1 00:00:01,000 --> 00:00:06,139 ♪ Opening theme music ♪ 2 00:00:13,446 --> 00:00:17,717 Hello, and welcome to this episode of ArtsAbly in Conversation. 3 00:00:17,751 --> 00:00:19,886 My name is Diane Kolin. 4 00:00:19,919 --> 00:00:25,525 This series presents artists, academics, and project leaders who dedicate their 5 00:00:25,525 --> 00:00:31,264 time and energy to a better accessibility for people with disabilities in the arts. 6 00:00:31,264 --> 00:00:36,336 You can find more of these conversations on our website, artsably.com 7 00:00:36,336 --> 00:00:41,508 which is spelled A-R-T-S-A-B-L-Y dot com. 8 00:00:42,509 --> 00:00:47,647 ♪ Theme music ♪ 9 00:00:55,321 --> 00:01:00,493 Today, ArtsAbly is in conversation with Kemal Gorey, who is a media composer 10 00:01:00,493 --> 00:01:04,831 and accessibility advocate living in Istanbul in Turkey. 11 00:01:04,831 --> 00:01:09,035 You can find the resources mentioned by Kemal Gorey during this episode 12 00:01:09,035 --> 00:01:12,105 on ArtsAbly's website in the blog section. 13 00:01:13,807 --> 00:01:22,248 ♪ Playful Cat, by Kemal Gorey ♪ 14 00:02:37,490 --> 00:02:41,361 ♪ End of Playful Cat ♪ 15 00:02:43,830 --> 00:02:47,267 Welcome to this new episode of ArtsAbly in Conversation. 16 00:02:47,267 --> 00:02:53,806 Today, I am with Kemal Gorey, who is a media composer and accessibility advocate 17 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:58,244 living in Istanbul, in Turkey. Welcome, Kemal. 18 00:02:58,278 --> 00:03:00,446 Thank you so much, Diane. 19 00:03:00,446 --> 00:03:03,249 It's great to be here and your pronunciation is excellent. 20 00:03:03,283 --> 00:03:06,019 Thank you. 21 00:03:06,052 --> 00:03:12,292 Okay, so I would like to start this episode by asking you about yourself, 22 00:03:12,325 --> 00:03:17,964 about who you are, what brought you to music, 23 00:03:17,964 --> 00:03:20,967 what brought you to being a media composer, 24 00:03:20,967 --> 00:03:22,769 So tell me more about you. 25 00:03:22,802 --> 00:03:26,706 Who are you and what led you to music? 26 00:03:26,706 --> 00:03:30,043 As you said, I'm Kemal Gorey. 27 00:03:30,076 --> 00:03:34,013 I'm a professional media composer, classical trained musician. 28 00:03:34,013 --> 00:03:36,983 I identify as blind. 29 00:03:36,983 --> 00:03:42,455 I think it's hard to say, Diane, what was my motivation because I started 30 00:03:42,488 --> 00:03:47,126 this journey when I was four, I assume, 31 00:03:47,160 --> 00:03:52,799 because my uncle, who is a singer and songwriter, 32 00:03:52,799 --> 00:03:57,170 who has a really accomplished rock band in my country, Turkey, 33 00:03:57,203 --> 00:04:01,608 he is one of the legends of the rock history in my country. 34 00:04:01,641 --> 00:04:05,078 Also, my father is a guitar player. 35 00:04:05,111 --> 00:04:10,783 I think I'm born into that environment. 36 00:04:10,783 --> 00:04:16,122 There were always instruments, there were always music in the center 37 00:04:16,122 --> 00:04:18,925 of my family's daily life. 38 00:04:18,958 --> 00:04:24,731 And I think that habit, that environment shaped me 39 00:04:24,764 --> 00:04:27,500 because when I was a little kid, 40 00:04:27,500 --> 00:04:32,305 I remember that my two beloved go-to toys, 41 00:04:32,338 --> 00:04:39,212 favorite toys, let's say, is one of my father's guitar, which stands right behind of me, 42 00:04:39,212 --> 00:04:43,216 and the stereo, which I can play some music with it, 43 00:04:43,249 --> 00:04:44,784 with CDs and cassettes. 44 00:04:44,784 --> 00:04:48,755 Maybe the younger generation doesn't know what it means, but cassettes are 45 00:04:48,788 --> 00:04:55,662 the go-to medium for us to consume the music before all this Spotify thing 46 00:04:55,662 --> 00:04:57,964 and also before the Napster. Nobody knows Napster. 47 00:04:57,964 --> 00:05:01,234 I'm a nerd. Sorry for that. 48 00:05:01,668 --> 00:05:03,369 My first... 49 00:05:03,403 --> 00:05:05,104 How can I say? 50 00:05:05,138 --> 00:05:08,808 My first memory about music that I was on the stage when I was four, 51 00:05:08,841 --> 00:05:12,412 and singing a song with my uncle's band 52 00:05:12,412 --> 00:05:16,616 in a really big concert area with the crowd, 53 00:05:16,649 --> 00:05:19,185 everybody shouting the band's name. 54 00:05:19,185 --> 00:05:21,187 I was singing the song when I was four. 55 00:05:21,187 --> 00:05:26,659 That was my very first experience as a professional and very first memory 56 00:05:26,693 --> 00:05:29,529 about my music journey. 57 00:05:29,562 --> 00:05:34,734 Then it all started with the piano lessons because I fell in love with piano 58 00:05:34,767 --> 00:05:38,104 and I chose it as a career. 59 00:05:38,104 --> 00:05:44,677 When I was in high school, I went to Fine Arts High School in Turkey, 60 00:05:44,711 --> 00:05:50,416 and I moved on to the college, again, Fine Arts, a music school. 61 00:05:50,450 --> 00:05:53,886 I've always wanted to be a musician, and I've always wanted to be 62 00:05:53,886 --> 00:05:58,157 a composer, a film composer, actually. 63 00:05:58,191 --> 00:06:04,097 I think I tell this story everywhere, but when I was a kid, and it was '90s, 64 00:06:04,130 --> 00:06:09,836 and the televisions are small and the resolution was a a joke, in '90s. 65 00:06:09,869 --> 00:06:15,742 It was hard to me to catch every micro mimics, gestures, because now we have 66 00:06:15,775 --> 00:06:21,948 this huge 4K screens with the really 10 bit record, that footage and everything. 67 00:06:21,981 --> 00:06:24,517 But we don't have that in the past. 68 00:06:24,550 --> 00:06:27,420 We didn't have that in the past. 69 00:06:28,154 --> 00:06:34,827 When I was trying to catch the mimics or where the story will go, 70 00:06:34,827 --> 00:06:40,500 if I somehow miss a microgesture or something, 71 00:06:40,500 --> 00:06:46,105 the score could help me to understand it because score, basically, 72 00:06:46,139 --> 00:06:50,610 the music score translates the story to the music, which is a no-brainer. 73 00:06:50,643 --> 00:06:53,980 But there's a secret function in it. 74 00:06:53,980 --> 00:07:00,987 It can serve as an accessibility feature because let's say in a romantic scene, 75 00:07:00,987 --> 00:07:06,726 if the music gives a hint, let's say, of a dark theme, it foreshadows 76 00:07:06,726 --> 00:07:13,332 something will happen bad in the short term, in the story. 77 00:07:13,366 --> 00:07:19,505 If you couldn't get that from the picture, you can get that from the score. 78 00:07:19,505 --> 00:07:25,978 That was my trusted guide when I was watching because I'm visually impaired. 79 00:07:26,012 --> 00:07:31,884 Yes, I know I always say I identify as blind because it sounds more clear to me. 80 00:07:31,918 --> 00:07:38,324 I think we shouldn't struggle too much with the terminology. 81 00:07:38,357 --> 00:07:39,459 It's not studies. 82 00:07:39,492 --> 00:07:44,263 Yes, technically, scientifically, I'm visually impaired, but it's 83 00:07:44,263 --> 00:07:49,101 no big deal to say that I'm blind because we're in the same universe 84 00:07:49,135 --> 00:07:53,239 as the visual disabled community. 85 00:07:53,873 --> 00:07:58,644 Back to the topic, the film scores were my trusted guide, 86 00:07:58,644 --> 00:08:01,881 and I always wanted to be the one who creates 87 00:08:01,914 --> 00:08:07,220 that score with the whole orchestra and the whole sense with the piano, 88 00:08:07,253 --> 00:08:10,623 different instruments, and I have been always curious about 89 00:08:10,623 --> 00:08:17,763 learning different instruments because I want to know, I want to understand how they - 90 00:08:17,763 --> 00:08:23,302 how they work, basically, how a violin works, how a trumpet works, 91 00:08:23,336 --> 00:08:29,141 or how a timpani works, even a vocal, because vocal also an instrument, 92 00:08:29,175 --> 00:08:34,480 one of the most complicated ones, and understanding the mechanics 93 00:08:34,514 --> 00:08:37,717 of the vocal, it's tricky. 94 00:08:37,750 --> 00:08:44,123 That's why, for example, I majored opera singing in college. 95 00:08:44,257 --> 00:08:50,997 Yes, I can sing some songs from the Mozart's Don Giovanni opera, 96 00:08:51,030 --> 00:08:54,267 [laughs] or it's another story. 97 00:08:55,067 --> 00:08:58,004 Then, I went to college. 98 00:08:58,004 --> 00:08:59,939 It's a completely different beat. 99 00:08:59,972 --> 00:09:04,877 Let's say, training, education 100 00:09:04,911 --> 00:09:09,315 in Turkey can be really a challenge 101 00:09:09,348 --> 00:09:11,117 if you have a disability. 102 00:09:11,150 --> 00:09:15,755 Let's say it was because I have an idea about the current situation, 103 00:09:15,788 --> 00:09:17,690 but I'm not experiencing it. 104 00:09:17,723 --> 00:09:21,360 That's why I would like to say that it was a great challenge 105 00:09:21,394 --> 00:09:27,600 if you want to be educated and if you have a disability in Turkey. 106 00:09:27,633 --> 00:09:32,004 Solving the problems, inventing 107 00:09:32,004 --> 00:09:35,808 some methods, it becomes a daily habit 108 00:09:35,841 --> 00:09:40,479 for a disabled student, even when you were six or seven years old. 109 00:09:40,513 --> 00:09:46,686 But in the end of the day, when I graduated from college, 110 00:09:46,719 --> 00:09:52,325 I knew what I wanted to do, but life had different plans for me. 111 00:09:52,358 --> 00:09:58,264 I worked as an active musician, a recording artist, a live musician, 112 00:09:58,264 --> 00:10:01,167 and also an arranger, a ghostwriter. 