Accessibility Services
Making Films and Events Inclusive, One Production At A Time
With over 25 years of lived experience with epilepsy and a background in film production, I help productions and festivals create inclusive, welcoming spaces—for both audiences and crew.
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This applies to individual feature films, episodic projects, or an entire slate of accepted films at any film festival.
I personally screen these films for trigger warnings, not just for photosensitivity, but also sexual assault, suicide, racial slurs, extensive violence, gore, or other problematic warnings that should be added to the film(s). I create the proper language to use for the filmmakers and film festivals if I notice that a trigger warning is necessary. This language should be included on each film or episodic page of the film festival website to inform audiences about potentially triggering content in the specific screening.
This is a value-added service for filmmakers, as they are now aware that their film requires a trigger warning and are provided with the proper language necessary for future screenings at film festivals or for distribution.
This also enables film festivals to provide appropriate trigger warnings online for relevant films, post signage at the theater, and make announcements before the screening. This takes away any liability a film festival may have on the back end or a potential bad review because an attendee wasn’t “properly warned of (X) trigger” in a film.
For individual filmmakers, this service can be conducted remotely via a private link to a project. For film festivals, I would require access to the festival’s FilmFreeway account to screen the accepted films.
This service can be done remotely.
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This service applies to events, film festivals, and panels.
My engaging sessions cover everything from accessible venue planning and communication access to designing for mobility, sensory, and neurodiverse needs. Through real-world examples and actionable strategies, I’ll help your organization move beyond compliance to deliver events that are genuinely inclusive, thoughtful, and impactful. Let’s work together to ensure your next event is accessible to all.
How this process works:
I will meet with the decision makers of events, film festivals, or panels to discuss how they can make their organizations more accessible on-site. This involves a deep dive into the venue that has been chosen, what type of entrances/exits that venue has, if the stage have accessible access, coordinating with the photographers on not using flash during the event (and it is possible to still get great photos without it), working with the volunteer coordinator on educating volunteers in case someone needs ADA assistance, ensuring are there closed captioning devices or ASL interpreters available upon request, and educating the venue itself on what they can do to better their space for future events, film festivals, and panels.
This service can be done remotely or in person (if the event or festival is based in New York City).
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This service applies to events, film festivals, and panels.
Looking to make your events truly inclusive and accessible? As an experienced accessibility coordinator and educator, I offer tailored presentations that equip your team with the knowledge and tools to create events or film festivals that welcome everyone.
I also provide workshops for filmmakers on how to make their sets more accessible and inclusive.
This service can be done remotely or in person (if the event or festival is based in New York City).
All photos below were taken without flash photography at the Sundance Film Festival, as part of the Diversity and Inclusion Film Festival slate of events at the United Airlines Lounge and Impact Lounge (2025)
Mark Brystowski
Associate Director of the Diversity and Inclusion Film Festival - Senior Financial Analyst - NBC Universal
“Caroline was an incredible asset to our festival, both as a resource for our programming as well as a proactive advocate for our guests. Professional and prepared, she went above and beyond to help us achieve and indeed exceed our accessibility goals.”
All photos below were taken without flash photography at the Climate Film Festival in New York City (2024)
I've noticed a growing trend over the past few years after attending various events, film festivals, and panels. No one working with photographers to set up proper lighting for these events, and for film festivals, no one is pre-screening the films that have been accepted into these festivals for photosensitivity issues, and it raises a huge risk of someone in the audience having a seizure or sensory issue during a screening or an after-party event.
Not only that but films that screen at festivals that have elements of suicide, language (mainly homophobic or racial slurs), graphic violence, sexual assault, or other triggering topics can leave audiences distraught. Filmmakers want to make the audience walk out of the theater and appreciate the projects they have spent so much time on.
If a company doesn’t prioritize this in-depth assessment process for an event, film festival, or panel setting, it elevates the chance that this could happen anywhere.
Every event uses flash photography today, which shouldn’t be the norm. Even people without photosensitive issues often complain of strobe lights from photographers at step and repeats (red carpets) during events, and that shows that it’s an issue that affects almost everyone. Too many episodic projects and films in recent times have strobe lights, opposite colors flashing, and even lightning strikes that can trigger someone with that condition or even a new audience member with no history of epilepsy/photosensitive issues.
Accessibility consultations help prevent these triggers for attendees, whether about lighting or subject matters in film projects, and create a better experience for everyone.
By having a photosensitive person with a high tolerance for flashing lights and epilepsy like me screen the accepted films of any festival (before they are formally announced to the press or online), it will eliminate the liability of someone having a sensory overload, seizure or dying from SUDEP during a screening or event. This is also a way for events, festivals, and panels to decrease the risk of injury from their insurance companies and potentially deduct money from their insurance policy.
And this will be an added benefit to an event, film festival, or panel as you would be able to list me, a disabled, queer woman, as a consultant on the festival website. Intersectionality is everything today, and if a festival has a diverse team the public and press take note.
To give some insight as to what an Accessibility Consultation entails, please see a breakdown of the process below:
Events and Panels
An initial Zoom meeting with the event, film festival, or panel “team” is needed to establish contact and discuss the consultation requirements. This meeting can occur in person if the event, film festival, or panel is based in New York.
After the introductory call, the client will assess the event or panel (duration, number of attendees, number of photographers on staff, venue layout, point person on site, etc.) and send a summary to me.
A Zoom meeting with the “team” will take place to review any specific questions.
Once the call is complete, I will send a list of action items for the event staff to make their event more accessible (including signage suggestions, brief training with photographers, etc.)
Any additional questions will be answered via Zoom, as some things are lost in translation via email.
Film Festivals
An initial Zoom meeting with the event, film festival, or panel “team” is needed to establish contact and discuss the consultation requirements. This meeting can occur in person if the event, film festival, or panel is based in New York.
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The “team” will provide access to the accepted episodic projects, short films, and feature films via FilmFreeway. While this type of access is usually given to screeners and programmers, I would only be using it to watch the films and assess whether they need trigger warnings or not.
I will pre-screen each project individually, check off the films that do not have photosensitivity, sexual assault, suicide, racial slurs, or other trigger warnings, and note the ones that do have problems within a Google Sheet. If requested, I can also note the time code of the triggering scene(s).
Once the document is complete, I send it to the film festival contact and recommend the cautionary measures that should be taken for the films that require trigger warnings. This includes suggestions for warnings on the website for the specific short film block, episodic and feature film screenings with triggering, and verbiage on the individual episodic/film landing pages. Not to mention signs for the theater to post for those particular projects, volunteer training on how to answer if someone has a question (ex: if the event has a Q&A after a screening or if there is a panel discussion, will there be photographers with flashes in attendance), and how to take care of someone if they have a seizure.
A final Zoom/in-person meeting to answer any questions and ensure the proper steps are implemented. If it is a New York-based film festival, a final walkthrough prior to the festival can be arranged.
At the end of the day, these consultations mitigate the risk that film festivals and events take by not preparing for these scenarios. Especially as accessibility and disability are finally being given the consideration that they should have had all along.
If you are interested in speaking about my Accessibility Services, please email me at:
carolineparkerboyd@gmail.com