WuWD@ DOK Leipzig 2025 - Ranell Shubert “Star Baby”
Coming Soon
In this Dok Leipzig/What’s Up with Docs episode, host I reunite with former producer Ranell Shubert, now Executive Director of the Disability Media Alliance (DMA), to discuss power, possibility, and breaking barriers in nonfiction film.
Ranell reflects on the research, lived experience, and movement-building that led to DMA’s formation from her groundbreaking work at the International Documentary Association (IDA), Getting Real, and the Direct Access Fund. Together, she and Toni explore the deep-rooted systemic challenges from inaccessible festivals to underfunded support networks and the transformative potential of centering care, community, and disability-led leadership.
The song for this episode is RuPaul’s “Star Baby " because it highlights what’s possible when disabled creators are resourced, respected, and ready to shine.
Ranell’s Bio
Ranell Shubert is an arts nonprofit professional with over a decade of experience in nonprofit management, arts education, and funds administration. Identifying as neurodivergent and living with a mental health condition, and drawing from her background as a caregiver, Ranell centers the perspectives and experiences of disabled people in all aspects of her leadership. She brings deep knowledge of the documentary industry and funding landscape, working to ensure that disabled media makers are resourced and supported as they navigate the nonfiction field.
As the Nonfiction Access Initiative Funds Program Manager at the International Documentary Association (IDA), Ranell led community-driven research, outreach, and program implementation to support disabled nonfiction media makers. She launched the Direct Access Fund, which provided targeted access grants covering necessary budget lines like caregiving, assistive technology, interpretation, and festival support for 21 nonfiction projects directed by disabled creators. She also produced the Enhancing Accessibility and Support for Disabled Nonfiction Media Makers: NAI 2024 Report, a field-shaping publication that called on funders and institutions across the nonfiction industry to reassess their practices, policies, and assumptions around disability and access.
Ranell also produced the What's Up with Docs Podcast, which focused on equity and inclusion in the nonfiction industry through interviews with filmmakers, funders, and movement leaders. At the 1IN4 Coalition, an intersectional collective of disabled creatives working in Hollywood, she helped launch the Disabled Writers Mentorship Program. She advocated for authentic representation and increased employment of disabled people in film and television.
She has also taught Audio Podcast Production at the University of Southern California and holds a Bachelor of Arts in Film/Video Production from Columbia College Chicago.
About The Disability Media Alliance
The Disability Media Alliance (DMA) is an intermediary nonprofit organization building global infrastructure to support disabled nonfiction media makers. As a collective of disability accountable organizations around the world, DMA is committed to creating a global network where disabled nonfiction media makers feel supported, connected, and resourced. We work to expand opportunities for disabled people to tell their own stories and to ensure more authentic, complex representations of disability exist across the nonfiction media landscape. Through research, funding, and community-building, DMA strengthens the organizations that fund, develop, and amplify disabled nonfiction storytellers. Our mission is to help build a well-resourced global ecosystem so that disabled nonfiction media makers can focus on storytelling, rather than fighting for their existence in the industry. DMA envisions a world where disabled nonfiction creators have what they need to thrive and share a full range of stories, with strong regional organizations sustaining their work. By connecting and equipping these organizations, DMA works to shift industry culture and build lasting accessibility, ensuring that multi-marginalized disabled nonfiction storytellers can reach wider audiences and shape the future of nonfiction media.
Website & Social Media
Dok Leipzig Podcast Page Episode
