When Alex Astrella was diagnosed with autism at age two, his parents were told he wouldn’t be able to have a career.
Today, the Dana Point native is a filmmaker and the founder of Blu Star Productions, a company that produces films by neurodivergent creatives, aiming to help them break into the movie industry.
This Saturday, Astrella will host the first film festival in Orange County that focuses on films exclusively made by neurodivergent creators.
Eight production companies will participate in the Blu Star Film Festival, which will take place 3 p.m. on Saturday, May 2 at the Frida Cinema in Downtown Santa Ana. The organizations were handpicked by Astrella himself, many being close associates of his over the years.
“Each studio has its own flair,” he said.
For example, Danimation, an animation studio and school founded by Dani Bowman (a cast member on Netflix’s unscripted dating show Love on the Spectrum), will showcase student-made films.
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Festival attendees will also be able to observe Q&A panels with the filmmakers and network with neurodivergent business owners.
Astrella, who has an undergraduate degree in film from UC Santa Barbara and a master’s in special education from Vanderbilt, hopes that people will be able to simply immerse themselves in the event, like he’s looking forward to doing.
“I’m really just excited to be present,” he said, adding that one of the purposes of the festival is to create a space where neurodivergent creatives can connect. “I’m hoping it leads to more projects and collaborations.”
Since a majority of the participants and attendees are neurodivergent, Astrella has made sure to prepare accommodations in order to make the event comfortable and enjoyable for all. There will be subtitles for each film, sensory rooms, ushers to help those with physical disabilities, and more. For those who might be overwhelmed by crowds, there’s also an option to attend the festival virtually.
Tickets for the Blu Star Film Festival can be purchased online here.
Meanwhile, the nonprofit Spectrum Laboratory will premiere never-before-seen projects.
The first is Single, a film created by neurodivergent members of the LGBTQ+ community about the difficulties of navigating relationships as a single, neurodivergent and queer person.
The second is Puppet Night, which Spectrum Laboratory made for the annual Easterseals Disability Film Challenge competition, in which they had five days to make a short film. The movie uses puppetry to explore neurodivergent self-expression.
Spectrum Laboratory head of film and acting programs Jason Weissbrod began working with the neurodiverse community in 2005 through The Miracle Project, an inclusive, expressive arts program that builds communication and creative skills in neurodivergent people.
It’s where he befriended Garth Herberg, Spectrum’s future head of music programs.
The two eventually formed the idea of a production studio for neurodivergent creators to learn how to build portfolios and reels that would launch them into the entertainment industry.
Using the skills Weissbrod learned working in Hollywood and Herberg’s talent as a musician, the pair created Spectrum Laboratory.
“The two of us took our talents together and started Spectrum Laboratory with the goal of getting all this neurodivergent talent that we’ve begun to know and try to get them out there in the world,” said Weissbrod, who’s looking forward to seeing all the different work from neurodivergent creatives at the festival.
“It’s going to be a really fun day to celebrate what Spectrum Laboratory’s mission is all about, which is letting [neurodivergent] voices be heard and seen, and having an outlet to showcase their work,” Weissbrod added.
The goal is that the Blu Star Film Festival will be a step towards a more authentic representation of neurodivergent people, whose portrayal in film and TV has been scarce, mostly because such artists struggle with finding space in the industry.
One of the most popular shows that represents neurodivergence was Netflix’s Atypical, which ran from 2017 to 2021 and followed teenager Sam and his family as he navigated life with autism.
Although the show was praised for its representation, the actor who plays Sam, Keir Gilchrist, is not autistic, and neurodivergent artists were not present during the creative process until season two.
Astrella hopes the festival will be an annual event and expand to other genres like music and theater. It took six months to plan the inaugural outing, and for Astrella, the hardest part was finding ways to market it.
“The biggest setback has probably been promoting the festival, getting the word out, and having the budget to make the festival happen.”