Josh Sapan, the former CEO of AMC Networks, left the entertainment company he had led through the peak TV era in 2021. He had helped transform the network devoted to reruns of classic movie into a programming powerhouse responsible for some of the biggest shows of the aughts — a list that includes “Breaking Bad,” “The Walking Dead” and “Mad Men.” What, Sapan wondered, would be his followup?
“I’ve always been interested in what you do after you do what you do,” Sapan says over Zoom.
The answer is a mixture of art and advocacy. For the past five years, Sapan has devoted much of his time to championing disability on screen through founding Marvels of Media Festival with the Museum of the Moving Image (MoMI), which celebrates the work of autistic media makers. On Saturday, Marvels will partner with the Academy Museum to present and program Disabilities, Representation, and Film Sensory Session. It brings together neurodivergent filmmakers, showcasing their short films, hosting a panel discussion and offering programming with sound and lighting adjustments in order to provide a more sensory-friendly experience.
“The work is amazing and uplifting, and the filmmakers are really quite extraordinary,” Sapan says. “I have always been interested in people who see things a little differently. The greatest successes that I’ve been associated with are things that were probably considered unlikely, as opposed to likely. And neurodivergent artists, because of who they are, just bring something unique in how they see the world and how they tell a story.”
