Boston, Massachusetts – Asperger’s Are Us: A True Story, is a documentary film that follows a group of four comedians as they write, rehearse, and perform their most challenging and entertaining performance ever.
The comedy troupe are comprised of, Jack Hanke, New Michael Ingemi, Ethan Finlan, and Noah Britton. They are all comedians and most importantly friends.
Autism Daily Newscast had the pleasure of contacting Alex Lehmann, director and producer of the film who told us how the comedy troupe first formed.
“Jack, Ethan, and New Michael attended a summer camp for kids on the spectrum. Noah was one of their counselors. They gravitated towards each other quickly and spent most of their time making comedy sketches. When the campers turned 18, the four of them formed Asperger’s Are Us.”
“All types of people get what this film is about, and they all want to see it. I finally know for sure that this project is something special.”
We were interested to find out how Alex met the comedy troupe and why he decided to follow and share their story?
Alex was working on some tv shows as cinematographer when he noticed that the scripts kept poking fun at Asperger’s
“I realized that a)I didn’t know much about Asperger’s and b)neither did the people making the jokes. Often times people make light of things they are unwilling to truly understand. I googled “Asperger’s and comedy” and came across a comedy troupe with Asperger’s Syndrome. Ironically, they are against poking fun at differences in people. They just want to entertain people, and prove that they are funny for the sake of being funny.”
Alex reached out to them and eventually gained their trust. He flew out to Boston on July 5 2013 and on that day told us that he;
“befriended four extraordinary people who have taught me a lot about comedy, humanity, and autism. “
“It took a little time to gain their trust. We came up with a contract that allows them to approve the final documentary. In exchange, they allowed me an unfiltered look into their lives. They have been very lenient as far as allowing me to incorporate moments of vulnerability and honesty. We have a very trusting friendship, and our end goal is making a movie we are all proud of. “
We were also very interested to find out where and when the film will be screened. Alex told;
“At the very least the film will eventually be available online. Best case scenario we project it on the moon. Probably we will fall somewhere between the two”
The documentary so far has been 95% filmed. Asperger’s Are Us: A True Story now need your help.
You can help fund the post-production for this documentary. The IndieGoGo fundraising page states:
‘Your support will help hire an editor, a sound designer, a composer, and other post-production professionals who will help turn the edited product into a polished film ready for distribution.’
It then further adds that;
‘All funds raised through indiegogo will be put to making the best documentary possible.’
You can follow Asperger’s Are Us: A True Story, on Facebook and twitter to keep up to date with the film’s progress and release information when it becomes available.
You can visit Asperger’s Are Us: A True Story IndieGoGo page here