Not a Dry Eye in the House

How Cliff Perry came to serve on the board of Special Gifts Theatre and, subsequently, became executive producer of the documentary Becoming Bulletproof, was pure circumstance.

“I was looking to give back in a meaningful way, and it’s an incredibly good cause,” Perry says. “I’m an employment defense lawyer, so I defend against charges—for example, disability discrimination—and I wanted a chance to be on the other side and understand from a more personal standpoint.”

Founded by an occupational therapist in 2000, Special Gifts Theatre (SGT) is a nonprofit for Chicagoland children and young adults with disabilities. It currently serves about 350 participants each year via four programs: musical theater, theater and improv, therapeutic movement, and inclusion training for neurotypical peer mentors. With the aid of professionals in theater, education, and therapy, SGT programs foster self-confidence, social skills, and language skills.

“A lot of these kids were unable to speak,” Perry says. “And during performances where they’d be requested to sing, sometimes these kids would vocalize or verbalize for the first time. It’s extremely moving and speaks to how beneficial it is for these kids. It’s just a wonderful experience.”

Perry served on SGT’s board for about seven years. While the founder and executive director handled day-to-day decisions, Perry says the board actively considered how to expand, manage, fundraise, and seek other support. And not only did SGT’s reach expand, but so did Perry’s.

“I have friends in the entertainment business in Los Angeles, and one of those friends is a director,” Perry says of Michael Barnett. “I’m not sure whether I brought it up or he heard about it through another source, but Michael knew of my involvement with Special Gifts Theatre and reached out through a mutual friend to ask if I wanted to be an executive producer for Becoming Bulletproof.”

The 2014 Showtime documentary covers Zeno Mountain Farm’s production of a Western movie, titled Bulletproof, featuring disabled performers. Zeno is a nonprofit in Vermont that hosts camps for people with disabilities and occasionally makes films featuring the campers.

“Michael decided to make a documentary about this organization, which observes the making of the movie and follows these actors as they star in and tour the country to promote the movie,” Perry says.

Perry’s job was not only financing, but promoting and fundraising. “As an example, in Chicago … we had a private screening of the documentary [at the Soho House] and, after, had a fundraising event,” he says. “The more attention this documentary would get, the more attention the organization would get—which would expand people’s knowledge about people with disabilities, and hopefully position the viewpoint to be one of positivity and not suspicion or negativity.”

Perry got precisely what he had hoped from the experiences—and more.

“You can never put yourself in the shoes of somebody in a position that is very different from your own,” he says. “But you can learn to appreciate what it may be like to be in their shoes. In a very, very positive way, I have been, for many years now, much more cognizant of those with special needs than I would have been otherwise.”

While Perry wasn’t present for Bulletproof’s filming, he still holds dear the memories of SGT’s productions.

“It’s one thing to sit around a table with eight of your fellow board people, and it’s another to see the product that’s developed on stage after all the hard work—to see all the families engage with their kids, and the kids with their friends or relatives. It’s just very joyful. I can still picture the auditoriums in which they performed, with 20 or 30 folks on stage at once, and everybody’s either smiling or crying tears of joy in the audience.”