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How California studio is helping autistic artists break into Hollywood
Visual effects studio Exceptional Minds in Los Angeles is preparing adults with autism for careers in Hollywood
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A powerful scene in the action epic Gladiator II (2024) has a problem: a camera crew is visible behind Paul Mescal as his character prepares for a high-stakes battle. Jack Zimmerman, a visual effects artist, erases the intrusion.
Zimmerman works at Exceptional Minds, an American non-profit vocational academy and visual effects studio for adults with autism. The organisation provides training to help autistic artists launch careers in the competitive world of Hollywood.
“It feels like a dream,” Zimmerman says of being a part of Gladiator II. “I’ve always wanted to work on a feature film like this.”
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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental condition that affects social interactions, behaviours and how the brain processes sensory input. It ranges in severity and can present challenges in the workplace.
While many people with autism successfully hold jobs, the United States unemployment rate for adults with ASD is estimated at around 40 per cent, according to a study published in the National Library of Medicine in 2021.
Exceptional Minds – the only full-time, post-secondary programme of its kind in the US for artists on the autism spectrum – was created to give school graduates with autism the skills they need to perform meaningful work.
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