113 00:10:01,167 --> 00:10:05,671 In Turkey, I had done many things to be able to survive, to be able to build a 114 00:10:05,705 --> 00:10:10,176 career, build a life a sustainable life. 115 00:10:10,209 --> 00:10:16,182 At some point, I decided to make a shift in my career, and I decided to 116 00:10:16,182 --> 00:10:20,052 do what I really want to do. 117 00:10:20,086 --> 00:10:23,856 It's all about killing the what-if person in your mind, 118 00:10:23,856 --> 00:10:25,257 because there's always a what-if person. 119 00:10:25,291 --> 00:10:27,026 What if I'm not talented enough? 120 00:10:27,059 --> 00:10:33,699 What if I'm not professional or experienced enough, what if 121 00:10:33,733 --> 00:10:40,806 the things that I know are all wrong, all If I'm all mistaken about myself. 122 00:10:40,840 --> 00:10:44,877 When you kill that personality in your mind, the what if guy, 123 00:10:44,910 --> 00:10:48,114 I would like to call it that way, then you can become anything you like 124 00:10:48,147 --> 00:10:53,586 because the greatest barriers that we face, 125 00:10:53,619 --> 00:10:59,125 not the accessibility challenges, not the ableism, but this passive 126 00:10:59,158 --> 00:11:05,598 internalized ableism, it's what-if, that you build in your mind, 127 00:11:05,631 --> 00:11:08,300 thanks to people's opinions about you. 128 00:11:08,300 --> 00:11:12,605 Thanks to people, how people treat you on daily basis. 129 00:11:12,638 --> 00:11:17,576 But when you kill that person, kill that character, kill that imagination 130 00:11:17,610 --> 00:11:24,050 in your mind, then it all wides open because there's no barriers then. 131 00:11:24,083 --> 00:11:25,084 Accessibility problems? 132 00:11:25,084 --> 00:11:26,252 Yeah, I know that. 133 00:11:26,285 --> 00:11:29,121 I'm dealing with them since when I was a kid. 134 00:11:29,155 --> 00:11:30,956 Yeah, ableism, I know that too. 135 00:11:30,990 --> 00:11:34,260 I'm dealing with those also since when I was kid. 136 00:11:34,260 --> 00:11:36,429 These are not problems at all. 137 00:11:36,462 --> 00:11:40,900 Yes, these are important problems, but I know how to deal with them. 138 00:11:40,900 --> 00:11:42,768 I know how to fight with them. 139 00:11:42,802 --> 00:11:47,940 I only didn't know how to fight with that what-if person in my head. 140 00:11:48,274 --> 00:11:53,279 Now I beaten it, I can do anything I want because there's no barriers. 141 00:11:53,312 --> 00:11:56,582 I decided to become a media composer. 142 00:11:56,615 --> 00:12:00,886 I decided to build a career in the States and in the Hollywood, ultimately, 143 00:12:00,920 --> 00:12:03,789 and I am in that path right now. 144 00:12:03,789 --> 00:12:09,395 So, once you killed the what-if in yourself, you stopped being a ghost writer 145 00:12:09,428 --> 00:12:16,135 and you became a composer with the name that you're carrying right now. 146 00:12:16,302 --> 00:12:19,538 Yeah, we can say it that way also. 147 00:12:19,572 --> 00:12:26,679 But I think even if I know that I want to do something with my name, 148 00:12:26,712 --> 00:12:31,917 I don't think I will find any chance in Turkey as a media composer 149 00:12:31,951 --> 00:12:39,091 because I didn't specifically request it to be a ghostwriter. 150 00:12:39,125 --> 00:12:44,396 That was the only way that I can score music to a motion picture and get paid. 151 00:12:44,430 --> 00:12:46,198 That was the... 152 00:12:47,099 --> 00:12:48,367 How can I say? 153 00:12:48,367 --> 00:12:51,303 That was the conditions for me in the past because 154 00:12:51,303 --> 00:12:56,909 they only offer me to be a ghostwriter because somehow the production company is 155 00:12:56,942 --> 00:13:03,883 either ashamed or terrified to work with a composer with a visual disability 156 00:13:03,916 --> 00:13:09,555 because even they can't understand how can I synch the music to the picture. 157 00:13:09,588 --> 00:13:12,491 Even I say that, Okay, I can see the picture. 158 00:13:12,525 --> 00:13:14,293 I have a full spectrum vision. 159 00:13:14,326 --> 00:13:18,931 Yes, I can see things while I'm walking because it's the part of 160 00:13:18,931 --> 00:13:21,233 retinitis pigmentosa, part of the nystagmus. 161 00:13:21,267 --> 00:13:25,337 These are the medical conditions and has some effects on my eyes, 162 00:13:25,371 --> 00:13:31,343 so I can't see properly, which doesn't mean that I can't work with a picture. 163 00:13:31,343 --> 00:13:35,347 Even a blind person can work with a picture. 164 00:13:35,347 --> 00:13:40,686 Maybe they can use a sight assistant or something, or they can basically 165 00:13:40,719 --> 00:13:44,156 use the script and time codes. 166 00:13:44,190 --> 00:13:45,658 Anything can possible. 167 00:13:45,691 --> 00:13:50,462 It's all about how we understand the matter. 168 00:13:50,462 --> 00:13:52,331 Do we need some... 169 00:13:52,364 --> 00:13:54,900 Are we open-minded or not? 170 00:13:54,900 --> 00:13:57,102 Do we need a great music to this picture or not? 171 00:13:57,136 --> 00:14:01,841 But the production companies in the past, maybe the situation 172 00:14:01,841 --> 00:14:07,279 is the same, I'm not sure, always wondering to work with a person 173 00:14:07,313 --> 00:14:11,850 who's similar, who look familiar to them. 174 00:14:11,884 --> 00:14:13,752 Let's put it that way. 175 00:14:14,353 --> 00:14:16,355 What was the triggering point? 176 00:14:16,388 --> 00:14:19,258 When did you decide, Okay, I'm going to 177 00:14:19,291 --> 00:14:23,462 submit my own media music score, and I'm 178 00:14:23,495 --> 00:14:26,765 going to compose for films and submit it? 179 00:14:26,799 --> 00:14:28,734 Actually, you know what? 180 00:14:28,767 --> 00:14:30,502 Two things has triggered me. 181 00:14:30,502 --> 00:14:34,907 First, I had a cataract surgery, and it was a high-risky one. 182 00:14:34,907 --> 00:14:37,076 There was a great chance that I 183 00:14:37,109 --> 00:14:42,815 lose all the sight. But I found a legendary 184 00:14:42,848 --> 00:14:47,519 surgeon, and he took care of the process without any problems. 185 00:14:47,553 --> 00:14:50,122 That things change your mentality. 186 00:14:50,155 --> 00:14:51,757 Okay, I survived that. 187 00:14:51,790 --> 00:14:53,692 I survived from that. 188 00:14:53,726 --> 00:14:57,997 So maybe I can do more in my life because I survived. 189 00:14:58,030 --> 00:15:01,367 It was highly stressful, but nothing bad happened. 190 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,236 Maybe nothing bad happen in my career also. 191 00:15:04,270 --> 00:15:07,973 But ultimately, it all started with a YouTube video. 192 00:15:08,007 --> 00:15:14,880 It was summer, COVID, first year of the pandemic. 193 00:15:14,913 --> 00:15:18,817 I was in the YouTube because that's what I do as a nerd. 194 00:15:18,851 --> 00:15:21,754 I will always search some better tutorial 195 00:15:21,787 --> 00:15:26,125 videos about music, sound technologies, 196 00:15:26,158 --> 00:15:28,627 media composition, and all that stuff. 197 00:15:28,627 --> 00:15:34,266 I saw a video of a guy, a white American guy who says that he is 198 00:15:34,300 --> 00:15:38,404 the founder of a foundation called Able Artist Foundationn, also 199 00:15:38,404 --> 00:15:46,011 says that he is also visually impaired, and he's a professional media composer. 200 00:15:46,045 --> 00:15:50,416 In the video, that said that, Okay, you can be a member of our foundation. 201 00:15:50,449 --> 00:15:51,884 Also, we have a contest. 202 00:15:51,917 --> 00:15:57,256 If you want to submit your music, we will review it and we will 203 00:15:57,289 --> 00:16:00,426 choose some of you as winners. 204 00:16:01,160 --> 00:16:07,700 I think in that very moment, I decided 205 00:16:07,700 --> 00:16:10,469 to change all my attitude because there's 206 00:16:10,502 --> 00:16:16,008 a person 10,000 miles away from my home who is a professional media composer 207 00:16:16,041 --> 00:16:19,144 who has a visual disability called retinitis pigmentosa. 208 00:16:19,144 --> 00:16:23,282 His name is Stephen Letnes, and he is the CEO and founder 209 00:16:23,282 --> 00:16:25,584 of the Able Artist Foundation. 210 00:16:26,919 --> 00:16:32,558 I decided to submit my track because I wasn't alone anymore. 211 00:16:32,991 --> 00:16:39,932 I'm not the only kind of my species. There are others. 212 00:16:39,965 --> 00:16:43,902 So I decided to submit my track and see what happens. 213 00:16:43,902 --> 00:16:50,042 In that moment, I, utterly, I decided to kill that what-if person 214 00:16:50,075 --> 00:16:52,311 because, okay, there are more. 215 00:16:52,344 --> 00:16:55,814 I found my familiars now. 216 00:16:55,848 --> 00:16:59,518 I don't have to be alone. I don't have to tell. 217 00:16:59,551 --> 00:17:04,490 I don't have to craft my path. 218 00:17:04,523 --> 00:17:06,291 I can basically connect with them. 219 00:17:06,325 --> 00:17:11,096 I can basically find my community, which I've always been seeking out. 220 00:17:11,130 --> 00:17:12,498 I submit my tracks. 221 00:17:12,498 --> 00:17:19,538 And two months later, I was named as the Grand Prize winner, and it all started. 222 00:17:20,706 --> 00:17:22,408 Congratulations. 223 00:17:22,408 --> 00:17:25,210 Thank you. It was four years ago, but still excited about it. 224 00:17:25,244 --> 00:17:28,680 Since then, I'm the one who... 225 00:17:28,714 --> 00:17:30,649 I'm one of the jury members. 226 00:17:30,649 --> 00:17:32,317 [Laughs.] 