Any aspie filmmakers out there?

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Hello everyone,

I'm a student at Ithaca college, majoring Cinema and Photography with a concentration in screenwriting. I'm currently working on a screenplay that deals with the spectrum. My hope is that the script will someday be directed by an aspie. It's nowhere near a point where I can just send it around all over the internet, but I still, however, think that now would be a good time to just network with other aspies in or aspiring to be in the film industry. So if you want to be in touch please do respond and tell me a little about yourself, what kinds of movies you like to watch or have made or would like to make etc. I myself have pretty diverse tastes. I like dark and outrageous comedies. Action movies, melodramas, and a select few horrors.

Anyways, I look forward to hearing from some people.

i do not know of any, but have always wondered if Darren Aronofsky did. not because of "Adam", but more a result of his other works. i just really get what he does and can't help but wonder.

interesting. I haven't seen him interviewed so I can't be sure.

I'd like to be a film (and theater) actor in the future....It would be a definite boon to meet others aspies both in front of and behind the camera. Kudos!

That's awesome you're interested in acting for both film and stage. It's hard to find people who are equally interested in both. So tell me more about yourself. Where did you do study acting? or do you have other ways of learning the craft. I know some of the greatest actors learned by doing. Tommy Lee Jones for example and others went to Yale, like Meryl Streep. I find it fascinating how they're both equally good in all the same ways, despite having different ways of learning and diving in.

Well, I was at NAU for two years and switched from poli-sci to theater halfway through....I enjoyed learning about ACTING, but unfortunately I never connected that well with the theater crowd....talk about your cliques. And it's even harder for an aspie. But I stuck to it for a year, learning a lot about the method. Of course, as in any competitive society, in the theater department the louder, more enthusiastic, thought perhaps not as talented people got most of the roles. Seniority rules, etc....A lot of divas...I chuckled to myself a few times when this was pointed out by others to their red faces.

I guess this sounds bitter. It is. And I don't mean to brag over the internet about dinky "little" school performances, but the few times I was in the spotlight, I stole the show. I really got turned on by going at a role with EVERYTHING I had at my disposal,(physical, mental and so on). So much so that I impressed the head of the department enough to write a very good recommendation letter for me when I decided to try a school out in NY. For me reading Stanislavsky made me decide to pursue it as a profession.

But then I left NAU rather abruptly. I had a horrendous break-up and pretty much derailed myself for the following year. (I'm still getting back on track, trying to make it to NY). So that's where I find myself right now, living with my parents and working at Dairy Queen, saving up for the big leap. NAU almost seems like another lifetime now...very strange, now that I reflect on it. I haven't really written about this before.

But yes, I do plan to stick this through and attempt a professional career out of this mess that my life has become the last few years. It's only since I recently discovered this site that I've been pondering how Aspergers affects an actor or director or so on. I really want to know if there have been successful aspie actors.


So what about yourself? lol I ramble. And this post is terribly self-centered. (typical of an aspie ) So anyway, it's great to know there's others out there, I get the strange feeling that aspergers would be quite a boon to a dedicated actor, director, playwright, etc. If only we could actually fit into the theater environment, and the fast-paced, dog-eat-dog world that this profession is.

Tell me how you are and what you plan to do.

Edit: forget I ever entered this thread

I totally see where you're coming from. The whole entertainment industry is really fast paced. I know more people in the theater industry than in film and that's because my parents have acted more on stage. My mom is switched to psychology really late in life. Both my parents studied acting in England. The several times I've been there I've seen way more Shakespeare than any sightseeing. I'm so much more of a verbal thinker than a visual thinker that I get little pleasure out of simply looking at various sights. I also sometimes find it hard to stay on track with certain types of plays. Movies that rely on a lot of dialogue, background music, tone of voice, tend to be the ones that speak to me. I can still see what's going on enough to get the story usually, but I don't take not of the specific details. The funny thing is, despite having those weaknesses, I love action movies as well. I can't relate to the characters, but it feels like there's something really humble about that part of the industry. So many of the people in theater I know are intellectual snobs. The same goes for a lot of indie film people too from what I've observed. While Arnold Schwarzenegger is so much more sociable than I ever will be, he seems like the least pretentious person you'll ever meet. Even though he's one of the richest actors in the world, his fan base is made up of so many different types because it's so huge. I think though that the only way I could write a good action movie script is with a partner, because those movies rely so much on visual details that I can see, but not put together. I know exactly how to imagine a hero and villain and how those characters express themselves and I can visualize who shoots who etc., but putting those images into words that people can understand is quite a challenge. So as for how I plan to break into the film industry, I don't know. Right now being a student is my job. I have to admit, I'm not one to think education makes you a better person, I think it's mostly intolerant scholars who think that way, but it has answered a lot of questions as to what I could and couldn't do with my life. So anyway, that's where I am now. Ithaca College has it's ups and downs for me socially. It embraces diversity and all, but can get overwhelming with all the excitement and affection flying all over the place. So I think that's enough for now and feel free to tell me anything else about what kind of theater or movies you're into.

