CAREERS
TRAILBLAZERS DDPTV’S BRYONY ARNOLD AND CHARLIE PHEBY
“THE JOYOUS THING IS THE COMMUNITY ELEMENT. HAVING people that just get it IS SO REFRESHING”
D eaf & Disabled People in TV (DDPTV) – an organisation that elevates deaf, disabled and neurodivergent off-screen talent – began as a Facebook group. During the Covid-19 lockdown, Bryony Arnold, a wheelchair user and TV drama producer, stumbled upon this small community. Today, she’s one of three DDPTV directors. “It was a lonely, isolating place, trying to navigate this industry that was slightly hostile towards disabled people,” says Arnold. “I’ve been told in the past, ‘You’re not going to be able to work in production because of the wheelchair.’” After Arnold joined DDPTV as a member, director Caroline O’Neill – an assistant commissioner at the BBC – invited her to become co-director. “Three years on, it’s taken over my life,” she jokes. Charlie Pheby, the DDPTV’s third co- director, was also an original member. The first in his family to attend university, Pheby trained as an artist before landing himself on a film course. Professionally, he
began in post-production and ‘worked backwards’, ending up in casting. Pheby agrees that DDPTV has been all-consuming. “It’s because it’s working.” SAFE SPACE In the beginning, “anybody could join [DDPTV]”, explains Arnold. Soon after they became a directorial trio, she, Pheby and O’Neill removed the non-disabled members to build a safer space for those who truly needed it. “The numbers massively dropped, and we were down to just a couple of hundred. But what it meant was that we could build a community,” says Arnold. At DDPTV’s core is its diverse membership, now comprised of more than 2000 deaf, disabled and neurodivergent individuals. “Our members vary, from runners to commissioners,” shares Pheby. “We have people who work in sound; we have people who are DOPs. We have people
WORDS Katie Kasperson
We sat down with DDPTV directors Bryony Arnold and Charlie Pheby to discuss access and inclusion, disability and ‘coming out’
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