We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alex Astrella a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Hi Alex, thanks for joining us today. Do you feel you or your work has ever been misunderstood or mischaracterized? If so, tell us the story and how/why it happened and if there are any interesting learnings or insights you took from the experience?

I think growing up, I doubted myself because of my Autism Diagnosis. I thought I had to fit into a certain box based off of what I saw in the media about autistic individuals. I think the more I dwelled on that idea, though, the more it lit a fire inside of me to break away from that norm. With my art and how I conduct myself on a daily basis, I’m unapologetically myself and I know I don’t fit inside any mold. When it comes to discussing my disability and how it influences my art, I now regard it as like having a superpower.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is Alex Astrella and I am a filmmaker and special educator living with Autism. I was diagnosed when I was 2 years old. While I received treatment as a child, I fell in love with watching movies with my family. 20 years later, when I was going to UC Santa Barbara for undergrad, I decided I wanted to make movies instead of just being a consumer. Thus, I started making documentaries and fell in love with the process. Making documentaries also realized the vulnerability and uniqueness of minority populations. In this context, I also wanted to give back to the autism community that had such an impact on me as a child. I began working with kids with Autism as an ABA therapist and pursued my masters in Special Education. While getting my masters and continuing to make documentaries, I realized I wanted to merge my passion for both together into one company. That is how I started Blu Star Productions. Blu Star Productions is different from your typical production studio in that we are comprised of neurodivergent creators and we strive to empower neurodivergent filmmakers. In addition to being a platform to produce my own content, we are building a network where neurodivergent filmmakers can share their skills and contact info. We are always looking for new collaborators and partners to help us further advance the neurodivergent voice in the entertainment space.

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

The first and foremost objective is to bring awareness to the amazing talents of autistic and neurodivergent individuals. While sometimes people like myself have a hard time communicating through words, art can act as a voice that is more comfortable to speak in. It’s bewildering that only 3% of individuals employed in the entertainment industry identify as having a disability. In addition to increasing this number dramatically, I want to make the stories of neurodivergent folks the norm and not a rarity. Neurodivergent filmmakers have every right to have their film screened in a theater just as much as anyone else.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

Meeting new people and being introduced to new experiences all the time. From the people I work with on film sets to the families who are subjects in my documentaries, I have learned so much and am continuing to learn everyday. Having the opportunity to meet and experience new things inspires me to keep improving my craft and myself. There is so much talent in this world, especially in the disability space. I consider it a gift to have the platform I do now.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.blustarproductions.com/
• Instagram: @blustarproductions, @alex.astrella
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/alex.astrella.3
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@BluStarProductions-oj6jz/featured

Image Credits
Caleb McLaughlin