Sorry it took me so long to reply, lol. Anyway Ithaca sounds awesome, I'm jealous! And I can understand how it must be hard fitting in with so many theater extroverts.
I also like plays and movies that are heavy on the psychological or emotional aspect...that usually guarantees good acting. I just try to steer clear of the graphic-laden spectacles that sacrifice story, plot, or acting opportunity for simple visual spectacle...having said that I DO love Star Wars, lol.

I'd love to start in theater, somewhat like Al Pacino. What or where would you like to start?

It's great to see someone from Ithaca here. I used to live in Ithaca and loved everything about it except for the weather. When I lived there, I used to hit Cornell Cinema, Cinemapolis, and Greenstar (to find free/cool events) all the time.

I really want to go to film school. I would love to be a director , I have always been creative and would love to make Tim Burton style movies (I know it takes a lot of knowledge but i think i would be able to make quality movies). However i know how hard it is to succeed at that so i will finish my economics degree and then maybe i will go study cinema . I also want to write a script with some ideas i have been having. I already have a rough idea of the characters and the story i would just need to stop being lazy and write it.

Directing is a really amazing job. I would do it if I was a technical visual thinker, but I'm not. I am considering some producing. maybe I think I'll get my start in television and then move into film. I haven't decided on anything for sure. What made you decide to study economics?

Well i have always been business oriented , like i was buying and selling things (for profit) on ebay at like 14 or maybe younger. I always used to calculate how much profit i would make with my lemonade stand and ect.. So i started 1st year in business but quickly realized that it was super boring and that i didn't want to be a CEO or anything like that (i'd rather just start my own business). Like right now i don't have a job but i own websites. Anyways the economic classes were the only interesting part of first year so i changed to an econ major. I still think it is pretty interesting and everyone always says that i am in the right field (because of me being interested in the business side of things since i was a kid). However i did think of going to film school quite a lot since i have always been interested in that kind of stuff (love director commentaries , and yes i have watched and listened to every minute of extra content of the extended lord of the rings movies). Right now i only have 2 years to go to finish my economic degree , I have always been good at school and i am getting good notes right now so i am not sure it would be such a great idea to quit and go to film school right now. I was thinking of taking cinema classes at university tho.

I would like to make a film, and I have acted in 2 small films (obviously not big films. )

It's great to see you put your aspirations to work. I took the Telecommunications Production program at Ball State, despite being a cast member on a viral sketch comedy series and being on the work crew for a feature length film production I still feel like a complete failure. Never got along with ANYONE in the production department, always felt that my peers had poor creativity when it came to story ideas. One of the most prestigious intimidating teachers in that department did say that I had talent despite not being able to work with others on video projects. I was stuck in my mind too much when it came to film production that I couldn't see how much I would suck at it. The only thing I really did enjoy was editing my video projects close enough to what I imagined in my mind (only if I'm not working under pressure, yeah). My biggest aspiration was script-writing. I barely got to do a thing with that...my fault mostly cause I have trouble staying focus. Despite the classes I took I had trouble learning. I only learned when I got to really work with the stuff hands on and I didn't get to do it much cuase no one wanted to work with me. Oh well...

I spend my whole life trying to be an artist and getting involving in the arts like this and it never gets through to my head how much of a nightmare it is for me when I can't do anything right and get constantly screamed at. Oh wells.

I'm not professional by any means but I do intend to have a side career in cinema eventually, possibly get involved in it a lot more when I've done my 25 years in the Army

I've worked on a small-scale TV show as actor and director and loved the experience but it never made it due to "creative differences". Then again, I was still in high school, couldn't expect too much. I've done improv in high school as well as theater (both stage and street theater) and loved it, I wanna do it again some time but it can be tricky. Since those days, haven't done anything worthwhile except a few skits that I filmed myself, with friend, as well as some monologues.

Since I'm up here in Canada, I don't get many opportunities to interact with anyone in the show business world but if anyone needs help writing anything, I'm pretty decent at it but am mostly just good at coming up with fresh ideas and plotlines.

Sounds like a lot of you are really creative, it's great to see!