Shoot Your Mouth Off or SYMO (to those in the know), is a Community Interest Company (CIC) which promotes equity and opportunity for disabled people through the imaginative use of digital media. SYMO is Karen Sheader’s company, formed in association with Steve Carolan and Derek Mathews. It was set up five years ago, when Sheader was working for Tees Valley Arts. Initially a voluntary organisation, it has now become a social enterprise.
The company make films about the experiences of being disabled. Since they began in 2001, SYMO have made seven films, several of which have been screened widely in the UK, as well as San Francisco and Moscow. Led by a steering group, which comprises members of the disabled community, community filmmakers and artists from local arts organisations, (all who perform in the films), the enterprise decides collectively upon SYMO’s direction.