Who We Are

At An Open Space, we offer end-to-end video production services that ensure your messages are fully accessible, inclusive, and truly representative of all individuals with disabilities, across all ages, genders, life circumstances, and more.

Prior to coalescing into AN OPEN SPACE, Anna Schumacher, Alek Lev, and other core team members John Maucere, Bus Door Films, and many of the other actors and collaborators involved, spent their careers working together and independently in production, interpreting, film and theater, and community initiatives.

AN OPEN SPACE is not only its founders. We are, in fact, an open space, and our mission is to leverage the talents of the diverse communities for whom our videos are produced. As we plan any new project, our first step is to seek out cast, crew, and other experts from the Deaf and disability communities who will step into this open space with us, and together set out to create dynamic, impactful videos championing the rights, resources, and respect of Americans with disabilities.

In 2021 the mission began to take shape: The State of California was looking to make a series of videos promoting California Connect, a program that provides free assistive communication devices for people with disabilities. The team that became AN OPEN SPACE was hired, and over the next few years, we produced 19 videos each with the simple concept: People don’t want to be handed information, they want to experience a story. And so, we created true-to-life situations where people with disabilities would benefit from the program’s devices. Teaming up with Bus Door Films, a Deaf-owned and operated team of cinematographers, we told stories about Mia, a military veteran with memory loss, who uses a photo-based phone dialing system; Jahmai, a Deaf graphic designer communicating through an internet-based American Sign Language interpreter to plan a new project; Natalie, a blind art teacher voice-dialing her students; Theo, a high school student living with non-verbal autism, who employs a speech-generation tablet app to call their father; and Zion, a photographer born without legs, who uses a hands-free device to call clients from his wheelchair. (The first set of five videos have garnered over a million views on YouTube to date.) These were authentically cast, using both experienced and novice performers with disabilities. 

In 2023, AN OPEN SPACE brought on Deaf actor, Certified Deaf Interpreter, and and activist John Maucere, and the team was hired by the National Center for State Courts (NCSC), which was looking to produce videos in American Sign Language that taught important features of California law to hearing and Deaf ASL interpreters working in the California legal system. NCSC provided the scripted modules in English, and AN OPEN SPACE hired a team of Deaf legal experts to translate the videos in ASL, and then a group of Certified Deaf Interpreters presented the 6+ hours of material on camera.

Alek has an extensive background in ASL, theater, and film, and notably directed the feature film WHAT?, starring John, with cinematography by Ruan du Plessis of Bus Door Films. The film tells the story of a Deaf man struggling against discrimination in Hollywood, and it played in 24 film festivals across 9 countries, winning 21 awards, including: 4 for Best Picture, 5 for Best Actor, 3 for Best Director, and 3 Audience Awards.

Anna interpreted for film and television for many years, and produced content for Bus Door Films over several years on projects ranging from narrative to marketing campaigns. She wrote, directed, and produced Finding June, winning a touring spot on the Lunafest film festival circuit. Inspired by the stories of several amazing Deaf women in Missouri, this narrative short fiction film follows June, who has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer and is now finding her path towards healing.

John Maucere has performed in over 50 countries around the world, was a key participant in the “Deaf President Now” movement, a turning point in the Deaf civil rights movement in America, and produced and starred in the award-winning feature No Ordinary Hero: The SuperDeafy Movie.

Bus Door Films is a cinematic powerhouse, working with myriad clients over the years. Their mission is to generate more awareness and opportunities for Deaf and Hard of Hearing people within the video and film industry, especially those behind the scenes. 

As our company grows, so too does our roster of talented and capable artists, collaborators, and production experts, bringing an authentic touch point to all that we do, at each stage of a project’s lifecycle.