Elliot Hedley: Disability Advocate One Song and One Documentary at a Time

The disability community must have self-advocates. Meet Elliot Hedley, budding songwriter, filmmaker, and screenwriter on why being a voice for his community is so important.

 

TRANSCRIPT

 

Elliot Hedley: Disability Advocate One Song and One Documentary at a Time

 

00:19

Welcome back to DDA's Encouraging Abilities podcast. I'm your host, DDA Communications Manager, Evan Kelly. Now with me today is a friend of the association, Mr. Elliot Headley. Elliot is an extremely creative self advocate who creates music and films, which we're gonna talk heavily about. Having studied film at Capilano University, he uses his craft and abilities as a tool for advocacy.

 

00:45

Navigating life with cerebral palsy, he dedicates himself to uplifting the voices of individuals with disabilities. His commitment extends beyond the screen. He actively participates as a peer mentor in the possibilities...

 

00:59

Social Media Fellowship. Now Possibilities is another organization here in the lower mainland that supports people with disabilities. He operates his YouTube channel Red Fighter Productions 96 where he showcases some of his advocacy work and music. So Elliot, happy to have you here today. Thank you very much. Okay so Elliot, tell me a little bit more about yourself in terms of the music and film and stuff. So film, like it's not a film. Film

 

01:30

I became like, well, as a kid because my parents both are in the film industry. So yeah, so it's a whole big family thing. Oh, wow. So what did your parents do in the film industry here? Was it here? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Well, originally my mom was from London, so they costumed theater, right, make costumes for theater, originally. And then she transitioned to like costumes for film.

 

02:01

And my dad does props, same as my brother. So they build me props, like guards knives, et cetera. So. That is, so your brother does props as well. Yeah. That's really, you're right. That really is a family affair. Is it just you and your brother? I have a few more brothers, but they don't do the same thing as me and my brother. So you have a few more brothers. How many kids are in your family?

 

02:30

Um, so there's me, Jack, Eden, and Lee Baxter, about four of us. Cool. So, yeah, to their families, but yeah. But that's interesting that you're all involved in that. That must make it fairly easy for your mom and dad. Did they work together? I don't know if they're retired now, but do they work together on films and stuff? They used to, together. Yeah.

 

02:57

uh... the laughing but that did was got to know and now my mom is a off-duty so she is trained to do fifty without all our while is in the end uh... is that for physical disabilities or any sort of range of disabilities well it's what you would just a few non-disabled

 

03:25

I presume. Oh in July, oh wow, still working on it, that's amazing. Yeah, yeah. So anyway, we got distracted talking about your parents there, let's talk about you again. So you've grown up with cerebral palsy your entire life, how was that for you? At first it was tricky because people didn't understand me and even though the cerebral palsy is fixed in speech and physical

 

03:55

this phase. So, yeah, I did go to speech therapy for that. And also, thanks to my mom again, she got me a game called Rock Band. I think you've heard about it before. Oh, of course. Yeah. Yeah. So, the doctor said, oh, you're not going to be able to play guitar or do anything with your back hands. So I started playing like...

 

04:23

locked down to my left hand, like, it's okay, not doing anything big, but then over time, it was from like stuck in this one position to I can actually play notes.

 

04:37

Mm-hmm. Well, of course you can play notes. I've got video of you playing in a bass guitar. We'll get more into that a little bit later. Yeah, and so your musical aspirations started on rock band. That's kind of cool. Yeah, I think people nowadays ask, what is rock band? It's a 2000's thing.

 

05:01

That was before, that was after my time I'm afraid. You see, one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you, because I myself, I'm a musician, I've been playing drums for 40 years, maybe even longer, I'm not even sure.

 

05:14

And so you and I definitely have that connection. And so, okay, so you fast forward from rock band, did you, before going to university or anything else, did you transition into an actual instrument? And I don't mean to offend people who use rock band, but it is not an instrument. So I first started on guitar. So I was guitared and halfway in my...

 

05:44

say halfway in high school I transitioned to bass because I went to Sarah McLachlan School of Music. Oh yeah wow. Yeah so that helped train like local Eastman artists like myself to get more trained in the arts. So what was it like going to the Sarah McLachlan School of Music?

