Watch This Episode On YouTube

The film, SPECTRUM (2024), directed by my guest, Rick Stanton, is a true triumph for art and sticking to one's own vision. As he said, “it’s a very honest take on what life is like as an adult with autism.” 

Rick's path into filmmaking is unconventional and instead of paying endless amount of festival fees, he's forging a different path.

In this episode, Rick and I talk about:

• what you should expect to see when you watch SPECTRUM -- "very honest take on what life is like as an adult with autism" -- it is an aural and visual experience;
• his wildly original way of filmmaking, casting his brother as the lead in the film;
• how he got his start in filmmaking, completely self-taught and through music;
• his desire to "show people that I could take on an episode for a series or even a feature film because I feel like I know how to tell a story";
• the decisions he made to make the viewer feel more uncomfortable than usual for a short film -- his insights here are extraordinary;
• what has been the festival reaction to the film and how he feels about the labeling of films -- he posted just on YouTube because "I just wanted to find an audience";
• why he is choosing to go off the beaten path in his career as an indie filmmaker and how other people feel about his decision;
• is he expanding SPECTRUM into a feature and his vision for expanding the scope of disabilities shown;
• how he is going to stay true to his vision for the film in making the feature -- "I don't wanna hear your opinion on it. I just wanna know whether you're gonna gimme the money"

Rick's Indie Film Highlight: LIFT (2001) dir. by Marc Isaacs

Links:

Watch SPECTRUM Now

Follow Rick Stanton On Instagram

Rick Stanton's Website

Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/first-time-go/exclusive-content