I have worked with several hearing-impaired colleagues on my filmmaking teams. A Lighting guy. A camera girl. There is something special about being deaf and the people I know who are deaf seem to have a 6th sense about who a person is and what they are saying and what they are not saying. I believe that they see things in people's eyes and then their physical behaviors that increases the sensitivities
Marlee Matlin was a joy to work with. Thoroughly professional without any of the emotional stuff that some Hollywood actors and actresses exhibit, especially when filming and the environment gets tense.
I made this TV commercial for AT&T years ago and it won the prized Clio Award that year in New York. I made it as one of a number of commercials that I produced in support of the hearing impaired. The style was considered unique at the time - using simple still photos, voiceover & music etc. As a result of the public response, AT&T aggressively developed technologies to help the hearing impaired use the phone. Though old, it still touches my heart and I hope it does yours.
