Anderson Collection at Stanford University

In honor of the 10th anniversary of the Anderson Collection at Stanford University, the museum recently began rolling out audio and written image descriptions, written and produced by SADC, for every artwork in their collection. The project of describing the whole collection is expected to be complete in 2025.

For those itching to read or listen, already a few dozen artworks have their descriptions available on their individual pages of the Anderson Collection website. These include: The Coat II; Totem Lesson I; Chain Gang; Gansevoort Street; Before, Again IV; Full Time, Number 64; Transfiguration III; Lucifer; Homage to the Square, Diffused; Pendulum; Summer Image (For My Mother); Untitled No. 21 (by Martin); Hans Bricker In The Tropics; Untitled (1969) (by McCraken); The Tale; Living Curve; Untitled (by Irwin); Italian Summer; Sky Garden; Timeless Clock; 1957-J No. 1 (PH-142); black painting; Approach; Plumb Bob; Sinking Brick Plates; and Burn and Glitter. The museum will continue adding the written and audio-recorded descriptions as they become available. We anticipate completing the project in Fall 2025.

Descriptions written by Project Lead Cheryl Green, Oliver Baker, Kensuke Nakamura, and non-member associates Eboni Gaytan, Noah Kemp, Casaundra Freeman, and Sean Collins. Blind QC by Robert Kingett and Nefertiti Matos Olivares. Narration by Oliver, Barbara Faison, Cheryl, Nefertiti, Thomas Reid, and non-member associate Tanja Milojevic. Audio editing by Oliver, Cheryl, Thomas, and Tanja.

#BarbaraFaison #CherylGreen #CherylNarrator #CherylProjectLead #CherylWriter #KensukeNakamura #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #OliverBaker #OliverNarrator #OliverWriter #RobertKingett #SADC #TanjaMilojevic #ThomasReid

Renegades: Disabled Icons in October on PBS

SADC produced Audio Description for a new digital series of five documentary short films showcasing the lives and cultural contributions of little-known historical figures with disabilities called Renegades. In April, 2025, the series won a Webby Award for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (Series or Channel).

Hosted by award-winning musician and disability rights champion Lachi, Renegades premiered Tuesdays, October 1 – October 29 on the American Masters YouTube channel, PBS.org and the PBS App in honor of National Disability Employment Awareness Month.

Overall accessibility for the series, including ASL interpretation, captioning, and descriptive transcript, was coordinated and created by D-PAN, the Deaf Professional Artist Network.

For the AD production, Cheryl Green was the project lead, as well as writer, along with Oliver Baker. Narration by Thomas Reid and non-collective member Tanja Milojevic. Blind QC by Robert Kingett, Bex León, and Nefertiti Matos Olivares.

The Renegades World Premiere onsite premiere was free at The Kennedy Center on September 29th, 2024, and in Manhattan at the Marlene Meyerson JCC, co-sponsored by ReelAbilities Film Festival on October 1st, 2024. Please note that some onsite screenings are planned to have live audio description, not the SADC-produced AD.

Visit the Renegades page on PBS to learn where to watch online or on the app with audio description, ASL, and captions.

#CherylGreen #CherylGreenWriter #CherylProjectLead #MarLeón #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #OliverBaker #OliverWriter #RobertKingett #ThomasReid

The Last Jews of Guantánamo

Los Últimos Judíos de Guantánamo (The Last Jews of Guantánamo) provides a glimpse of a tiny community at a unique moment for Jews in Cuba. In the city of Guantánamo, following the liberalization of Cuban policies against religion, two women in their 80s are finally to be bat mitzvah; to ritually proclaim their faith and community with other Jews. Members of their historically Jewish family have come out and traveled from abroad for the occasion.

SADC produced audio description for the film, which premieres July 27, 2024 as part of a program on Jews of color, called “Peripheral Visions”, at the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival.

Project Lead: Cheryl Green. Writer: Oliver Baker. Blind QC and narrator: Nefertiti Matos Olivares. Audio editor: Kensuke Nakamura. Subtitles read by Oliver Baker, Barbara Faison, and Cheryl Green.

