CoorDown gives a voice to the unheard

This year's campaign for The National Coordination of Associations of People with Down Syndrome [CoorDown] is a musical offering that highlights that fact that people with disabilities just want to be where the decisions are made.

Created, as ever, by Small New York, and directed once again by Rich Lee through Indiana Production, the 100-second spot is the annual campaign for World Down Syndrome Day, which this year is on March 21. 

Featuring various scenarios in which people – parents, employers, colleagues – are making decisions without consulting the people with disabilities those decisions affect, the film demands the presence of people with disabilities at the table, whether those decisions are about personal autonomy or a social or civic role.

Called No Decision Without Us, the spot features Caterina Scorsone, star of Grey’s Anatomy and mother of a daughter with Down syndrome and, for the first time in a CoorDown campaign, among the protagonists are also actors with different disabilities. Fondazione Cariplo has joined forces with CoorDown to lauch a €20 million disability intervention programme which aims to guarantee the life project of people with disabilities. Since 2000, Fondazione Cariplo has focussed on issues related to disability, from housing and work inclusion, to legal protection and social inclusion. 

"Two years ago," says CoorDown, "the film Ridiculous Excuses Not To Be Inclusive began with these words: 'In a world increasingly attentive to inclusivity, only one trick remains to avoid it: invent ridiculous excuses'. Today, we see steps backward on the issue of inclusion. While the hard-won rights and achievements of people with disabilities at work, school, in sports, and society are being challenged and erased by decrees, CoorDown and associations around the world, along with all people with disabilities, not only want to resist but want to take a hundred steps forward. They do not just want to be part of the world but want to be among those who make decisions about the world they inhabit."

"This year we chose to adopt a new language: the musical," said Luca Lorenzini and Luca Pannese, Executive Creative Directors at SMALL New York. "This type of execution allowed us to convey an important message in an engaging way, thanks to the power of music. The casting process was exciting, especially because we had the opportunity to shoot in Los Angeles, a city unique in the world for the talent it offers. It was thrilling to select the various characters, each with extraordinary vocal abilities, and we are very pleased with the final result. A special thanks also goes to Rich Lee, a director with whom we have already collaborated twice for CoorDown and who always brings a truly unique creative vision to the set."

"The CoorDown Projects are the testament of how a well-oiled team can continuously better itself," added Karim Bartoletti, Partner/MD/Executive Producer at Indiana Production. "They are proof that great, insightful creativity can attract amazing talent, and demonstrate that, no matter how challenging the executional obstacles may be, there can be an incredible heartfelt interest to be part of a project in which everybody involved brings something important to the table. Every year we have a new insight and a new creative challenge to produce and this year’s challenge was no easy task: a musical style content with such an important core premise —  in a moment in which DEI is going through some very sad backlash — that it could expand from Down Syndrome to any other disability."