2013 Media Access Awards

The 2013 Media Access Awards was held at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California on Thursday, October 17. The event, now in its fourth year, honors members of the entertainment and broadcast industries for their efforts in promoting awareness of the disability experience, accessibility for people with disabilities, and the accurate depiction of characters with disabilities. 

The goal of representing and shedding light on various disabilities while raising public perception through the media takes center stage for this celebration. A vibrant and positive reception, the Media Access Awards continues to bring out some of television and film's brightest and most supportive stars as recipients and presenters year after year, and 2013 is set to be the biggest yet. The ceremony is presented by the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation and Starz Entertainment.

Award Recipients:
Media Access Awards' LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD (Norman Lear, All in the Family, The Jeffersons, Maude, The Facts of Life)
*Media Access Awards' VISIONARY AWARD (George R.R. Martin, author of A Song of Ice & Fire, the basis for Game of Thrones)
*SAG-AFTRA Disability Awareness Award (Jenni Gold, Producer of the Documentary Cinemability)
*SAG-AFTRA Harold Russell Award (RJ Mitte, Breaking Bad)
*Casting Society of America Award (Deedee Bradley, Switched at Birth, Veronica Mars)
*Writers Guild of America, West Evan Somers Memorial Award (David Shore, House)
*Producers Guild of America George Sunga Award (Bruce Cohen, Milk, Silver Linings Playbook, Academy Award-winner for American Beauty)
*Christopher Reeve Acting Scholarship (Santina Muha)
*RJ Mitte Diversity Award (Ryan Lane, Switched at Birth)

The Media Access Awards were created in 1979 by the California Governor's Committee on Employment of People with Disabilities along with producer Fern Field and her late husband, Norman Brooks, to recognize and encourage the accurate portrayal of people with disabilities.