More than one in four adults in the U.S. has some type of disability. When it comes to seeing that onscreen in film and television, “Hollywood and the studios still don’t know what to do with us right now,” Danny Kurtzman, the star of the indie drama Good Bad Things, told Yahoo Entertainment.
Kurtzman has had muscular dystrophy his entire life. His new film is a culmination of a years-long powerful disabled journey, and tells a story that is inspired by his own experiences.
“There needs to be a lot of change that needs to happen in Hollywood to welcome our community within it,” Kurtzman said. “Hollywood is opening their eyes, ears and arms to become more of an inclusive industry. But specifically with the disabled community, they really have a long way to go.”
Good Bad Things follows Danny, an entrepreneur who reluctantly takes a chance on an online dating app and meets Madi (Jessica Parker Kennedy), an enigmatic photographer who challenges him to push past self-imposed limits, ultimately embarking on a journey of self-acceptance.
The film is directed by Kurtzman’s best friend, Shane D. Stanger and the two wrote the script together. The film won the Audience Award and Grand Jury Prize at January’s Slamdance Film Festival, which showcases the unfiltered voice of independent artists.
Stanger knew he wanted to make a feature with Kurtzman years ago. After he took an initial pass at the screenplay, the filmmaker sat down with his friend.
“[Stanger’s] like, ‘Hey, good news: script’s done. Bad news: I hate it,’” Kurtzman recalled, explaining that Stanger felt the first version of the script came off “very ableist and off-tone.”
“That goes into how you make a truly authentic disabled film — you really got to have disabled people involved,” Kurtzman said. Stanger asked Kurtzman if he’d help write the screenplay and be involved not only in front of the camera, but in postproduction too. They had a completely accessible set during filming. “As a disabled person, I haven’t seen that in a real way,” Kurtzman said.
A 2023 UCLA report found that people with disabilities were seriously underrepresented in television during the 2021-22 season. It doesn’t appear the industry has made much progress since.
“That’s a huge miss in Hollywood,” Kurtzman said of the community’s exclusion, but he wants people in the entertainment industry to know “it’s OK to not know” where to start — but it’s time to start somewhere.
“It’s OK to ask questions,” he explained. “There’s no lack of us out there.”
“We’re gonna learn this whole thing together, but just be open and willing to have us be a big part of what you want to accomplish,” he continued, saying hiring people in the disabled community should be a priority at every level in TV and film production. “And when they do it, they’re going to see — especially with this movie — how powerful our community really is when you speak to us properly. Give us something we see ourselves in and that speaks to us and that we’ve been seeking for so many years.”
Good Bad Things is the first film to receive the GAMUT Seal of Approval, which assures consumers production met a stringent set of requirements developed by experts in the disability space.
After spending the last 15 years as an entrepreneur, Kurtzman said he’s been enduring “the craziest master class learning curve” since entering the entertainment industry. Although the film has been a hit on the independent festival circuit, he’s found that people “don’t really know how to handle, how to speak and how to market” this film that is so “thoroughly authentic, accessible and inclusive.”
“It’s just about asking the right questions and being open to welcoming a film like Good Bad Things,” Kurtzman says. “My biggest learning is there’s so much talent in the disabled community when it comes down to it.”
As Kurtzman gets ready for the theatrical release of the film, he hopes that it open doors too.
“My biggest realization coming out of this is there’s so many talented disabled people out there that want to be a part of Hollywood — in film, television, in front of the camera, behind the camera, in the editing room, writing room. And I just think the time is now,” he said.
Good Bad Things is in select AMC Theaters across the U.S. on Aug. 15.
