Prior to the reception, cast and crew of Netflix’s ATYPICAL participated in a Q&A moderated by PEOPLE reporter Kara Warner after a screening of two episodes. Participating in the panel were Creator Robia Rashid (Will & Grace, How I Met Your Mother); Oscar®-nominated actress Jennifer Jason Leigh (The Hateful Eight), Brigette Lundy-Paine (Downsizing, The Glass Castle), Keir Gilchrist (It’s Kind of a Funny Story), Nik Dodani (Kevin from Work), Layla Weiner and Nikki Gutman; Executive Producers Mary Rohlich (Gleason, Baywatch); Author David Finch (The Journal of Best Practices) and Autism Consultant Michelle Dean (Ph.D. Special Education, UCLA).
Following the Atypical panel, ABC’s THE GOOD DOCTOR screened one episode and held a panel/Q&A immediately following. Executive Producer David Shore (The Good Doctor, House, Sneaky Pete); Emmy® winning actor Richard Schiff (The Good Doctor, Ballers, The West Wing), Nicholas Gonzalez (The Good Doctor, How to Get Away with Murder, Pretty Little Liars, Narcos) and Autism ConsultantMelissa Reiner (Md.Ed) participated, also moderated by Kara Warner, PEOPLE.
Additional highlights of the festival included a POWER RANGERS screening, followed by a panel with Actor RJ Cyler, who plays Billy Cranston, an autistic nerd and the super hero Blue Ranger. Also on the panel was Oscar-nominated Executive Producer/Writer John Gatins (Flight), moderated by Director/Producer Kevin Tenney. The panel was met with a huge ovation from the audience as the Blue Power Ranger character (RJ Cyler) is the first super hero to be depicted as autistic.
The film PLEASE STAND BY screening was followed by a panel with Director Ben Lewin (Please Stand By, The Sessions), Writer Michael Golcamo (Please Stand By, Grimm) and Autism ConsultantElaine Hall (The Miracle Project, Fly Away), moderated by Matt Asner, AutFest founder and Autism Society's VP of Development. Celebrities including Emmy-nominated Gary Cole (Veep), Oscar-nominated actor Robert Forster (Jackie Brown), Denise Grayson (Social Network) and Johnny Dowers (The Bridge) were on hand to attend the festival’s closing festivities.
“AutFest is proud to honor SONY Pictures Entertainment and outstanding television shows Atypical and The Good Doctor for their cinematic and television contributions reflecting the autism community in a positive light,” said Matt Asner. ‘From Spectrum to Screen’, we are touched by the overwhelming support of the entertainment and autism communities, and look forward to this annual event.”
Over six feature films and eight short films and two television series were presented during the two-day festival that included Roman J. Israel Esq, Barfi, Dina and Randy’s Canvas. Two of the shorts, The Girl Inside and Big Mouth were written and directed by filmmakers on the autism spectrum. A special panel addressing “Love and Relationships” followed the Barfi screening. For more information, visitautfestasa.com or follow @AutFest on Twitter, Instagram and Snapchat.
The 2nd Annual AutFest International Film Festival winners include:
Best Film:
- Randy’s Canvas, directed by Sean Michael Beyer (U.S.A.)
Best Documentary:
- Dina, directed by Antonio Santini and Dan Sickles (U.S.A.)
Best Short:
- Sisterly, directed by Nina Vallado (U.S.A.)
Best Performance
- Adam Carbone, Randy’s Canvas (U.S.A.)
Best Autistic Filmmaker:
- Abbey Romeo, The Girl Inside (U.S.A.)
About AUTFEST:
Sony Pictures Television (SPT) is one of the television industry’s leading content providers, producing and distributing programming worldwide in every genre and for every platform. In addition to managing one of the industry’s largest libraries of award-winning feature films, television shows and formats, SPT is home to a thriving global production business operating 21 wholly-owned or joint venture production companies in 12 countries around the world. Sony Pictures Television is a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company.