 

06:14

amazing is a meeting connections and people know each other is you all from the east side and how big of a school is that i'm not even sure about that uh... they get the football field though it is a very every hopefully have to speak three hours a year

 

06:37

What is the thrust of that school? I mean you were taking guitars so do they just offer a whole bunch of different musicians? Do they offer composition? Like what's the kind of thing? They do like vocals, they do drums, there's drums out there. Singing, songwriting, bass, etc.

 

06:59

and DJing too if you want to be a DJ. DJ. That's for another conversation. And so from there you went to Capilano University? Yeah. I literally went there 2016, so that's three COVID years and

 

07:24

I was the only guy with cerebral palsy in the group, so it was like, it's kind of like awkward moments, so, so, what do you have, like, what's your story? I said, okay, here's my whole backstory to my classmates. They said, oh, you have some, excuse my language for you, you have some really dark shit.

 

07:48

So in terms of going to either Sarah McLachlan school or even Capilani University again, going to these schools as a person with a disability, how did you feel like inclusion was? How did you feel? Did you feel accepted? Yes, Sarah McLachlan is going to do that one first.

 

08:16

And for me, because usually with a guitar, you have to use all your fingers, like, oh yeah, left hand or your right hand. But for me, I only can use three fingers. Okay. So I'm like my own unique style of playing. And that shows some extreme adaptation. Like, that wouldn't be an easy thing to do for anybody. No. No. No. Even for you, who's a drummer. Oh, it's impossible for me as a drummer.

 

08:46

I have never picked up a guitar really in my life but And and so so you got through that that transition working with with three working fingers And how did that change your approach to the guitar and songwriting or just playing? For me so if you give me a music sheet I won't even cannot read music sheets. I just like make things

 

09:14

like as any artist, they make art from anywhere. So if you gave me MC Sheets, I would be like, I can't read this, but I make lyrics, that's what I do mostly. Yeah. Yeah, that is a good bunch of my years doing music.

 

09:42

then for Cap U, I want to like follow my footsteps in my family. But I know being kind of a disability is a tricky thing in the film industry. So. Now you, now you went to Capilano University for film, correct? Yeah, for film, then I transitioned to documentary after like halfway points because

 

10:13

I failed, not failed, I didn't graduate from motion picture. But they asked me if they wanted to do documentary. I said, yeah, so I went for it every year. So I graduated from that. And so you finished, you've got your degree and everything like that? I got a certificate. Oh, okay, okay. Saying I'm a documentary filmmaker.

 

10:41

Oh, I gotcha. Gotcha, okay. And I was gonna, you know, one of my questions is, you know, what got you into film? Well, your parents, probably. Yeah. So, that's... Yeah. And so, are you able to sort of, obviously you're passionate about music because we can even, we're gonna jump a little bit more into that. Yeah, of course. So how do you, these are two passions of yours, filmmaking and music writing. Do you bridge those two or do you keep them separate?

 

11:11

Like right now, I own a project. It's for people with disabilities. It's about artists who have disabilities and do art. And I asked some possibilities to do directing. And I said, do you want me to do some music? Just maybe in the background? And they said, yeah, yeah, that would be awesome. So...

 

11:38

I'm making some music for them and directing their project. Oh nice. Yeah. Still don't have a working title yet but... And that's for doing some background music on some... Was that a documentary or something? Yeah, documentary. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. And so, Till, like, the band Lakewood Grey, can you tell me a little bit about that? So...

 

12:06

During COVID, everyone was super isolated and they were bored out of their minds. Yup. I started playing music like, not every day, just like every few days. And then I called out some of my old high school mates from back in the day, and they were like, hey, do you want to make a band? So we made an online band for a few years.

 

12:36

I started writing this song and I like

 

12:41

So it's just me, Andy, and Madeline, and then doing COVID, this is so risky, but you make a music video during COVID, that was the weirdest time. It was outside, so I think it was a bit safer. Or most of it was, I think. Yeah, yeah.