227 00:17:32,551 --> 00:17:34,686 Okay, so what happened next? 228 00:17:34,720 --> 00:17:38,857 What happened after you won this contest? 229 00:17:39,725 --> 00:17:44,696 Actually, I've been talking with some of my friends about this, and 230 00:17:44,730 --> 00:17:49,268 normally I have another answer to that, but let me give you a brand new one. 231 00:17:49,301 --> 00:17:53,505 After that, actually, there was an interview with Stephen, 232 00:17:53,539 --> 00:17:58,010 Stephen Letnes, for the Able Artist Foundation's fundraiser. 233 00:17:58,043 --> 00:18:06,118 Most part of the prizes are the softwares. 234 00:18:06,151 --> 00:18:11,723 I received some of the great compliments of the software or, let's say, 235 00:18:11,723 --> 00:18:18,630 sound set developers that I've been following in my entire life. 236 00:18:18,697 --> 00:18:25,537 The other prize is connecting with a library music publisher. 237 00:18:25,537 --> 00:18:28,040 That's what I was looking for by myself. 238 00:18:28,140 --> 00:18:29,241 It came to me. 239 00:18:29,241 --> 00:18:30,642 It came to me. 240 00:18:30,676 --> 00:18:33,979 I submit some of my tracks to that publisher. 241 00:18:34,012 --> 00:18:38,817 We set an interview, we set a meeting, and they want to onboard all of my music. 242 00:18:39,585 --> 00:18:43,822 I don't have to do anything. 243 00:18:43,856 --> 00:18:45,791 I don't have to compose new music. 244 00:18:45,824 --> 00:18:50,162 They wanted to onboard my existing tracks. It was great. 245 00:18:50,195 --> 00:18:51,563 I send it through. 246 00:18:51,597 --> 00:18:58,704 Then I started working some new music packs for that publisher, Hitlist Music. 247 00:19:00,205 --> 00:19:02,441 I submitted some tracks. 248 00:19:02,441 --> 00:19:05,377 They decided to onboard them also. 249 00:19:06,044 --> 00:19:06,945 Then it all started. 250 00:19:06,979 --> 00:19:13,552 Then I started I don't jump into each opportunity that I see. 251 00:19:13,585 --> 00:19:17,422 I rejected to say no to anything. 252 00:19:17,422 --> 00:19:21,293 The yes became the default answer for me. 253 00:19:21,326 --> 00:19:23,095 Hey, do you want to do this? Yes. 254 00:19:23,128 --> 00:19:25,097 You want to be in this project? Yes. 255 00:19:25,130 --> 00:19:27,733 There's no no because there's no need to say no. 256 00:19:27,766 --> 00:19:30,035 There's no need to be hesitated. 257 00:19:30,068 --> 00:19:32,771 I know that I can do that. 258 00:19:32,804 --> 00:19:35,374 Wasn't that stressful? Highly stressful. 259 00:19:35,407 --> 00:19:39,778 I always doubt myself because it's a part of being a musician. 260 00:19:39,811 --> 00:19:43,248 This relationship is toxic with music. 261 00:19:43,282 --> 00:19:48,754 You never can say that, Okay, this sounds good. 262 00:19:48,787 --> 00:19:53,358 No matter if you're a concertist, an instrumentalist, a songwriter, a singer, 263 00:19:53,392 --> 00:19:56,295 a composer, it will be never done. 264 00:19:56,295 --> 00:20:02,167 As you perfectly know that it can't be good enough for us. 265 00:20:02,201 --> 00:20:06,271 Our work can't be good enough for ourselves. 266 00:20:06,271 --> 00:20:10,075 But I stopped worrying about that. 267 00:20:10,108 --> 00:20:14,246 Then I started to think, Okay, people, the reviewers, the client 268 00:20:14,279 --> 00:20:16,615 can say to me, It's not working. 269 00:20:16,648 --> 00:20:19,651 I do what I can do. I give my best. 270 00:20:19,685 --> 00:20:22,254 Then we'll see what will happen. 271 00:20:22,287 --> 00:20:28,994 Changing that mindset opens all the doors for me. 272 00:20:29,027 --> 00:20:32,764 In this interview with Stephen... 273 00:20:32,764 --> 00:20:36,969 I'm always looking at what is happening behind the scene. 274 00:20:37,002 --> 00:20:39,805 How does a composer work? What is the details? 275 00:20:39,838 --> 00:20:43,475 How do you use your softwares and things like that? 276 00:20:43,508 --> 00:20:48,814 You showed a pair of glasses with a telescope attached. 277 00:20:48,847 --> 00:20:51,883 Can you explain how you use that? 278 00:20:51,917 --> 00:20:57,222 Actually, it was my previous equipment, thanks to recent technological 279 00:20:57,256 --> 00:21:01,326 improvements, now, I switched to digital instruments. 280 00:21:01,326 --> 00:21:05,897 But for most time of my life, I've been using some kind of telescopes. 281 00:21:05,931 --> 00:21:08,934 It was an ugly one, I know. [Laughs.] 282 00:21:08,967 --> 00:21:13,372 It's another thing in the disability culture. 283 00:21:13,405 --> 00:21:16,408 The accessibility instruments are ugly. 284 00:21:16,441 --> 00:21:22,047 They should be able to design them more fancy, fancier, more fancy. 285 00:21:22,080 --> 00:21:23,548 But they avoid to do that. 286 00:21:23,582 --> 00:21:28,320 Then we end up with using some ugly 287 00:21:28,687 --> 00:21:31,757 instruments, not designed that 288 00:21:31,790 --> 00:21:33,959 fancy, that sexy. 289 00:21:33,992 --> 00:21:35,661 But I've been using that. 290 00:21:35,694 --> 00:21:37,963 When you used to work with those telescopes, 291 00:21:37,996 --> 00:21:42,801 it become like a part of your body. 292 00:21:42,834 --> 00:21:48,373 But you always end up keep moving your head because it's a tiny thing, 293 00:21:48,407 --> 00:21:50,776 and you see the monitor in that part. 294 00:21:50,809 --> 00:21:54,846 You can see the general picture, but if you want to focus on something, 295 00:21:54,880 --> 00:21:59,685 if you want to, let's say, follow the mouse cursor, 296 00:21:59,718 --> 00:22:04,456 you have to use that telescope and you're ending up moving your head and it 297 00:22:04,489 --> 00:22:10,395 can cause a great headache in a let's say, 6 hours of writing session because you 298 00:22:10,429 --> 00:22:13,565 have headphones, studio-level headphones. 299 00:22:13,598 --> 00:22:18,470 You have that considerably heavy telescopes and you have 300 00:22:18,503 --> 00:22:20,539 to move your head all the time. 301 00:22:20,572 --> 00:22:25,377 Now, I moved my head and I completely messed up with the microphone. 302 00:22:25,410 --> 00:22:27,479 Sorry for that. [Laughs.] 303 00:22:27,512 --> 00:22:28,547 Okay. 304 00:22:28,580 --> 00:22:31,383 Maybe I could get a lavalier. 305 00:22:31,383 --> 00:22:33,018 Sorry. 306 00:22:33,051 --> 00:22:36,054 What's your digital version, now? 307 00:22:36,088 --> 00:22:40,959 Now, thanks to operating system developers, now 308 00:22:40,992 --> 00:22:44,563 we have great inbuilt magnifiers. 309 00:22:44,596 --> 00:22:49,101 This basically works as the telescopes, but these are digital, 310 00:22:49,134 --> 00:22:52,537 so resolution is really high. 311 00:22:52,537 --> 00:22:57,542 Also, you can shape the magnifier, how big will be the frame, or you can be the 312 00:22:57,576 --> 00:22:59,544 full screen magnification if you want. 313 00:22:59,578 --> 00:23:03,715 You can switch between different modes, and basically, 314 00:23:03,749 --> 00:23:05,517 it can attach to the mouse. 315 00:23:05,550 --> 00:23:10,622 When you move your cursor, the magnifier will follow it. 316 00:23:10,622 --> 00:23:15,927 It's basically a digital frame, a virtual frame on your screen, 317 00:23:15,927 --> 00:23:17,129 on your computer screen. 318 00:23:17,162 --> 00:23:23,969 Also, for example, on your tablet or phone, it basically same. 319 00:23:24,002 --> 00:23:27,372 The Mac version is better. 320 00:23:27,405 --> 00:23:31,676 The magnifiers in macOS works better to me, also in iPhone 321 00:23:31,710 --> 00:23:34,045 and iPad, but it depends. 322 00:23:34,079 --> 00:23:39,417 I have many colleagues who feel more comfortable with Windows. 323 00:23:39,451 --> 00:23:46,124 Also, I've been a former Windows user for more than 30 years, so I can say that 324 00:23:46,124 --> 00:23:49,294 these digital magnifiers serve really well. 325 00:23:49,327 --> 00:23:52,697 Now, I'm really excited about this new 326 00:23:52,731 --> 00:23:59,037 artificial - no - Augmented reality glasses like 327 00:23:59,070 --> 00:24:06,211 the Apple Vision, Apple Pro Vision, and the Meta's new prototype, Orion glasses. 328 00:24:06,244 --> 00:24:10,215 Basically, then we won't need a computer screen anymore. 329 00:24:10,248 --> 00:24:14,920 The Augmented Reality Glasses will be able to create. 330 00:24:14,953 --> 00:24:19,157 It's still now that you can do it with the Apple Vision Pro. 331 00:24:19,191 --> 00:24:23,328 It basically creates a virtual screen as big as you want to and 332 00:24:23,361 --> 00:24:25,030 in which position you want to. 333 00:24:25,063 --> 00:24:30,335 So you don't have to look a screen and hurt your neck. 334 00:24:30,669 --> 00:24:35,607 Practically, in theory, you can lay down and look at the ceiling, and the 335 00:24:35,640 --> 00:24:41,379 Augmented Reality glasses will create a screen on the ceiling as big as you want. 336 00:24:41,413 --> 00:24:45,183 You will be able to use your magnifier features and everything 337 00:24:45,183 --> 00:24:48,119 because it will be a computer screen in the end of the day. 338 00:24:48,153 --> 00:24:54,092 But it will be another great invention, innovation for the 339 00:24:54,125 --> 00:24:56,127 visually impaired community, let's say. 340 00:24:56,161 --> 00:25:01,066 There will be also use cases in the outside, a different story. 341 00:25:01,099 --> 00:25:05,437 But these technologies, even though not 342 00:25:05,470 --> 00:25:08,607 focusing the blind community 343 00:25:08,607 --> 00:25:13,178 or centralize the blind community, they are working on some accessibility features. 