Mr. Craig Robinson
Chief Diversity Officer NBC Universal
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, New York 10112
January 27, 2016
Dear Mr. Robinson:
With the recent uproar surrounding the Oscar nominations for their lack of nominating diverse films – whether intentionally or not – I have been prompted to write you since you are responsible for the inclusion of diversity in front of the NBC cameras and behind them.
Before I go into any detail, I would be honored to introduce myself. My name is Russell Greer and I am a 24-year-old college graduate who lives in Salt Lake City, Utah and works two janitor jobs. I have my Associates as a paralegal and recently graduated from college. I was working at a law firm and was laid off due to their downsizing and in part because of my disability. It has been very difficult finding work because I have a facial paralysis. It hinders many things about me such as eating, drinking, unable to close my lips, but it does not hinder my ambition.
I’ve always wanted to get into the entertainment industry as a songwriter and a screenwriter. When I saw that America’s Got Talent was coming to my city to hold auditions, I thought it would be perfect and a jumpstart to my ambitions. Since I had a disability, I couldn’t just go there and preform one of my songs. I decided to do a 90 second motivational speech about overcoming my disability while playing the piano and doing a little dance (which if I got onto the show I would invite Heidi Klum to dance with me) – a sincere act and something I’ve never seen done on AGT. So I prepped and practiced and prepared for the audition. For two months I practiced. When I auditioned, it was not how I anticipated as I was not afforded to introduce myself or use a slide show (which I planned to do) so people would be able to know what I was doing. Since I didn’t have that, I looked kind of silly.
Feeling that I didn’t do my best, I submitted an online audition. I also sent in a second video which consisted of my slide show as that was vital to my audition. I never heard back from the producers who said that they would contact people in January if they made it onto the show. Sensing that I didn’t make it, I emailed them and told them my sincere desire of being on the show – not because I think I have a winning talent – but because I want to inspire people and show people that because I look different, it doesn’t mean that I let it stop me. That’s all I want: I want to be on the show for just to audition in front of the judges and tell a worldwide audience that the challenges in our lives are only as hard as we make them.
The disabled community is highly underrepresented. Not many disabled people appear on shows or movies. When was the last time a person with a major, obvious disability won a prestigious award in the entertainment field? In my time watching AGT, I have only seen two disabled people appear on the show: the runner up of last season who wasn’t born with his stutter and a wounded vet who sacrificed himself protecting our country. I’m sure at least the veteran had to
explain himself to the judges to get onto the show as if he didn’t then I’m sure they would have wondered what was going on with him.
Mr. Robinson, this would mean everything to me if I could get onto AGT. I don’t know why the producers don’t want to take this opportunity to have an inspiring act on the show. Since you are the CDO of NBC and AGT is a show on your network, I kindly ask, if I have inspired you, if you could use some executive power to allow me on the show. My videos can be found on YouTube by searching “Closer Version of my AGT Audition”, “Slide Show Accompanying My AGT Audition”, and “Inspiring Disabled Guy’s Online AGT Audition”. (
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Thank you for your time and consideration. I look forward in hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Russ Greer
801-616-1067
russmark@gmail.com
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