 

12:59

Now just for those listening, you can see this video they made with the band Liquid Grants on his YouTube channel. Again, that's Red Fighter Productions 96. That would be the search term. And so you've created this band during COVID and you've got this one song. Is there more music we're waiting for?

 

13:29

her own soul, art, you know, so it's hard to keep track of those two. I want to do more, it's just so hard to get hold of those at times. Oh, I feel that pain when it comes to putting bands together and keeping things together and keeping the music flowing. It's not an easy thing to do. So Lakewood Grey, is there a meaning in that name? So Lakewood...

 

13:54

It's a street name nearby my house. So, and gray is the English term for gray, so. So, gray means gray. Yeah, yeah, so people who aren't educated about, like, G-R-E-Y, gray, is the English way, but the American way is with the A in it. Right. I gotcha. Yes. So we're trying to have, like, kind of a folky...

 

14:23

kind of English style of playing, but yeah. Now did you write the song? Yeah, I did. Me and I guess I'm kind of mad at her because she's awesome at writing music notes and I'm good at writing lyrics. Nice, oh, so you wrote all the lyrics to the song. And what's it about? Let's go deep. So, you know, like, everyone doing COVID time, they like social distancing,

 

14:53

and can't see each other. I've thought about that, like, I want to see that person. How does it feel to be that far away from the person you can't see? I guess you as a person who's stuck in a house too or apartment, how does it feel when you want to see a friend or a family member?

 

15:18

It's kind of, yeah, that's the basic story of that person. Of persons who want... Yeah, that's basically the story. And I should mention that the song is called Mirror, right? Yeah. Okay. Yeah, and the music video is so great. There was a great team who helped me film this.

 

15:45

So where did you record the music? So... It was mostly on our computers. Okay. It wasn't like a professional setting. Well, it sounds pretty good. It sounds pretty cool to me, and I've been in music for a long time, so... Yeah, and um... It's like... Okay... Let's record it on our computers. I was there...

 

16:12

sketchy about it first because I'm like, uh, I'm gonna sound like, very bad, because sometimes audio doesn't sound good on computers. No, no, definitely not. It's nice to have big padded rooms and lots of natural reverb, right? Yeah, but it's amazing how it turned out, just from our computers. We're just like three different places.

 

16:41

Which I think is amazing. It's like, you know, I've been in, like I said, I've been in music for a long time. I've, you know, was making music and recording in studios before the advent of the real sort of digital home studio started making its way into things. And there's so much you can do just on your own. I mean, look, we're doing this podcast on this machine that fits into the palm of my hand, you know? And some of them can even do it on your phone. So it's amazing that we can even produce kind of the things we do with.

 

17:09

with what seems like limited resources, but they're not. You can actually produce something quite good. Yeah. And so that goes into my next question. You're a lyric writer. So where do you find your inspiration on topics to write about? It could be, for example, I wrote a song. It's not officially like, like,

 

17:37

In the works, it's just like when I have emotions sometimes, I just write lyrics down. Like, I was talking about pain because I was in that moment that I felt pain. Like, didn't things happen to me sometimes? Sure. You're a human being. Yeah. We're all human beings. Do you, I mean...

 

18:04

Do you use the music as part of your advocacy work or does that not play into it so much? That's a good question. Music comes and goes when people are naming me like for what

 

18:33

And I can tell it's a part of your life too. Mm-hmm. Um, it's like when you just pick up a guitar or pick up a drumstick, you're like, it's a part of you. You can't escape it. I know that feeling well. Exactly. Mm-hmm. Now, sorry, keep going.

 

18:54

No, you go first. Well, I was gonna go back into the video. It's actually kind of a nice self-produced work. Did you have to spend a lot of money on it? Did you direct it as well? I directed it. Yes, I did. Produced it, and I worked on it, and directed it. And what did you shoot it on?

 

19:24

It was like per second, like how much frames per second. Yeah. And we said that I changed it to 4K, so it was much more crispier. For camera wise, it was like my friend's camera. I don't know what type of camera it was at the time, because I was like, oh, here's all the nice equipment. Let's use his equipment. Yeah. When in doubt, use someone else's equipment in case it breaks. Yeah. And so did you edit it as well?