344 00:25:13,211 --> 00:25:17,349 Also, there are third-party companies that also can create, can come up 345 00:25:17,382 --> 00:25:21,786 with features or software solutions to make our lives easier. 346 00:25:21,786 --> 00:25:25,991 But in my case, I basically use a digital magnifier 347 00:25:26,024 --> 00:25:27,893 and my mouse cursor, my keyboard. 348 00:25:27,926 --> 00:25:31,796 It's half conventional, half my way. 349 00:25:31,830 --> 00:25:37,435 I have blind friends who can use the DAW 350 00:25:37,469 --> 00:25:40,305 softwares, Digital Audio Workstation, without touching the mouse. 351 00:25:40,338 --> 00:25:45,744 They are really great and faster than me, faster than any other engineer or 352 00:25:45,744 --> 00:25:49,915 any other artist on the face of the Earth because they use the keyboard, they are 353 00:25:49,948 --> 00:25:52,350 really fast, really faster than me. 354 00:25:52,384 --> 00:25:56,688 I'm willing to learn that thing in the future, that method, that way of work. 355 00:25:56,721 --> 00:26:00,091 But most of the time I do that. 356 00:26:00,125 --> 00:26:04,029 Can you give us a feel of what projects you're working on right now? 357 00:26:04,062 --> 00:26:07,666 Do you have some interesting work on the go? 358 00:26:07,666 --> 00:26:11,069 Yeah, of course. I have something that I can tell you right now, 359 00:26:11,102 --> 00:26:15,440 but there are things also I can't tell. [Laughs.] 360 00:26:15,607 --> 00:26:19,377 NDAs can be a pain in the neck. 361 00:26:19,577 --> 00:26:24,015 Most recently, last week, 362 00:26:24,015 --> 00:26:27,485 the first Guide Dog documentary of my country, Turkey, 363 00:26:27,485 --> 00:26:31,957 has premiered in the TRT Documentary Awards. 364 00:26:31,990 --> 00:26:33,959 It's a Turkey radio and television. 365 00:26:33,992 --> 00:26:37,529 You can think it as the equivalent of BBC. 366 00:26:37,562 --> 00:26:43,668 Also, they have an interesting relationship with BBC, also a partnership. 367 00:26:44,402 --> 00:26:46,738 It's the first of its kind. 368 00:26:46,771 --> 00:26:51,609 Also, I'm really excited about it because first, my lovely Guide Dog, Blut - 369 00:26:51,643 --> 00:26:56,815 I forgot to mention about her, and that's why she will give me such a hard time 370 00:26:56,848 --> 00:26:58,183 because she's a drama queen. 371 00:26:58,183 --> 00:27:01,619 Let's mention about her right now. 372 00:27:01,619 --> 00:27:02,721 It's real. 373 00:27:02,754 --> 00:27:04,456 Don't laugh. 374 00:27:04,489 --> 00:27:07,359 She's a real drama queen. [Laughs.] 375 00:27:07,359 --> 00:27:10,195 I cannot be able to hug anybody anymore 376 00:27:10,228 --> 00:27:14,499 because she doesn't allow me to do that. 377 00:27:14,532 --> 00:27:16,568 It's the first of its kind. 378 00:27:16,568 --> 00:27:21,840 My lovely guide dog, Blut, was the star of the first episode. 379 00:27:21,873 --> 00:27:24,476 I was the composer of that series. 380 00:27:24,509 --> 00:27:28,480 The TRT premiered the first episode, 381 00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:31,683 and it was the most interesting one 382 00:27:31,683 --> 00:27:36,955 and had the most attention in the documentary awards. 383 00:27:36,988 --> 00:27:40,492 The more important thing is, yes, it's the first, 384 00:27:40,492 --> 00:27:42,694 Turkey's first guide dog documentary. 385 00:27:42,727 --> 00:27:50,935 Yes, I think I win the TRT's first blind 386 00:27:50,969 --> 00:27:55,540 composer in TRT's history. They hired me 387 00:27:55,573 --> 00:28:01,546 for this documentary series, and it was the first time for them, too. 388 00:28:01,579 --> 00:28:06,451 So it was a historic moment for TRT, I guess. 389 00:28:06,484 --> 00:28:12,590 But the most importantly, they make 390 00:28:12,624 --> 00:28:16,694 this story telling, make the narration 391 00:28:17,896 --> 00:28:20,899 prioritizing disability justice. 392 00:28:20,932 --> 00:28:25,770 It's also a first thing happened in my country because there 393 00:28:25,804 --> 00:28:30,141 are some documentaries about disability culture which are inaccurate, 394 00:28:30,141 --> 00:28:34,813 I think, completely ableist, and has a wrong narration 395 00:28:34,846 --> 00:28:38,283 about the disability justice because they're not prioritizing 396 00:28:38,316 --> 00:28:38,950 disability justice. 397 00:28:38,983 --> 00:28:43,221 They don't know the concept, the term disability justice at all. 398 00:28:43,254 --> 00:28:50,462 But this is a documentary, use the correct terminology, correct language, 399 00:28:50,462 --> 00:28:56,434 correct narration, and has the quality of disability justice, 400 00:28:56,434 --> 00:28:59,104 carries the quality of disability justice. 401 00:28:59,104 --> 00:29:04,943 I consulted them to finetune the narration, the voiceovers, 402 00:29:04,943 --> 00:29:09,447 and all cinematography and narration. 403 00:29:09,447 --> 00:29:14,853 They were kind enough to listen me, they accept my input. 404 00:29:14,886 --> 00:29:18,723 That's why I'm so excited, because now we have a documentary 405 00:29:18,723 --> 00:29:20,725 about guide dogs in Turkey. 406 00:29:20,759 --> 00:29:22,727 It can be... 407 00:29:22,994 --> 00:29:25,763 It's a 2024 documentary. 408 00:29:25,797 --> 00:29:33,104 If that documentary is produced in the States, in Canada, the narration 409 00:29:34,472 --> 00:29:36,574 can't be better than that. 410 00:29:36,608 --> 00:29:42,147 So that's one of my... That's one of my great honors. 411 00:29:42,147 --> 00:29:44,883 There's a documentary produced in my country 412 00:29:44,916 --> 00:29:51,289 with a correct narration, language, which prioritize the disability justice. 413 00:29:51,322 --> 00:29:56,795 Plus, you told me that guide dogs are recent in Turkey, right? 414 00:29:56,828 --> 00:29:58,663 Of course. Yeah. 415 00:29:59,230 --> 00:30:00,331 Of course. 416 00:30:00,365 --> 00:30:03,935 You say, Of course, because you live in Turkey. 417 00:30:03,968 --> 00:30:09,807 But some people who are listening to us or watching this interview today, 418 00:30:09,807 --> 00:30:11,442 they must say, What? 419 00:30:11,476 --> 00:30:14,946 But I thought guide dogs were existing 420 00:30:14,979 --> 00:30:19,817 since, I don't know, 10 years, 15 years. 421 00:30:19,817 --> 00:30:26,624 But it's important to say that in Turkey, now you have a few 422 00:30:26,658 --> 00:30:31,162 families, including you, having a guide dog, which is great. 423 00:30:31,196 --> 00:30:34,299 Yeah, it's a brand new thing. 424 00:30:35,366 --> 00:30:39,804 The blind society, the blind community, always wanted to have guide dogs 425 00:30:39,837 --> 00:30:42,173 as our accessibility partners. 426 00:30:42,207 --> 00:30:46,077 But we have a stray dog situation in Turkey. 427 00:30:46,110 --> 00:30:46,978 It's different. 428 00:30:47,011 --> 00:30:52,851 Actually, we have the least dog and cat population in Europe territory. 429 00:30:52,884 --> 00:30:59,057 But the dog and cat owning rates are pretty low. 430 00:30:59,057 --> 00:31:05,296 Most of our dogs and cats live on the street, which is a shame for my country 431 00:31:05,330 --> 00:31:11,703 and for my people because the dogs or cats are not comfortable on streets. 432 00:31:11,703 --> 00:31:14,005 They need their families. 433 00:31:14,038 --> 00:31:18,543 They need families, they need houses, they need medical... 434 00:31:19,277 --> 00:31:22,647 They need health care, they need medical attention. 435 00:31:22,680 --> 00:31:27,185 But because we have stray dogs, a lot of stray dogs in Turkey, 436 00:31:27,185 --> 00:31:32,690 the default paradigm was 437 00:31:32,690 --> 00:31:34,826 we can't have guide dogs because we have stray dogs. 438 00:31:34,859 --> 00:31:37,562 We have a lot of stray dogs in Turkey. 439 00:31:37,595 --> 00:31:43,768 But it turns out, stray dogs are not a problem at all because they know that 440 00:31:43,801 --> 00:31:50,174 our guide dogs are service animals, and our trainers can fine-tune our guide 441 00:31:50,208 --> 00:31:55,346 dogs attitudes and behavior when they see 442 00:31:55,380 --> 00:31:58,049 or when they're faced with a stray dog. 443 00:31:58,082 --> 00:32:01,819 Our guide dogs can use the diplomacy to get out of the situation. 444 00:32:01,853 --> 00:32:07,091 Most of the time, stray dogs do their own thing. 445 00:32:07,125 --> 00:32:08,860 They're not really interested with us. 446 00:32:08,860 --> 00:32:13,298 In 10 years, the program is 10 years old now, I guess, 447 00:32:13,298 --> 00:32:18,903 we have nine guide dogs on duty, and most interestingly, four of them was in 448 00:32:18,936 --> 00:32:20,939 the documentary Awards for the Premiere. 449 00:32:20,972 --> 00:32:26,744 It was really great because the Guide Dog program is new and because we have a 450 00:32:26,744 --> 00:32:32,417 stray dog situation in Turkey, there's a lack of awareness when it comes 451 00:32:32,450 --> 00:32:38,489 to Guide Dogs because as you know, we can go to restaurants, hospitals, 452 00:32:38,523 --> 00:32:42,260 theaters, we can onboard to aircraft, 453 00:32:42,260 --> 00:32:44,195 and everywhere with our guide dogs. 454 00:32:44,228 --> 00:32:51,135 But the good people of my country still struggling with that fact. 455 00:32:51,169 --> 00:32:52,737 How should they handle it? 456 00:32:52,770 --> 00:32:55,406 Actually, the community support is great. 457 00:32:55,440 --> 00:33:00,211 If you ask the people on the street, they all love guide dogs. 458 00:33:00,244 --> 00:33:05,883 They are fascinated, and they're so excited that we have guide dogs, 459 00:33:05,917 --> 00:33:11,489 and they would love to us in everywhere. 