launching its first training program for disabled writers interested in working in children’s animation.

This in-person workshop will run from May 20 to 23, in collaboration with Disney Television Animation, DreamWorks Animation, LeVar Burton Entertainment and PBS KIDS. 

It’s designed to support a cohort of up-and-coming children’s animation writers looking to hone their skills. Featuring a variety of speakers and a pitching workshop, the program will focus on building community, networking and career advancement.  

Five inaugural participants (all based in LA) were selected following an extensive search and interview process: TV writers Stephan Collins-Stepney and Cody Stickels; film writer Rae Greenhoe; and writer/directors Sabrina “Dossi” Mansfield and Cassie Palmisano.

They bring a range of industry experience to the program. Palmisano has voice direction experience in animation and has already worked on Netflix projects including The Lady of Silence: The Mataviejitas Murders and Love is Blind Brazil. Greenhoe is working as a director of development at Legacy Pictures. Collins-Stepney is a RespectAbility Children’s Content Lab alum and a 2024 Kidscreen Diverse Voices mentee. Stickels has a documentary background and participated in the 2023 Sundance Producers Intensive. And Mansfield was the first grad student at USC to shoot an original multi-cam pilot (and a first episode) in front of a live audience.

More details about these creatives are available at respectability.org.

Past RespectAbility Lab participants have gone on to work at companies including Netflix, Nickelodeon, Paramount Pictures, Sony Pictures Entertainment and The Walt Disney Company. 

(pictured clockwise from left: Cassie Palmisano, Cody Stickels, Stephan Collins-Stepney, Rae Greenhoe, Sabrina “Dossi” Mansfield)