July 16, 2021

In this episode, I speak with Matt Lauterbach, Grishma Shah, and Reveca Torres of All Senses Go. During our conversation, we chat about how their work with organizations and content creators ensures that media that is created is accessible for all, the accessibility changes the team would like to become the norm as we move into a post-Covid world, and how people with disabilities and their co-conspirators can work together effectively to make lasting, sustainable change that benefits us all. Because organizations like All Senses Go and others disrupt the notion that those who are labeled not mainstream need to seek outside validation, this episode’s song is Billie Eilish’s self-acceptance and self-love anthem, “My Future.”

Photo Credit: Ryan Gleeson

[Image Description: Matt is pictured from the chest up. He wears a plaid, white, tan, and black shirt over a black t-shirt and glasses. His hair, mustache, and beard, closely cropped. He stands against a brick and cement wall.]

Photo Credit: Bryan Christian Dahl

[Image Description: Grishma is pictured from the chest up. She wears a white top with thin, black stripes and a creme-colored sweater. Her hair is in a bun at the base of her neck. She wears gold circular earrings. She stands against a white brick wall.]

Photo Credit: Reveca Torres

[Image Description: Reveca is pictured from the torso up. She wears a white short-sleeved button-down shirt. Her brown hair is shoulder length. She is framed by a black background and money tree.]

Grishma Shah's (Self) Worth

To be vulnerable feels as if we are naked. When we bear our wounds, they begin to become scars. Scars that warriors are proud of once they realize their (self) worth.

Matt’s Bio

Matt Lauterbach, the founder of All Senses Go, sees film as a powerful tool for raising awareness and sparking dialogue around vital progressive issues. He is a filmmaker and educator with nearly two decades of experience crafting engaging non-fiction content for museums, classrooms, the web, and the big screen. He has a Masters of Education in Curriculum and Instruction, as well as three years of experience in Chicago Public Schools. Matt has crafted a rich variety of features, profiles, short docs, and other media for clients such as Kartemquin Films, the Kindling Group, and 371 Productions. As a disability advocate, Matt is dedicated to making digital media and culture accessible to everyone, regardless of ability. He is a co-director of ReelAbilities Film Festival Chicago and has a wide range of experience programming accessible events and media showings.

Grishma’s Bio

Grishma Shah is a South Asian artist who consults with filmmakers, film festivals, and production houses in various stages of a story's journey. Her previous roles include unit production manager, producer, script supervisor, and film programming manager. Currently, she serves as Co-director of the ReelAbilities Film Festival Chicago and co-writer for an international film. In 2020, Grishma joined Crip Camp's community leader/advisor group (a film that was executively produced by President Barack Obama). In the same year, Grishma was selected to be on the advisory committee of the Chicago Film Festival Symposium, a community of 50+ film festivals in Chicago. As an artist, Grishma believes in the power of storytelling to entertain, educate, and liberate untold and unheard perspectives. As an amputee and three-time cancer survivor, Grishma (& her tumor) enjoy exploring constructs of beauty and worth through paintings and other storytelling mediums.

Reveca’s Bio

Reveca Torres is an artist and founder and Executive Director of BACKBONES, an organization helping people with spinal cord injury and disabilities. She is co-director of ReelAbilities Film Festival Chicago and has curated touring photography and art exhibitions that showcase the work of people with disabilities and bring awareness to disability rights. Reveca received Creative Access Fellowships at Vermont Studio Center (2014) and Santa Fe Art Institute (2017). She was selected as a fellow for Kartemquin Films Diverse Voices in Docs program (2017) and Hulu+Kartemquin Accelerator Program (2020). She received a 3Arts Residency Fellowship at the University of Illinois Chicago in 2018 and is one of the 2020 3Arts Awardees. In 2020 she was awarded the Craig Neilsen Visionary Award for her art and advocacy work. She uses painting, illustration, photography, film, movement, and other media as a form of expression and a tool for advocacy and social justice.

About All Senses Go

We're dedicated to advocacy and education within the media-making community by highlighting the importance of captions, descriptions, and accessible events for all audiences. Our core team has the experience and passion needed to help you achieve your accessibility goals. We partner with a broad collection of Chicago-area freelancers and service providers to provide and advocate for accessible content. We empower media producers to create accessible media, in order to ensure that all audiences, regardless of ability, can engage in the rich cultural content being shared every day. Whether you work in filmmaking, production, media, education, or some other field, we can help you with: Workshops & Consultations, Captioning, Described Video, Event Accessibility, Media Production & Programming.