460 00:33:11,522 --> 00:33:17,328 Restaurants, theaters, planes, I don't know, subways, busses, 461 00:33:17,362 --> 00:33:19,530 everywhere, in hospitals. 462 00:33:19,564 --> 00:33:23,468 But the owners or work employees 463 00:33:23,501 --> 00:33:27,105 of that facilities are struggling 464 00:33:27,138 --> 00:33:33,211 to understand that they have to allow us in their environment, 465 00:33:33,244 --> 00:33:36,047 in their facility, their business. 466 00:33:36,080 --> 00:33:42,120 So it became a battle on daily basis because there's a lack 467 00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:48,526 of knowledge, lack of understanding, and lack of awareness, which makes us 468 00:33:48,526 --> 00:33:52,663 a natural ambassador of guide dogs. 469 00:33:52,663 --> 00:33:59,037 We're doing that work as public figures 470 00:33:59,070 --> 00:34:04,175 because we have to shape the mindset of 471 00:34:04,208 --> 00:34:10,047 the society if you want to access 472 00:34:10,047 --> 00:34:12,817 to the places like everybody does, everybody do. 473 00:34:12,850 --> 00:34:15,219 But it's getting better. 474 00:34:15,253 --> 00:34:18,756 The situation was worse even two years ago and getting better. 475 00:34:18,790 --> 00:34:23,961 One thing about Turks. 476 00:34:23,995 --> 00:34:26,297 Yes, we can be skeptical. 477 00:34:26,330 --> 00:34:34,038 We can insist to do not understand things 478 00:34:34,072 --> 00:34:36,340 if something conflicts with 479 00:34:36,374 --> 00:34:40,645 our cultural knowledge I'm not talking about everybody, let's say, 480 00:34:40,645 --> 00:34:47,185 for the society itself, culturally, but 481 00:34:47,218 --> 00:34:49,720 we are quick adopters and quick learners. 482 00:34:49,754 --> 00:34:54,926 If somehow someone manage to tell us 483 00:34:54,959 --> 00:34:58,429 the situation correctly, and if we decide 484 00:34:58,429 --> 00:35:05,169 to be open-minded, then we can become a quick learner or a practical thinker. 485 00:35:05,203 --> 00:35:07,805 That's the thing about my people. 486 00:35:07,839 --> 00:35:13,644 I know that there are also problems in Greece because the culture are 487 00:35:13,644 --> 00:35:15,847 pretty identical with Greece and Turkey. 488 00:35:15,880 --> 00:35:21,619 We have a lot common, but also there are quick learners. 489 00:35:21,652 --> 00:35:25,823 I believe in the future, the situation will be better. 490 00:35:25,823 --> 00:35:32,663 We need to be more, let's say, we need to be more productive as the blind community 491 00:35:32,663 --> 00:35:35,500 and do our ambassador work as well. 492 00:35:35,500 --> 00:35:39,403 But yeah, I know it sounds a little It's a bit weird because 493 00:35:39,437 --> 00:35:45,042 Turkey is the only country, I guess, don't have an equivalent of ADA, 494 00:35:45,076 --> 00:35:49,747 even though Turkey is part of the United Nations Convention on the 495 00:35:49,780 --> 00:35:52,183 Rights of the Persons with Disabilities. 496 00:35:52,183 --> 00:35:58,256 But these are the problems, and problems can be solved. 497 00:35:58,289 --> 00:36:02,693 What about the impact of that on the art? 498 00:36:02,727 --> 00:36:07,198 For you, what does it mean, accessibility in the arts in that context, 499 00:36:07,231 --> 00:36:13,070 or disability disability culture, because that's something we might talk about. 500 00:36:13,237 --> 00:36:17,608 I will ask you, we are both part of RAMPD. 501 00:36:17,642 --> 00:36:18,476 Yeah, of course. 502 00:36:18,509 --> 00:36:22,747 In RAMPD, we have this discussion about disability culture, 503 00:36:22,747 --> 00:36:26,851 and we have this notion of accessibility in the arts, which is already difficult 504 00:36:26,884 --> 00:36:30,488 in the United States, as you know, because you work there, too, 505 00:36:30,521 --> 00:36:34,125 and also because of your connections with RAMPD, which I will ask you 506 00:36:34,125 --> 00:36:35,693 a little bit more about that. 507 00:36:35,726 --> 00:36:36,360 Of course. 508 00:36:36,394 --> 00:36:41,766 But before that, this impact of the fighting 509 00:36:41,799 --> 00:36:47,738 for a better accessibility in Turkey, how is it represented in the arts? 510 00:36:48,072 --> 00:36:54,712 Actually, there are some representation in the arts, but in Turkey, 511 00:36:54,745 --> 00:36:58,015 the situation is a little bit different. We have a different... 512 00:36:58,049 --> 00:37:03,721 Let's say there's a documentary, Crip Camp, nominated to the Oscars 513 00:37:03,721 --> 00:37:08,960 a couple of years ago, directed by Jim Lebrecht, who is a Director, 514 00:37:08,960 --> 00:37:11,495 identifying as disabled also. 515 00:37:11,529 --> 00:37:17,835 In Crip Camp, the disabled citizens of the United States were fighting 516 00:37:17,868 --> 00:37:24,242 for the Rehabilitation Act, which rejected by Nixon. 517 00:37:24,275 --> 00:37:31,248 And his words are, and I quote, it will be too expensive to rehabilitate 518 00:37:31,282 --> 00:37:34,318 the places for the disabled citizens. 519 00:37:34,352 --> 00:37:39,223 And honestly, they didn't earn that. 520 00:37:39,223 --> 00:37:42,727 They didn't have enough contribution 521 00:37:42,727 --> 00:37:44,528 to the society financially. 522 00:37:44,562 --> 00:37:46,364 That was the Nixon's words. 523 00:37:46,397 --> 00:37:49,567 And the disability in action started. 524 00:37:49,600 --> 00:37:55,740 They fighted for their rights, and then the Nixon had to sign 525 00:37:55,740 --> 00:37:58,876 the act, Rehabilitation Act. 526 00:37:59,076 --> 00:38:03,314 In Turkey, the situation is different. 527 00:38:03,581 --> 00:38:08,119 In America, in the States, a President can stand up and say that, 528 00:38:08,152 --> 00:38:12,923 Okay, I won't give anything to the disabled citizens because to me, 529 00:38:12,923 --> 00:38:19,864 they are not paying enough taxes, which is ridiculous because did they 530 00:38:19,864 --> 00:38:25,302 provide enough employment opportunity to the disabled citizens? 531 00:38:25,302 --> 00:38:31,876 Did they provide the accessible education environment to the disabled citizens? 532 00:38:31,909 --> 00:38:37,114 But even though they didn't do any of those things, the President 533 00:38:37,148 --> 00:38:41,118 can stand up and say, Okay, we won't do this rehabilitation thing 534 00:38:41,152 --> 00:38:42,420 because it's expensive. 535 00:38:42,453 --> 00:38:45,256 I don't want to spend that money to the disabled citizens 536 00:38:45,289 --> 00:38:47,391 because they do not deserve it. 537 00:38:47,425 --> 00:38:54,799 But in the end of the day, they had to because the disabled citizens, 538 00:38:54,832 --> 00:39:01,105 the citizens with disabilities, make their cases pretty hard. 539 00:39:01,105 --> 00:39:04,709 In Turkey, the situation is different. 540 00:39:05,976 --> 00:39:09,814 Maybe it's being East because, for example, being in the East, 541 00:39:09,847 --> 00:39:11,816 it's the Eastern culture. 542 00:39:11,849 --> 00:39:16,921 You can see the same similar reactions or similar practices, 543 00:39:16,921 --> 00:39:19,724 for example, in China or in Japan. 544 00:39:19,757 --> 00:39:24,395 For example, in China, people always live in multi-generation houses. 545 00:39:24,428 --> 00:39:27,164 In Turkey, most of the people do the same thing. 546 00:39:27,198 --> 00:39:31,268 From an American perspective, it's really weird, right? 547 00:39:31,302 --> 00:39:35,673 You live with your grandma, grandpa, your father, mother, a couple of brothers 548 00:39:35,706 --> 00:39:37,575 and sisters in the same house. 549 00:39:37,608 --> 00:39:39,910 A multi-generation house, it's really different. 550 00:39:39,944 --> 00:39:44,148 In those houses, they became 551 00:39:44,749 --> 00:39:47,585 excessively overprotective if 552 00:39:47,618 --> 00:39:50,955 there is a disabled child in the house. 553 00:39:51,422 --> 00:39:54,925 The attitude, the common practice is, Okay, we can do anything 554 00:39:54,959 --> 00:39:56,527 and everything on your behalf. 555 00:39:56,560 --> 00:39:58,963 You don't have to do anything. You are the king. 556 00:39:58,996 --> 00:40:01,298 We do anything for you. 557 00:40:01,465 --> 00:40:05,503 But okay, but this person has to be trained, have to learn how to 558 00:40:05,536 --> 00:40:12,042 read and write, have to learn a lot of things, be an undergrad diploma 559 00:40:12,042 --> 00:40:14,512 certificate, be a bachelor certificate. 560 00:40:14,845 --> 00:40:16,981 Have a bachelor certificate. 561 00:40:16,981 --> 00:40:18,883 Have a profession. Has a profession. 562 00:40:18,883 --> 00:40:21,318 But no, we can do anything. 563 00:40:21,352 --> 00:40:25,356 We can brush your teeth even We can brush your teeth. 564 00:40:25,389 --> 00:40:27,057 We don't teach you to do anything. 565 00:40:27,091 --> 00:40:31,996 We can do it on your behalf until we will die. 566 00:40:32,029 --> 00:40:33,898 What's the purpose of that? 567 00:40:33,898 --> 00:40:34,965 I can't see. 568 00:40:34,965 --> 00:40:40,237 But that's the cultural - cultural phenomenon. 569 00:40:40,738 --> 00:40:44,475 Our mother's always, Okay, I can iron your clothes. 570 00:40:44,508 --> 00:40:45,576 I can wash your clothes. 571 00:40:45,609 --> 00:40:48,345 I can even give you a bath! 572 00:40:48,379 --> 00:40:50,347 Because you're disabled. 