Jim LeBrecht

Filmmaker, Activist & Podcast Host

Jim LeBrecht is an award-winning filmmaker and disability rights activist. He is the co-director of the groundbreaking documentary Crip Camp. A Netflix Original Documentary, Crip Camp, which premiered at the 2020 Sundance Film Festival, went on to receive an Oscar nomination for Best Documentary Feature, won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Documentary, and a Peabody Award.

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His latest work, Change Not Charity: The Americans with Disabilities Act, chronicles the decades-long struggle for disability rights and the bipartisan support that led to the passage of this landmark legislation.

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Jim is an active executive producer, supporting films that center disabled people and expand disability representation on screen. His executive producing credits include the Emmy Award-winning documentaries The Ride Ahead, Patrice: The Movie, and My Disability Roadmap. He is also an executive producer of the Apple Original Being Heumann, an adaptation of disability rights leader Judy Heumann’s memoir and Jim’s first executive producing role on a narrative feature film.

 

With over 40 years of experience in sound design and filmmaking, Jim is also the host of The Art of Documentary, a podcast by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. The series offers in-depth conversations with some of today’s most influential documentary filmmakers, exploring their creative processes, personal journeys, and the stories behind their films.

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He is a co-founder of FWD-Doc, an international membership organization that supports documentary filmmakers with disabilities, and the 1in4 Coalition, which advocates for greater inclusion and representation of disabled people in the entertainment industry.