#BarbaraFaison #CherylGreen #CherylProjectLead #KensukeNakamura #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #NefertitiNarrator #OliverBaker #OliverWriter #SADC

After the Bomb focuses on two women permanently disabled as adults by violence in Northern Ireland in the period known as the Troubles. It tells the story of their ultimately successful campaign along with others to secure substantive government assistance to people injured like themselves. At the same time, the film documents the unique support they have come along the way to provide each other.

Made by Heather Brumley, SADC produced audio description for the film, which premiered on July 14, 2024 and shared the Best Short Documentary Award at the 36th Galway Film Fleadh in Ireland. The film features the facility in Northern Ireland where the women met and their campaign began: WAVE Trauma Centre.

Audio description led by Cheryl Green. Written by Oliver Baker. Blind QC by Robert Kingett. Audio edited by Thomas Reid. Narration by Paula Burns, an AD narrator from Northern Ireland who the SADC specially subcontracted for this project.

https://socialaudiodescription.com/2024/07/13/after-the-bomb/

#CherylGreen #CherylProjectLead #OliverBaker #OliverWriter #RobertKingett #SADC #ThomasReid

Tripping Hazard (Field Studio 1)

Tripping Hazard (Field Studio 1) is a collaborative art installation by Carmen and Antonio Papalia, which stood on view at the Migros museum in Zurich, Switzerland, October 2023 through January 2024 for their Interdependencies exhibition. View and listen to the description SADC produced for the photos and the videos of the piece.

https://vimeo.com/959172273

https://vimeo.com/959189028

Photos: Writer Cheryl Green
Video: Writer Oliver BakerNarrator, Audio Editor, Blind QC & Project Lead: Thomas Reid

2024 Easterseals Disability Film Challenge

Here’s SADC receiving thanks from master of ceremonies Nic Novicki at the award ceremony.

The SADC provided audio description for 15 of the 16 finalists for the Easterseals Disability Film Challenge, now in its 11th year. (The winner for Best Film, entitled Audio Description, had AD already supplied and central to its story.)

The films each showcase deafness or disability, and had to be scripted, shot and finished all within five days, all by volunteers, and this year all in the form of a buddy comedy.

Prizes are awarded in six categories. At the same time, winners also receive exposure and introductions to entertainment industry professionals and executives.

This was the first year in which finalist films were provided professional AD in advance of the winners being announced. Given the contest’s constraints, the description had to happen fast and under secrecy.  SADC is proud to have been the EDFC’s choice.

Project Lead was Thomas Reid. Writers were Cheryl Green, Oliver Baker, and Kensuke Nakamura. Blind QC by Nefertiti Matos Olivares and Robert Kingett. Narrated by Thomas, Cheryl, Oliver, Nefertiti, and Barbara Faison.

Check out a playlist of the open captioned, open audio described finalist films.

#BarbaraFaison #CherylAudioEditor #CherylGreen #CherylGreenWriter #CherylNarrator #EastersealsDisabilityFilmChallenge #KensukeNakamura #NefertitiBlindQC #NefertitiMatosOlivares #OliverBaker #OliverNarrator #OliverWriter #RobertKingett #ThomasReid

A disabled poet with Rett syndrome (Ysolde Stienon) and a disabled performing artist with Type 1 diabetes (Marina “heron” Tsaplina) document their 12-month artistic collaboration to illuminate ground-time: the nonverbal, expressive dynamics of embodied communication.

SADC provided audio description for two short, open-captioned videos to accompany an essay of the same name in the Leonardo journal, Volume 57, number 2. You do not need to register to read the essay or play the videos, but other articles in the journal are locked and only available to those with accounts. Find introductory writing and introductory videos all in one place, plus links to the articles on the Leonardo site’s Special Issue Gallery.

In the journal itself, the two videos are linked in a section called “Supplementary data” at the end of the article. Here are direct links to Video 1 and Video 2. (Note, the videos play automatically when the URLs open.)

Project Lead and captioner, Cheryl Green. Audio description written by Oliver Baker. Blind QC and narration by Nefertiti Matos Olivares. Audio editing by Thomas Reid.

https://socialaudiodescription.com/2024/04/26/primitive-way-country-come-look-inside/

#CherylGreen #NefertitiMatosOlivares #OliverBaker #OliverWriter #SADC #ThomasReid