SHORT FILM "GLACIAL BREEZE" SYNOPSIS:

 "A glance, a look, a flirt toward that attractive person across the room, the hall, the restaurant! It happens all the time and can be magical, but how long will that love at first sight or the physical attraction and desire last once they get to see the whole person! Will the red hot attraction turn icy cold?"

The two main characters in "Glacial Breeze", a beautiful woman, Marisa, and a handsome man, McQueen, go through a typical work-week day and during some events or errands have strangers cross their path and flirt with them. They smile and politely dismiss the flirting from the very attractive members of the opposite sex and some of their co-workers and friends wonder why? Are they married or involved with someone? Are they not interested in the opposite sex? What can it be? Why don't they chase after those that seem so attracted to them? All is revealed in the finally scene when the flirtatious strangers see the whole person of each of our main characters! 

For those who already know me as a paraplegic filmmaker dedicated to making mainstream entertainment that happens to feature paraplegic characters in an authentic representation have figured out that the main characters in "Glacial Breeze" are also paraplegics - BUT the supporting characters in this 12 minute short film AND the audience watching it will not know this until the final scene!  The two main characters are very attractive and whose daily lives kind of mirror one another as they politely accept the flirting from co-workers and strangers when they see them only from the waist, chest, or shoulders up throughout their day, but because they know what the typical reaction would be once it is revealed that they use a wheelchair for mobility, they do not pursue any of the advances from the very attractive people flirting with them! The supporting characters and the audience watching Glacial Breeze find in the closing scene that the hot attraction they thought they had for these featured characters can quickly turn into a very cold wind or a glacial breeze when they are shocked by the revelation that these two beautiful main characters are paraplegics!

Teal Sherer as Marisa -- and -- Toby Forrest as McQueen

Yes, we have fantastic actors, Teal Sherer and Toby Forrest, both are performers with a disAbility who are authentically portraying and representing the two leading characters! 

Want to learn more about "Glacial Breeze"? You can read the screenplay and the storyboard, learn why there is no dialogue in "Glacial Breeze" and other details & the significance about this short film,  as well as learning more about our two Star actors, Teal and Toby, at the website for Glacial Breeze http://AbilitiesUnited.com/glacialbreeze.html  Also FYI: I am now contacting some well known celebrities to portray the beautiful supporting characters that flirt with our two main characters with paraplegia! Check back for updates to find out who will accept the invitation to help us in this "cause" or providing an authentic voice, vision, performance and overall representation of paraplegics and those with a disAbility in general - who will help their fellow actors who are often discriminated against in this industry, and help the entire disAbled community finally have an honest, genuine, authentic representation in non-stereotypical movies! Which celebrities do you think will help make for a brighter future for all people with a disAbility! Check the Updates tab and our website to find out which celebrities will help in this much needed "cause"! 

THERE IS A "CAUSE" & WHO CARES?

This is a BIG CAUSE that gets little attention! And if you don't have a disAbility you probably have not noticed - but we often wonder why do we not get any, or very little representation in movies and television - and when we do it is most often stereotypical and portrayed by able bodied people. WHERE ARE MY MOVIE AND TELEVISION HEROES? That is how the past and current Hollywood's lack of inclusion means to the entire community of 56+ million Americans with a disAbility. But this "cause" is two fold - it also affects those with a disAbility who have the same passions and talents as their able bodied counterparts to work in movies and television, but are often dismissed, ignored, and even discriminated against! I am paraplegic and I have a dream! I see paraplegics and those with all kinds of disAbilities who have dreams and live them everyday from the visual arts as painters and sculptors, to musicians from pianist and harpist, to rock bands and rap artists, sports athletes in wheelchair tennis, basketball, and even extreme sports using their wheelchair, to working in all fields, and much, much more. But the dreams of paraplegics and people with disAbilities in general are not that welcomed in the motion picture and television industry Hollywood seems to help the under-represented except for those with a disAbility.

Think about all the fictional, mainstream movies and television programs that have either featured a character with a disAbility or had them as a supporting role, and for simplicity narrow it down to just those that were paraplegic characters and the first thing you notice is that there are not that many of them. Secondly, nearly every one was written, directed, and performed by an able bodied person. And thirdly, they are also nearly always stereotypical in character and/or story which means that they were either all about the disAbility, surrounded by a political agenda, or predictably inspirational. And if that wasn't enough, nearly all have the fairy tale ending - not the happy Hollywood ending, which is fine, but the fairy tale ending in which the the disAbility is miraculously cured and the character can seemingly only be happy and have a happy ending if they are rid of their disAbility!

The impact of Hollywoods attitude toward those with a disAbility goes much deeper than just discriminating past and current filmmakers and actors with a disAbility and offering virtually no examples or hopes for future people with a disAbility to even dream of having a career in movies and television BUT also has far reaching implications toward the entire 56+ million Americans with a disAbility and future generations of those with a disAbility from having any voice, representation, or heroes of their own in movies and television. 

GOOD NEWS IT CAN CHANGEWITH YOUR HELP:

The industry environment and the circumstance that I just explained are not just my opinions, or experiences, but that of many, many others with a disAbility that I have heard from personally or read about, and are supported by the only industry research study that was commissioned in 2003 and then published by the Screen Actors Guild (SAG) in 2005, the Performers With Disabilities (PWD) committees formed by the actors guilds, and the actors tri-union campaign formed in 2008 called, Inclusion in the Arts and Media for Performers With Disabilities (I AM PWD) and a few watchdog organizations that report the same things I have touched upon above.

Talking about doing the right thing and asking others in the industry to do the right thing is helpful, but will not have the impact that doing the right thing will have! "Glacial Breeze" is DOING THE RIGHT THING. I have spent the past 15 years as a paraplegic filmmaker and position myself and my branded company, Abilities United Production (http://AbilitiesUnited.com), to be a major contributor in what I predict that history will soon record as a significant turning point in American cinema for those with a disAbility on both sides of the camera and the deep impact for all those with a disAbility, for our culture and society being inclusive and caring about those in the largest and fastest growing minority in America those with a disAbility! But it has to start with this short film and for that to happen it has to have your help! Please donate whatever you can spare and invite others to visit, do the same, and help make cinematic history!

DONATION LEVELS:

Christopher Reeve was the main connection between the disAbled community and Hollywood and although he is no longer with us his spirit continues to inspire me and many, many others. As I recently wrote about the unique connections that he and I shared even though we never met in person in the article I published on my website The Superhero in Superman he was an extraordinary person, who cared about all humans, who famously played a person with superhuman strength, who in his daily life in both words and actions inspired others to be heroes and that made him a superhero! And now we all need to become caring humans who care about those with a disAbility and become heroes and superheroes by donating at any level to make this short film and take this cause to the next level! Please donate what you can and invite others to come here and be part of this often overlook and ignored issue of those with a disAbility in movies and television! The change is coming but it needs your support in going from just talking about the right thing and doing the right thing! Thank you!

FUNDS WILL BE USED FOR:

Even with todays technology improvements everything in making a film costs money! Funds will be used to the productions costs at making the short film look as professional and polished as possible but even with some donating their talent and/or services, it is only right to pay for food and feed them! And many items that have to be purchased, equipment rentals, locations secured, sets to be built, permits, costumes, etc., that require to be paid. Even reaching the funding goal above will require stretching every dollar to make this short film worthy of the authentic representation of those with a disAbility! We will use the funds to give this film that features paraplegic characters in an authentic representation the production value it deserves to be accepted as all other professional independent films! So join with me and become the heroes and superheroes that help those who are rarely if ever are properly represented!