Professor Cunningham's Documentary Features Disabled Artist, Breakdancer, Skate Punk Bill Shannon

PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW -- Shannon is the subject of a documentary, “Crutch,” co-directed by Sachi Cunningham, another Pittsburgh native and assistant professor of multimedia journalism at San Francisco State University. Twenty years in the making, the 93-minute film premieres November 11 at DOC NYC, a documentary film festival. The production is being released during the year of the 30th anniversary of the Americans with Disabilities Act. The film takes viewers from Shannon’s childhood, when he was diagnosed with Legg-Calvé-Perthes disease, a rare, degenerative condition of the hip. It weaves through the story of him attending a Florida camp as a visiting artist for youngsters with the same condition.