573 00:40:50,381 --> 00:40:52,716 No, teach me how to do that. 574 00:40:52,750 --> 00:40:56,854 I was one of the real lucky ones that my 575 00:40:56,887 --> 00:41:00,591 family has a pretty good understanding 576 00:41:00,624 --> 00:41:06,764 about everything because they are college-educated parents and they are 577 00:41:06,797 --> 00:41:11,936 connected with the rest of the world and they understand 578 00:41:11,936 --> 00:41:14,004 the importance of accessibility. 579 00:41:14,004 --> 00:41:18,242 Thanks to my supporting mom and dad, yes, they made mistakes 580 00:41:18,242 --> 00:41:23,147 because they are the only ones fighting for my accessibility rights. 581 00:41:23,180 --> 00:41:27,718 They are the only ones trying to learn everything, and it's simply impossible 582 00:41:27,751 --> 00:41:32,323 to learn everything without a specialist, without an expert's help. 583 00:41:32,356 --> 00:41:37,928 But they managed to do all of these things with their knowledge, 584 00:41:37,962 --> 00:41:40,865 I've become who I am today. 585 00:41:40,898 --> 00:41:47,605 There are some rare examples also who become successful, productive, 586 00:41:47,605 --> 00:41:50,441 and respected members of the community. 587 00:41:50,474 --> 00:41:52,209 But the numbers are low. 588 00:41:52,243 --> 00:41:54,011 We cannot talk about statistics. 589 00:41:54,044 --> 00:41:57,982 We have that amount of 590 00:41:58,349 --> 00:42:01,919 high-educated disabled citizens. 591 00:42:01,952 --> 00:42:05,289 This is the rate for unemployment or under-employment. 592 00:42:05,322 --> 00:42:10,628 We can't talk about that because the Turks still to protect their children. 593 00:42:10,661 --> 00:42:17,434 They even don't know what they're protecting their children from. 594 00:42:17,468 --> 00:42:21,305 But they are learning because now, thanks to Gen Z and thanks 595 00:42:21,338 --> 00:42:27,378 to internet and social networks, now we connected to the world, all of us. 596 00:42:27,378 --> 00:42:28,879 We have access to the knowledge. 597 00:42:28,913 --> 00:42:32,683 We have access to the different cultures, different vantage 598 00:42:32,683 --> 00:42:34,785 points, different perspectives. 599 00:42:34,785 --> 00:42:38,489 So it's completely different thing. 600 00:42:38,522 --> 00:42:43,494 In RAMPD, in America, in the States, 601 00:42:43,527 --> 00:42:46,597 individualism is the key. 602 00:42:46,630 --> 00:42:51,936 At RAMPD, we try to force the interdependency. 603 00:42:51,969 --> 00:42:57,041 Not independency, but interdependency, because we need each other 604 00:42:57,074 --> 00:42:59,176 as a community, as a society. 605 00:42:59,209 --> 00:43:06,116 For example, you can sing well, I can write great songs, but I can't sing. 606 00:43:06,150 --> 00:43:10,821 If you can perform the songs that I created, then maybe 607 00:43:10,854 --> 00:43:14,959 we can create the next hit of Spotify. 608 00:43:14,992 --> 00:43:17,328 Deal. [Laughs.] 609 00:43:17,328 --> 00:43:19,697 When do we do that? Tomorrow? 610 00:43:19,730 --> 00:43:23,500 Of course, my tomorrow is open. 611 00:43:25,135 --> 00:43:27,204 When did you start with RAMPD? 612 00:43:27,237 --> 00:43:30,641 I know you have an important role in RAMPD right now. 613 00:43:30,641 --> 00:43:35,145 Everybody has an interconnected role, as you were saying. 614 00:43:35,145 --> 00:43:41,785 But thanks to people like you and people who are leading us through some paths, 615 00:43:41,785 --> 00:43:44,021 we are making it even better. 616 00:43:44,021 --> 00:43:45,823 Can you talk about your role in RAMPD? 617 00:43:45,823 --> 00:43:47,391 Yeah, of course. 618 00:43:47,391 --> 00:43:54,164 Also at RAMPD, yes, I have an important role, but I'm just a student of RAMPD. 619 00:43:54,198 --> 00:43:57,201 I'm learning because RAMPD has a pretty 620 00:43:57,234 --> 00:44:01,605 unique culture, let's say, commercial 621 00:44:01,605 --> 00:44:06,977 culture or professional culture, and a unique approach and vantage point when it 622 00:44:07,011 --> 00:44:11,648 comes to accessibility and disability justice and also disability culture. 623 00:44:11,682 --> 00:44:17,354 Also, my story started with RAMPD last year. 624 00:44:17,621 --> 00:44:23,594 It was an amazing moment for me because I've been following 625 00:44:23,627 --> 00:44:29,299 to RAMPD since it's first founded and made their first launch event. 626 00:44:29,299 --> 00:44:35,139 But you have to have some decent career successes if you want to be a pro member. 627 00:44:35,172 --> 00:44:40,944 Not decent, but you have to have - You are in the way of building your career. 628 00:44:40,944 --> 00:44:47,684 The partnership - or membership committee, sorry - reveals your application, then 629 00:44:47,718 --> 00:44:49,787 you can become a pro member or not. 630 00:44:49,787 --> 00:44:54,558 Luckily, last year, I became a pro member, and I jumped into the PR committee 631 00:44:54,591 --> 00:44:58,095 because, as I told, no is not an answer for me anymore. 632 00:44:58,128 --> 00:44:59,763 I always say yes. 633 00:44:59,797 --> 00:45:04,034 Okay, now I have a chance to a member of committees. 634 00:45:04,068 --> 00:45:09,073 Okay, I jumped into the PR committee because that I think that 635 00:45:09,106 --> 00:45:11,575 I can make some contributes. 636 00:45:11,608 --> 00:45:16,380 And one month later, I became the co-chair 637 00:45:16,413 --> 00:45:22,252 of the PR committee because we don't have 638 00:45:22,286 --> 00:45:30,494 a lot of members in the PR committee, but we build it together with Lachi, Marsha, Mark - 639 00:45:30,494 --> 00:45:38,702 Mark Erelli, Marsha Elle, Lachi, and our brilliant content lead, Sal, Salvador - 640 00:45:39,536 --> 00:45:43,273 we started building that PR committee, and we come up 641 00:45:43,307 --> 00:45:47,277 with creative projects at RAMPD. 642 00:45:47,311 --> 00:45:52,416 So it became the cool guys' table at RAMPD right now. 643 00:45:52,449 --> 00:45:55,285 You can call it on me! [Laughs.] 644 00:45:55,285 --> 00:46:01,358 So in one year, because I had a chance to spend a lot of time 645 00:46:01,391 --> 00:46:07,097 with Lachi, thanks to PR Committee, I learned more about RAMPD and disability culture 646 00:46:07,097 --> 00:46:12,903 and disability justice. Then I want to be part of the leadership 647 00:46:12,903 --> 00:46:15,038 because I want to be a decision maker 648 00:46:15,072 --> 00:46:18,575 because of my huge personality. 649 00:46:18,609 --> 00:46:23,380 As Lachi said, because I'm a tyrant. [Laughs.] 650 00:46:23,380 --> 00:46:26,617 I always have evil plans. 651 00:46:26,717 --> 00:46:32,856 These are Lachi's opinions. 652 00:46:32,890 --> 00:46:35,159 I don't know if these are accurate or not. 653 00:46:35,192 --> 00:46:36,226 We'll see about that. 654 00:46:36,226 --> 00:46:42,599 But then I ran for the elections for the secretary role, and I became 655 00:46:42,633 --> 00:46:48,972 the secretary, and Marsha Elle from the PR committee became the vice president. 656 00:46:49,006 --> 00:46:56,480 We ran to the elections together without knowing that we're running. 657 00:46:56,513 --> 00:47:04,454 I gave my vote to Marsha, and she gave her vote to me. 658 00:47:06,023 --> 00:47:10,060 The RAMPD members voted us, and we became the part of the leadership. 659 00:47:10,060 --> 00:47:15,599 Now I have a more important role, and it's getting more serious because 660 00:47:15,632 --> 00:47:20,737 now I have a responsibility because I'm representing the whole members, 661 00:47:20,771 --> 00:47:26,543 and I have to be an example because fighting with the accessibility 662 00:47:26,543 --> 00:47:30,581 and building a career at the same time is a delicate situation, 663 00:47:30,581 --> 00:47:33,083 as you perfectly know. 664 00:47:34,418 --> 00:47:37,788 Yes, some parts are protected by the law, 665 00:47:37,821 --> 00:47:42,426 and you can always turn people in. 666 00:47:42,459 --> 00:47:49,266 You can always use the legal system to get your rights. 667 00:47:49,399 --> 00:47:51,935 But is that the only way doing it? 668 00:47:51,969 --> 00:47:58,242 Or is that the most, let's say, efficient way to do it? 669 00:47:58,275 --> 00:48:00,978 Because in the end of the day, you want to build a career. 670 00:48:01,011 --> 00:48:04,281 You want to make friends, not make more enemies. 671 00:48:04,314 --> 00:48:07,517 Yes, you are right. 672 00:48:07,551 --> 00:48:13,557 You're fighting for a good reason, but is that efficient, really? 673 00:48:14,224 --> 00:48:18,729 Making those decisions, deciding what to do is 674 00:48:18,729 --> 00:48:22,599 pretty tough time to time. 675 00:48:22,633 --> 00:48:28,905 RAMPD tried to bridge that gap because we provide consultation 676 00:48:28,939 --> 00:48:32,709 to the big organizations like 677 00:48:32,709 --> 00:48:37,414 Recording Academy, Grammys, who organize, 678 00:48:37,447 --> 00:48:40,617 who runs the Grammys. 679 00:48:40,651 --> 00:48:47,291 Live Nation, companies like Netflix, Sony Pictures, and more and more. 680 00:48:47,324 --> 00:48:51,295 Because we're providing consulting to them 681 00:48:51,328 --> 00:48:54,765 because they want to be more accessible, 682 00:48:54,798 --> 00:49:00,103 and RAMPD can provide that knowledge to them, how they can be accessible. 683 00:49:00,103 --> 00:49:03,840 RAMPD can be a bridge between the disabled 684 00:49:03,840 --> 00:49:07,511 artists and fans and these huge venues 685 00:49:07,544 --> 00:49:12,516 and organizations who run the entertainment industry and also 686 00:49:12,549 --> 00:49:19,222 the companies like Netflix, streaming platforms like Netflix, and more. 687 00:49:19,222 --> 00:49:26,530 Using the diplomacy channels, providing knowledge, providing our 688 00:49:26,563 --> 00:49:30,867 expertise to them, first, 689 00:49:30,867 --> 00:49:34,338 make them more accessible, also change their mindsets 690 00:49:34,371 --> 00:49:35,706 of these big organizations. 