Celestine Fraser
Writer, Copywriter and Filmmaker at Just Copy
Media and Publishing
I’m a writer, copywriter and filmmaker. My work has been programmed on the BBC, screened at the BFI and Barbican, and published in VICE, Metro and Little White Lies.
Across all my work, my goal is to use engaging storytelling to make disability feel interesting and relevant to everyone.
I’m the founder of Just Copy, a media company communicating disability. The goal of Just Copy is to communicate disability culture and issues, and to help clients communicate with and about disabled people.
My career in disability media began with producing ‘ill, actually’ (2019), a short documentary about young disabled people and online identity. When I fell ill in my late teens, I couldn’t find any films that accurately reflected my experience of disability as a young person, so I had no option but to make a film myself! The film was commissioned by the BBC and BFI, and later screened at BAFTA-qualifying film festivals, including Superfest Disability Film Festival in San Francisco. More recently, I was a producer and associate writer on ‘BETTER’ (2023), a BFI-funded narrative short film about ableism and sibling relationships. I have also been a member of the BFI Disability Advisory Screen Group and Press Reset campaign, working with the British Film Institute to increase and improve disabled representation in film and TV.
As a journalist, my writing on disability has been published in VICE, Metro, Little White Lies, PosAbility and Dubble, covering all sorts of topics, from accessibility in airports to the Cripple Punk movement. I have also written copy and content for a number of clients, including Tilting the Lens, ParaPride, Celebrating Disability, Hidden Disabilities Sunflower and ParaDance.
In my own life, I find that one of the biggest challenges of chronic illness is other’s people attitudes: so often, disability still makes people awkward or uncomfortable. But I feel strongly that disability is not only a universal experience, but a fundamental part of being human, so I intend to keep talking about disability in my work, and trying – in my own small way – to break the taboo.
“Disability shouldn’t be seen as difference: it’s a fundamental part of being alive.”
Disability Power 100 2023 profile information has been self-submitted by the profile subject. Shaw Trust understands and respects that disability and impairment descriptors and language use varies from person to person. Shaw Trust assumes no responsibility or liability for any errors or discrepancies in the content of this, or any other, profile page.
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