 

19:54

To be fair, I'm terrible at editing. I just hire one of my friends to do it. Yeah, that always helps too, right? I'm not a great editor either, but I try. And that was all done basically for free? You didn't have to spend any money on it? Nope, not a penny. I basically paid everyone for videos and...

 

20:23

Pizza. Beer and pizza is a good motivator. Yeah. OK, so I want to head back into film. You made a short documentary called Don't Dis My Disability. Why did you make that? To be honest, I feel like people with disabilities don't get that much attention in the workforce.

 

20:52

Yeah, we know that. Yeah, and usually they're like, oh, they're like, maybe in the corner, just like, oh yeah, I didn't know that person has like autism or psoriasis or et cetera. But I feel they need to have a voice to be honest.

 

21:12

When you watch this film, how do you feel about that? How do I, are you asking me how I feel about it? Yeah, well, you watch this. Well, yeah, it's like you feel like these people want to be heard and seen and taken seriously. You know, because you're you the people you use in that film are they're not just physical disabilities, like someone with cerebral palsy might experience, but people with with developmental disabilities as well.

 

21:41

You know, and it's a nice little piece that really gets the point across. Now, for those who don't know, Don't Dis My Disability was showcased at the 2020 Beyond the Curve International Film Festival in Paris, where it was listed as a finalist in the best documentary category. So how did that make you feel? I mean, it doesn't sound like you won the award, but even being nominated for something like that seems pretty cool.

 

22:09

I was by chance, so basically I had $100 as a budget. And I put my film in a couple different festivals. And after that one, after the first one, I started getting tons of attention. People were asking questions about the documentary.

 

22:37

Why choose four people and not two? I'm like, well, I think you have multiple personalities and multiple different views, right? Yeah, of course, and why wouldn't you? I mean, for me, it seems like you could even make a longer form of that to really get that across. But why did you choose a Paris film festival? So, as I said, my mom is from England.

 

23:07

I like Yoruba a lot, so I just like, put Paris, because I like, I just want to see if they're going to the Ikemona, so, they like it. Yeah. I just like, I thought it was something in Ireland, England, Paris, yeah, like a couple of different places. Nice. And, and, and so when you got the nomination for that...

 

23:36

How did you feel about that? I was surprised to be honest. Like, so many from Canada and like Paris, I was like, oh, they just go like pass off, see there's nothing like just a okay film, but no. Like, being a finalist is like a big thing. Yeah.

 

23:57

Absolutely it is. I don't know if you're aware, because I know your friends with David are film-makers. Have you seen the documentary he put together for DDA, Doing the Impossible, the story of the Developmental Disabilities Association? He told me about it over coffee one time. Yeah, and it won three Leo Awards last year, BC Leo Awards, and was nominated for a...

 

24:21

for a couple of others and nominated at the Yorkton Film Fest, which is pretty big here in Canada. So it's nice to get those recognitions, isn't it? Yeah. Like, I want to like work with, well, I want to work with him again to work on a other project, I think, about... Now like on the bigger picture, do you think Hollywood is getting better at representing people with disabilities, since we're talking about film?

 

24:48

Um, slowly and surely, yes. Like, it took years for people like, in Hollywood to represent people of color too, right? Like, Asians, blacks, so on and so on and so on. But also, I see there's some improvements, but it needs more time, I think. Mm-hmm. Needs more representation, do you think? Yeah. It's, they don't see us like, oh...

 

25:17

He's just a background actor or something. I said, oh, he can do more than just be a background actor. Yeah, you get the little token rolls, right? And that's what you want to see less of and more actual parts. How do you feel about that? How do I feel about that? Yeah, I think representation is very, very important.

 

25:38

When you know we're talking about inclusion and acceptance, I mean, Hollywood and media in general is supposed to be a reflection of society, right? And where, like in the latest stats reports from Stats Canada, 27% of people in Canada identify with having a disability. Whereas we're still, in terms of representation in Hollywood, I think it's somewhere below 3%. 3%? I don't know. So there seems, I'm sort of pulling that number out of the air, something I've read fairly

 

26:08

But at the end of the day, media still isn't really a big reflection of what's going on in the world. So maybe there's room for improvement. About 24% room for improvement. Yeah, like, how about somewhere like, um... Back in the 1800s, just like, in the 18th century, like, they used to put people like me and people with disabilities in albums.