691 00:49:35,739 --> 00:49:41,545 They start thinking, Okay, being accessible is a crucial thing. 692 00:49:41,545 --> 00:49:45,315 It should be the default. 693 00:49:45,415 --> 00:49:47,050 And RAMPD created it. 694 00:49:47,084 --> 00:49:54,057 RAMPD created that mindset in the industry, and we're still creating it. 695 00:49:54,091 --> 00:49:55,859 It will be a long journey. 696 00:49:55,892 --> 00:49:57,761 It will be a marathon. 697 00:49:57,794 --> 00:49:59,663 It's a marathon right now. 698 00:49:59,663 --> 00:50:04,935 But as a member of leadership, when you're faced with the situations, you have to be 699 00:50:04,968 --> 00:50:09,306 two times careful because I'm not representing myself anymore. 700 00:50:09,306 --> 00:50:10,974 I am representing RAMPD. 701 00:50:11,007 --> 00:50:12,809 I'm representing the leadership. 702 00:50:12,843 --> 00:50:17,180 I'm representing the members, and I have to be an example to them. 703 00:50:17,180 --> 00:50:22,886 In our townhomes or when I'm collaborating with some pro members of RAMPD, because 704 00:50:22,886 --> 00:50:25,922 as you know, RAMPD is a great ecosystem. 705 00:50:25,956 --> 00:50:31,795 You can start a project from an idea to the red carpet by only working with 706 00:50:31,828 --> 00:50:34,598 the brilliant members of RAMPD. 707 00:50:34,631 --> 00:50:39,503 As you know, you are one of these brilliant members of RAMPD. 708 00:50:39,503 --> 00:50:42,139 Also, I have some friends. 709 00:50:42,172 --> 00:50:47,577 Also, I met with some remarkable talents like Mark Erelli has also 710 00:50:47,611 --> 00:50:50,080 an episode in ArtsAbly. 711 00:50:50,647 --> 00:50:56,086 We have to make an example because we have also community members who just 712 00:50:56,119 --> 00:50:59,423 started creating their careers, and they're struggling, too. 713 00:50:59,423 --> 00:51:02,626 It's hard. It's a fight of every day. 714 00:51:02,626 --> 00:51:07,831 We also, as the members of leadership, time to time, terrified, frustrated 715 00:51:07,864 --> 00:51:08,899 because of the situation. 716 00:51:08,932 --> 00:51:13,203 But as the member of leadership of RAMPD, as the secretary, 717 00:51:13,236 --> 00:51:15,105 I know that I can solve it. 718 00:51:15,105 --> 00:51:17,174 I know that I can use a diplomacy because 719 00:51:17,207 --> 00:51:22,546 I'm trained to do that as a natural-born 720 00:51:22,579 --> 00:51:28,118 problem solver out of the box thinker as a natural-born diplomat. 721 00:51:28,151 --> 00:51:29,419 I know all the problems. 722 00:51:29,453 --> 00:51:31,188 I know bridging the gaps. 723 00:51:31,188 --> 00:51:36,526 As a resourceful person, I can gap those bridges, 724 00:51:36,560 --> 00:51:42,566 gap those - Bridge those gaps by myself. Sorry. 725 00:51:42,599 --> 00:51:45,435 English is not my native language, as you can guess. 726 00:51:45,469 --> 00:51:49,139 So be merciful. 727 00:51:50,607 --> 00:51:51,808 But that's the thing. 728 00:51:51,842 --> 00:51:55,278 It can be really tricky time to time because you also 729 00:51:55,312 --> 00:51:58,915 have a career and you're faced with the difficulties on a daily basis. 730 00:51:58,949 --> 00:52:03,887 But as a media composer, I can work 731 00:52:03,920 --> 00:52:07,457 from my cave, from my island, as Lachi 732 00:52:07,491 --> 00:52:11,027 said, time to time, our fearless leader. 733 00:52:12,295 --> 00:52:16,867 But also as a musician, as someone who 734 00:52:16,900 --> 00:52:20,036 attends to the premieres or festivals, 735 00:52:20,070 --> 00:52:22,439 yeah, there are some inaccessible stuff. 736 00:52:22,472 --> 00:52:26,576 Most of the things, taking care of my lovely guide dog, 737 00:52:26,610 --> 00:52:29,446 beloved guide dog, Blut. But... 738 00:52:29,446 --> 00:52:31,348 Blut means Cloud in English. 739 00:52:31,348 --> 00:52:34,184 But it still can be tricky. 740 00:52:34,184 --> 00:52:36,419 It's a still fight. 741 00:52:36,453 --> 00:52:42,325 But as far as I know that, we are the architects of the future as a disabled 742 00:52:42,325 --> 00:52:47,264 community, and we can design the future. 743 00:52:47,264 --> 00:52:52,035 We are the correct futurists because we are the natural-born inventors, 744 00:52:52,068 --> 00:52:54,638 natural-born problem solvers. 745 00:52:54,671 --> 00:53:00,443 So that makes us natural architects, natural futurists, because we 746 00:53:00,477 --> 00:53:03,813 have been building our feature. Nobody helped us. 747 00:53:03,847 --> 00:53:06,816 We are the ones who are helping ourselves. 748 00:53:06,850 --> 00:53:10,987 Now we became together, thanks to organizations like RAMPD, 749 00:53:10,987 --> 00:53:16,726 and we connect with each other thanks to projects like ArtsAbly. 750 00:53:17,127 --> 00:53:24,668 And thanks to those projects, organizations, these platforms. 751 00:53:25,101 --> 00:53:31,775 Since we came together and we start creating together, when we start creating 752 00:53:31,808 --> 00:53:37,647 together, we can show the industry to the world, see, we are all 753 00:53:37,647 --> 00:53:43,753 disabled professionals and we create some top-level works of the industry. 754 00:53:44,621 --> 00:53:51,094 Also the fact that being here, being present, being a part of the picture 755 00:53:51,127 --> 00:53:55,398 and having these conversations with these people in order 756 00:53:55,432 --> 00:53:58,902 to have this change of mindset happen. 757 00:53:58,902 --> 00:54:01,371 This is really, really important. 758 00:54:01,404 --> 00:54:06,176 I think RAMPD does it very well because I remember having this conversation 759 00:54:06,209 --> 00:54:11,982 at the very beginning of RAMPD when Lachi was there, I have a blink-blink 760 00:54:12,282 --> 00:54:18,255 cane, and I have these big dresses and all the eyes are coming to me, and then 761 00:54:18,288 --> 00:54:20,223 suddenly the conversation happens. 762 00:54:20,223 --> 00:54:22,692 [Laughs.] 763 00:54:22,692 --> 00:54:25,795 I love it! It's really like, Okay, so now let's talk. 764 00:54:25,829 --> 00:54:29,165 What do you do for these folks who are also in the art? 765 00:54:29,165 --> 00:54:31,701 Okay, let's talk now. 766 00:54:31,701 --> 00:54:34,104 Yeah, of course. 767 00:54:34,104 --> 00:54:41,344 I'm thankful to Lachi for being, or she is being Lachi because, 768 00:54:41,344 --> 00:54:47,384 for example, I understand that attitude, that mindset since I have a guide dog. 769 00:54:47,384 --> 00:54:54,224 Because now, before I partnered with my lovely guide dog Blut, and I have glasses 770 00:54:54,257 --> 00:54:56,726 and I didn't use cane. 771 00:54:56,760 --> 00:55:03,800 People really don't get what I am, didn't get what I am. 772 00:55:03,833 --> 00:55:08,104 Because sometimes they say, You look normal, whatever normal means. 773 00:55:08,104 --> 00:55:09,906 [Laughs.] 774 00:55:09,906 --> 00:55:12,509 Or when people crash on me, 775 00:55:12,542 --> 00:55:16,046 hits me accidentally, they blame me 776 00:55:16,079 --> 00:55:18,448 because I wasn't careful enough. 777 00:55:18,481 --> 00:55:21,818 But okay, I'm visually impaired. 778 00:55:21,851 --> 00:55:23,253 Chill, relax. 779 00:55:23,286 --> 00:55:27,757 But since I partnered with my guide dog, it's obvious. 780 00:55:27,791 --> 00:55:33,096 There are signs on my guide dog, and obviously, she leads me 781 00:55:33,129 --> 00:55:37,200 into the venue, into the neighborhood, to the neighborhood. 782 00:55:37,233 --> 00:55:42,138 And then, okay, I have a guide dog, as you can see, which 783 00:55:44,274 --> 00:55:47,243 means I'm visually impaired or blind. 784 00:55:47,277 --> 00:55:49,379 Let's start talking. 785 00:55:49,412 --> 00:55:54,184 Most of the time in Turkey, people think that 786 00:55:54,184 --> 00:55:58,355 my dog can't see and I am handling her. 787 00:55:58,355 --> 00:56:00,356 [Laughs.] 788 00:56:01,224 --> 00:56:07,697 I'm taking care of her, even though the sign clearly stands that I'm blind. 789 00:56:07,697 --> 00:56:09,232 She's not. 790 00:56:09,232 --> 00:56:15,004 But still people asking, Oh, your dog can't see? why? 791 00:56:15,038 --> 00:56:16,306 No, she can see. 792 00:56:16,306 --> 00:56:17,440 I can't. 793 00:56:17,474 --> 00:56:20,877 When I say that, I didn't get that. You look normal. 794 00:56:20,910 --> 00:56:24,047 No, I'm not. You're not, too. 795 00:56:24,080 --> 00:56:26,750 There's no such thing called normal. [Laughs.] 796 00:56:26,750 --> 00:56:31,588 What is normal? Can you define normal for me, please? 797 00:56:31,588 --> 00:56:33,690 Yeah, I ask, What's normal? 798 00:56:33,723 --> 00:56:36,192 Then the conversation ends. 799 00:56:36,226 --> 00:56:39,496 See you! [Laughs.] 800 00:56:40,363 --> 00:56:43,366 With a smile and shaking hands, okay, waving hands. 801 00:56:43,400 --> 00:56:44,400 Okay, see you then. 802 00:56:44,400 --> 00:56:48,605 It's great to meet with you and your dog who is blind. 803 00:56:48,605 --> 00:56:50,840 No dog can see. I am blind! 804 00:56:50,840 --> 00:56:52,942 [Laughs.] 805 00:56:55,044 --> 00:57:01,618 One time, a family approached me and asked that question, who of them can't see? 806 00:57:01,651 --> 00:57:05,855 They asked the question, not me, but to my girlfriend. 