Bright Lights

Bright Lights

Short Film

Director: Simon King

Producer: Nina Georgieff

In Post-Production

Bright Lights is the story of an autistic man who dreams of taking the stage as a singer. But before being accepted by an audience, he must first accept himself. 

Autism has been poorly represented on screen in the history of cinema. With Bright Lights we are dedicated to represent an authentic story and autistic character in a positive and uplifting way.

There is still a lot of negative stigma surrounding autism. Too often over the years autistic characters on screen have fallen into the "savant" trope with limited character development or are represented in such a way that implies they need 24/7 care. This is not always the case, and our film tells the story of Sam, a young autistic man who lives a relatively normal life with hopes and dreams - and the right support and structure in place that allow him to do so. 

Ultimately Sam's story is one of big dreams and human connection.

In order to represent this story truly authentically, it was crucial for us to work closely and collaboratively with Charlie Brickman, who plays Sam, and played a key role as an autistic actor in helping us to create the script and Sam's character, informed by his own lived experiences and rigorously researched understanding of autism. Everyone with autism - and everyone in general - is completely different and Sam's story in Bright Lights is unique to him.