 

26:37

They thought we were like, uh, we're cursed or possessed by the devil or something like that. Mm-hmm. They just thought then they didn't understand what our disability was. Exactly, yeah. Or just didn't have the supports or means to, to, to offer people a life outside of an asylum or some sort of thing. Yeah. But now I think...

 

27:05

society is still learning about like, disabilities in general. Yeah, I mean, you know, you live as someone with cerebral palsy and and who identifies with that disability and the big question is, are we doing better? Is Canada doing better? Is BC doing better? How are we doing in terms of acceptance? I know the price of the price of Canada, but I say, I think we get in there because

 

27:35

People in parliament are recognizing that all people with disabilities should be there to help people. And not just put them on sidelines like 20 years ago, 30 years ago. They should be recognized for their treatments. Absolutely. And the difference between, you know,

 

28:05

not doing anything and being successful, and being successful, I mean like contributing to society like a typically developed person, is simply a matter of having the right supports in place. Yes, of course. It's the same with anyone in communities. They're like, oh yeah, we're gonna have this one person and have the next person, have the next person, but it's not that easy. Each person is different. So how important is it for you to be doing this advocacy work?

 

28:36

It's important, like, it's important since day one I was born because I was born with a disability. That's, like, it's not easy, but, like, everyone is born differently and disability is a part of who I am. A part of my, like, a part of me. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Exactly. And what can DDA be doing better to help the disability community to be accepted and represented?

 

29:06

Uh... that's a good question. I think there should have people off set, me and who's the filmmaker, but have people like who can clearly speak for themselves and show what DJ can do in their own community.

 

29:31

and podcasts interview musicians and filmmakers who are advocates. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. One day I will actually like to like sit down and chat about stuff with you. Well, this, this, this is one of many podcasts we can do. I'm sure I'm certainly open to that. Yeah. We can sit down and.

 

29:57

hash out some different angles of things. I think today was just a nice way to get to know you and understand what you're doing and what you're bringing to the community. And it's been great having you. Yeah, thanks. And also, I'm also currently writing a script for a film that's down the pipeline, but hopefully I can get it done before August, September-ish, because...

 

30:27

It's a fantasy project. Oh, nice. Yeah. So that's a screenplay you're working on. Is that for a feature-length movie? A miniseries. Miniseries, cool. Yeah. Then you get to go through pitching that with everybody. And that's another long process. Yeah. Well, I'm really good to get people convincing.

 

30:51

Oh yeah, good, good, good. So in terms of a fantasy series, what kind of like are we talking about, Game of Thrones type thing? Uh, it's gonna be like dark fantasy, uh, basically my picture is like, what if we didn't have technology that can find our family history, right? Mm-hmm. It'd be good to like actually find your family history in the books and stuff like that, right, the old days, before we had that stuff.

 

31:21

So I just wanted to see that angle, how people back then had to find about themselves. Sounds interesting. Keep a roll for me. I don't act, but it'd be fun. Yeah, I think it's interesting, people with dyspnea or dyspnea in general, I'm not really...

 

31:50

with and down their history that much. Mm-hmm. So this fantasy thing would be targeted and around disabilities as well? That's a good question. It's not targeted for today, it's just like, the whole theme is history and family. So you don't know who has it this way back then or.

 

32:19

I'm basically writing my own book, but I don't know what story I'm going to tell. A mini-series, that's a lot of writing. So that's just a matter of sitting down and getting on your computer and getting it done. I applaud you for that effort because that's not an easy thing to do. No, it's not. I get people interested to come from boards and be saying, yes, we want to do this.

 

32:46

I love having this chat with you. No, this has been great. You have been listening to DDA's Encouraging Abilities podcast. My guest today has been disability advocate, musician, filmmaker, and now screenwriter, Elliot Headley. Elliot, it's been a pleasure having you on today. Hey, you too. Have a good day. I'm your host, DDA Communications Manager, Evan Kelly. Thanks for listening.