Inevitable Foundation continues to ramp up its efforts to platform disability in Hollywood with the launch of its own production company.
The first-of-its-kind Inevitable Studios will serve as the content wing of the advocacy and research non-profit, focusing on the development, production and marketing of film and television told through a specific diversity lens. Key to the initiative is the hiring of disabled writers and filmmakers, which make up a fraction of the entertainment industry workforce, but the programming goals are hardly niche.
“We’re looking for commercial projects across all genres that have disability in the DNA,” says Inevitable co-founder Richie Siegel. “That can mean a lot of things, but these are not projects that have disability slapped on — checking some box, where it feels performative. Think about a film like A Quiet Place. If you remove deafness and sign language, there is no movie. The whole thing falls apart. That’s a litmus test for how to build a story where disability is baked in.”
Across three films, that horror franchise has grossed more than $900 million at the global box office. But the fact that there are few examples beyond A Quiet Place, though Siegel eagerly praises Ramy Youssef-produced Ramy and Mo, underscores the dearth of intrinsic diversity in storytelling.
Such inadequacies are more noticeable when taking the scope of disability into account. Inevitable cites a disability community — covering those with physical disabilities, invisible disabilities, chronic illnesses, neurodiversity and mental health conditions, in addition to their family, friends and caregivers — that represents more than 70 million Americans across 20 million households. “It is such a large audience that you’d think someone must have already done this,” adds Siegal.
Siegal and his fellow co-founder, screenwriter Marisa Torelli-Pedevska, have envisioned a production arm since the foundation launched at the top of 2021. “We always knew we wanted to make stuff,” he says. “But we wanted to spend a lot of time building up the relationships with writers, filmmakers, agents and managers. I think we’ve developed our tastes and have a really strong understanding of what the audience wants. Now we can really cook.”
With substantial development fund to commission projects and invest in IP, Inevitable Studios will focus on stories with disability and caregiving baked into the narratives. Siegal and Torelli-Pedevska will lead the production company, with Paramount and Overbrook alum Clarence Hammond serving as senior advisor. The goal is to invest significant time and money into development before seeking financing for filming and partners for distribution and then, when the time comes, lend Inevitable’s understanding of the disability audience to market the projects.
“The early phase is so incredibly important for us,” says Siegel. “We want the space for writers and filmmakers to build the foundation in ways that have real commercial legs. Once that is in place, then we’ll go find those partners. Development is a beast and it’s so easy for the soul of a thing to get lost as more hands come in.”
Talking about the push, Siegel seems particularly eager about theatrical releases, though streaming and television across all genres are also part of the Inevitable Studios plan. The inaugural development slate is still being narrowed down, and the group is bullish on what happens after that — even if the industry headwinds aren’t exactly in anyone’s favor at the moment.
“Yes, in some ways, it is a very wild time to be doing this,” says Siegel. “At the same time, there’s a lot of opportunity. I think that with a lot of the challenges that the industry is facing, whether it’s ticket sales or fickle attention spans, we’re here saying, ‘Hey, there’s this audience no one is paying attention to.’ And maybe that’s part of the solution.”