Nyle DiMarco, the model, reality TV champion, and outspoken advocate for Deaf visibility, is stepping behind the camera for the first time—and he’s not pulling any punches.
Apple TV+ has just dropped the official trailer for Deaf President Now!, DiMarco’s debut documentary, which tells the powerful true story of the 1988 student uprising at Gallaudet University—an event that forever changed Deaf culture, higher education, and disability rights in the U.S.
Photo: Apple TV+
Photo: Apple TV+
A History Lesson You Didn’t Know You Needed
Unless you’re part of the Deaf community or a student of Gallaudet, chances are you’ve never heard of the Deaf President Now (DPN) movement. But DiMarco is here to change that.
Teaming up with Oscar-winning filmmaker Davis Guggenheim (An Inconvenient Truth, He Named Me Malala), DiMarco brings long-overdue attention to the historic protest, which erupted when Gallaudet—the world’s only Deaf university—announced a hearing president over two qualified Deaf candidates.
The decision sparked outrage, leading students to shut down the campus for eight days and demand leadership that reflected their lived experience.
From Protest to Power
The film zooms in on the “DPN4”—Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, Jerry Covell, Gregory Hlibok, and Tim Rarus—the four student leaders who galvanized the movement and helped turn frustration into historic change.
Deaf President Now! uses rare archival footage and intimate new interviews to re-create the energy of the protests, the resilience of the student body, and the tension that gripped the nation during those fateful days in March 1988.
Tim Rarus, Bridgetta Bourne-Firl, Greg Hlibok and Jerry Covell in Deaf President Now! Photo: Apple TV+
In one jaw-dropping moment from the trailer, then–Board Chair Jane Bassett Spilman is heard reportedly saying that Deaf people were “not ready to function in a hearing world”—a remark that poured gasoline on an already blazing fire.
A Legacy That Echoes
The outcome? Total victory. After eight intense days, the board reversed its decision and appointed Dr. I. King Jordan, the university’s first Deaf president. The movement didn’t just make headlines—it paved the way for landmark legislation like the Americans with Disabilities Act.
DiMarco, who rose to fame after winning America’s Next Top Model and Dancing with the Stars, has since become a leading voice for Deaf representation in media. With Deaf President Now!, he brings that passion full circle, creating space for Deaf stories to be told by Deaf voices.
Coming to Apple TV+
After earning critical acclaim at Sundance earlier this year, Deaf President Now! officially premieres May 16 on Apple TV+. DiMarco’s message is loud and clear: this story may be decades old, but its urgency is very much alive.