807 00:57:05,889 --> 00:57:12,095 She used to those situations, and she kept silent when they have 808 00:57:12,128 --> 00:57:17,066 to direct their question to me, but they directed their question to someone else. 809 00:57:17,066 --> 00:57:21,304 She got silent and I say, It depends. 810 00:57:21,304 --> 00:57:26,376 Some days, I'm being blind, some days my dog. 811 00:57:26,409 --> 00:57:28,745 Mondays and Wednesday, I'm blind. 812 00:57:28,745 --> 00:57:31,381 Tuesdays and Thursday, she is. 813 00:57:31,381 --> 00:57:32,682 [Laughs.] 814 00:57:32,682 --> 00:57:35,618 What was the reaction? 815 00:57:36,719 --> 00:57:38,121 They scared and go away. 816 00:57:38,121 --> 00:57:40,023 [Laughs.] 817 00:57:40,023 --> 00:57:42,425 Because I think they took it seriously. 818 00:57:42,425 --> 00:57:45,962 Oh! Stop scaring people, Kemal! 819 00:57:45,962 --> 00:57:47,831 I think they terrified. 820 00:57:47,864 --> 00:57:54,504 They realized that I'm a part of an alien species, a member of an alien species. 821 00:57:54,504 --> 00:57:58,107 Oh, now they can see Mondays and Wednesday, but the other days? 822 00:57:58,107 --> 00:58:01,911 Oh, my God! [Laughs.] 823 00:58:02,879 --> 00:58:04,747 Okay, I have a last question for you. 824 00:58:04,747 --> 00:58:05,515 Of course. 825 00:58:05,515 --> 00:58:09,886 It's about people you might have met who 826 00:58:09,919 --> 00:58:13,423 count in your career and who have maybe 827 00:58:13,456 --> 00:58:17,894 motivated you, maybe showed you things that you didn't know before. 828 00:58:17,927 --> 00:58:22,065 If you have one or two people to name, who would it be and why? 829 00:58:22,065 --> 00:58:23,666 We already mentioned about Lachi. 830 00:58:23,666 --> 00:58:27,337 I've been learning a lot from Lachi, and I'm still learning. 831 00:58:27,370 --> 00:58:33,309 Also, all members of the leadership of RAMPD and the Team RAMPD, 832 00:58:33,309 --> 00:58:39,516 Arthur, Anya, and Sal, I'm learning a lot from them also and from all the pro members, 833 00:58:39,549 --> 00:58:42,819 our members of the committees. 834 00:58:42,852 --> 00:58:46,489 These are the people that I would like to shout out. 835 00:58:46,523 --> 00:58:50,360 But there's one person I would like to highlight. 836 00:58:50,393 --> 00:58:55,198 His name is Stephen Letnes, founder and CEO of Able Artist Foundation, 837 00:58:55,231 --> 00:59:01,971 as I think I mentioned about him before in this episode. 838 00:59:02,005 --> 00:59:05,408 He's my mentor, colleague, and dear friend. 839 00:59:05,441 --> 00:59:10,146 He made the greatest impact to my life and career 840 00:59:10,146 --> 00:59:13,116 because without this foundation, 841 00:59:13,116 --> 00:59:15,818 I won't have a career in the United States. 842 00:59:15,852 --> 00:59:20,056 Without himself, I won't 843 00:59:20,089 --> 00:59:24,093 some IMDb credits till now. 844 00:59:24,694 --> 00:59:28,364 He was a guy that pretty, let's say, 845 00:59:28,398 --> 00:59:35,838 mature, extremely talented, wise, and 846 00:59:35,872 --> 00:59:42,645 also really - how can I say? An excellent professional. 847 00:59:42,679 --> 00:59:46,816 I've been learning a lot from him how to handle business 848 00:59:46,849 --> 00:59:49,252 relations, how to handle projects. 849 00:59:49,285 --> 00:59:51,654 He hired me for a couple of projects. 850 00:59:51,688 --> 00:59:56,960 I was able to work as a composer assistant and the additional music writer 851 00:59:56,960 --> 01:00:01,297 in a couple of projects like "Surpassing Sight" or "Possibilities," 852 01:00:01,331 --> 01:00:06,302 produced by AFB, directed by Bill Sarine, American Foundation for the Blinds. 853 01:00:06,302 --> 01:00:10,073 It was a great documentary. 854 01:00:10,406 --> 01:00:13,843 Also, I was able to work as the co-composer 855 01:00:13,843 --> 01:00:15,979 in a project with him, "Love & Taxes." 856 01:00:16,012 --> 01:00:20,817 It's a feature comedy, romantic comedy film. 857 01:00:21,384 --> 01:00:25,855 Also, without him, I don't have connections with publishing companies. 858 01:00:25,888 --> 01:00:33,363 Without him, I won't have music onboarded with Hitlist Music. 859 01:00:33,796 --> 01:00:40,236 Without that, the Mattel won't synch my music for the World's 860 01:00:40,269 --> 01:00:48,344 First Blind Barbie Doll campaign and World's First Black Barbie Doll birthday. 861 01:00:48,344 --> 01:00:53,716 Also, without that, I wasn't able to meet with the Karina Sturm, 862 01:00:53,750 --> 01:01:01,057 a German journalist and director, who also identify as disabled. 863 01:01:01,090 --> 01:01:06,029 Now we're working together in a documentary about intersectionality 864 01:01:06,062 --> 01:01:09,932 in disability culture and disability justice. 865 01:01:09,966 --> 01:01:15,405 Without him, maybe I will - 866 01:01:16,305 --> 01:01:18,741 I will have some accomplishments. 867 01:01:18,741 --> 01:01:19,742 I don't know. 868 01:01:19,742 --> 01:01:25,048 But without him, I can't achieve them that fast. 869 01:01:25,048 --> 01:01:30,219 And without him, I can't be able to build a career and build a professional 870 01:01:30,253 --> 01:01:32,922 character of a media composer. 871 01:01:32,955 --> 01:01:37,527 We're still working together. 872 01:01:37,560 --> 01:01:42,965 Now, I became a board member of Able Artist Foundation most recently. 873 01:01:42,999 --> 01:01:47,503 He was kind enough to invite me to the board. 874 01:01:47,503 --> 01:01:53,609 I think I am the first board member who was a former foundation member, 875 01:01:54,277 --> 01:01:56,479 Able Artist Foundation member. 876 01:01:56,512 --> 01:02:03,219 So Steve has the greatest impact in my career, in my life. 877 01:02:03,252 --> 01:02:05,722 I learned how to be a... 878 01:02:05,755 --> 01:02:10,059 I've learned how to be a, yes, I can say, I'm a professional media composer 879 01:02:10,093 --> 01:02:13,563 with a visual disability from him. 880 01:02:13,596 --> 01:02:18,267 I can't be thankful enough for his efforts 881 01:02:18,267 --> 01:02:22,238 and for his friendship and mentorship. 882 01:02:22,472 --> 01:02:24,941 Thank you so much. That I can say. 883 01:02:24,941 --> 01:02:26,676 It's very interesting. 884 01:02:26,709 --> 01:02:34,617 Also, it's full of connections, your life. 885 01:02:34,717 --> 01:02:40,223 It's great to be able to have one foot in the States and to be able 886 01:02:40,256 --> 01:02:44,227 to do things in the industry over there 887 01:02:44,227 --> 01:02:47,797 and make the things evolve in Turkey. 888 01:02:47,830 --> 01:02:50,333 So yeah, very well done. 889 01:02:50,366 --> 01:02:52,235 Thank you so much, Diane. 890 01:02:52,268 --> 01:02:57,707 I really try to create a world that I really want to live in. 891 01:02:57,707 --> 01:03:04,247 With my music, with my attitude, 892 01:03:04,280 --> 01:03:10,887 with my opinions, and with trying to 893 01:03:10,920 --> 01:03:17,727 affect people and affect the culture of the society. 894 01:03:17,760 --> 01:03:19,095 But we're all doing that. 895 01:03:19,128 --> 01:03:23,800 You're doing that, all our members, RAMPD members doing that. 896 01:03:24,500 --> 01:03:28,070 There are disabled professionals in different industries that are doing that. 897 01:03:28,104 --> 01:03:34,410 We are a really big community, and we have a really great family in RAMPD. 898 01:03:34,443 --> 01:03:40,349 So yes, it's a community, but time to time, I feel like we are like a family 899 01:03:40,383 --> 01:03:42,919 because we're helping each other. 900 01:03:42,952 --> 01:03:48,424 I'm not helping, not say helping, but connecting with each other, 901 01:03:48,457 --> 01:03:53,529 collaborating, and we become bigger and better. 902 01:03:53,563 --> 01:04:00,736 So I'm thankful, highly thankful for our community, for the RAMPD, for 903 01:04:00,770 --> 01:04:06,209 all members of the disability community 904 01:04:06,242 --> 01:04:08,978 itself, because we are the bravest ones. 905 01:04:08,978 --> 01:04:13,683 We are the most powerful ones. 906 01:04:13,716 --> 01:04:18,654 That's why we are that - 907 01:04:18,688 --> 01:04:24,627 We will be successful a lot in the future. 908 01:04:24,627 --> 01:04:26,262 And proud to fight. 909 01:04:26,262 --> 01:04:31,067 It's really that we are happy to fight together, which is great. 910 01:04:31,100 --> 01:04:33,936 Yeah, of course. Also, I love the taste of blood. 911 01:04:33,936 --> 01:04:35,705 [Laughs.] 912 01:04:35,705 --> 01:04:37,106 I can't say that. 913 01:04:37,139 --> 01:04:38,307 Sorry, Sorry. 914 01:04:38,341 --> 01:04:41,510 I didn't say that as a member of the leadership, but I say as 915 01:04:41,544 --> 01:04:49,585 a media composer in Turkey, so I never run away from a great fight. 916 01:04:49,619 --> 01:04:54,357 That's what we do in the disability community, right? 917 01:04:54,390 --> 01:04:57,493 We never run away from a great fight. 918 01:04:57,526 --> 01:04:58,527 True. 919 01:04:58,561 --> 01:05:02,265 Well, thank you so much for all your insights and stories. 920 01:05:02,298 --> 01:05:04,767 It was really fascinating. 921 01:05:04,800 --> 01:05:08,304 I wish you a fantastic day and talk soon. 922 01:05:08,337 --> 01:05:09,839 Thank you so much, Diane. 923 01:05:09,872 --> 01:05:14,677 Thank you so much inviting me for this amazing conversation. 924 01:05:14,710 --> 01:05:17,213 I hope you have an amazing day, too. 925 01:05:17,213 --> 01:05:18,748 Thank you. Bye. 926 01:05:18,748 --> 01:05:19,916 Bye-bye.. 927 01:05:20,783 --> 01:05:25,922 ♪ Closing theme music ♪