Why is your title "Normal People Explain Things to Me"?
I had been mulling over the title for years. It really was the last thing I came up with. And this was due to a very tedious seder I attended. This guy insisted on telling me how to succeed in the television industry, including this gem, "You need a man to sell the show for you." (And then what? Write and run the show for me too?) Nothing I could say could forestall this twenty-minute lecture of his so-called expertise. Did I mention the guy was in real estate and had no actual experience in the television industry? And then after that lecture, he finally got around to asking me what the show was about. And he proceeded to lecture me about autism. And he was utterly wrong in everything he said. And as I left that seder thoroughly pissed off because this is NOT a one-off event, because being disabled means that people don't trust you to be an expert on your own experience and insist on explaining to you your own life and disability, it occurred to me that I had the perfect title.
What will you do with my contribution?
Every single penny will go to the production. Costs include equipment rental, catering (because even if you don't pay the wonderful people working for you, you still have to feed them because labor laws, and I'm actually a nice person and don't want anyone going hungry), location fees, post-production, and van rental fees to move equipment and a picture car.
What will happen when your costs are paid?
I will turn off the donation buttons on this site. I'm not doing this to make a living. I just want to break even while producing a professional product to show networks. More importantly, I want to pay everyone what I owe them in a timely manner so that no one will end up financially worse off because they chose to work for me. I am personally not making a dime from this trailer. When a network picks this show up, THEY can pay me.
Are you serious about doing the stuff you said you would on your home page?
Yes.
Would you do a backflip?
Well, maybe once my ankle heals. I did one once. On my 45th birthday.
Can I see a budget?
If you are thinking of contributing serious money, sure. Send an email, and we'll tawk.
Can I see a script?
Unless you are willing to sign an NDA, no.
Can I see the trailer when you're finished?
Yes! Of course you can! That's the entire point of this project.
Where will I see it?
Once the trailer has been copyrighted, it will be posted on the Normal People Explain Things to Me Facebook page. It will also be posted on YouTube.
How is this show different from other shows about autistic people?
That's a really good question. Yes, there have been a spate of shows about autistic people like The Good Doctor and Atypical, but these shows are very problematic. These shows are clearly written by neurotypical people, and it just seems they checked all the symptoms off the DSM, and they are written as if autistic people have no inner life and that symptoms are all they are. Autistic people, on the whole, do not display all the DSM symptoms and each autistic person may have different symptoms than others. Furthermore, not every autistic person stims, or they may stim in a way that you don't notice. My stims are mental. Under stress, I start counting stuff in my head and doing math. During times of high anxiety, I'll have nights where I spend the whole night dreaming in complex math. I've been dreaming a lot of math lately. These characters ring untrue because not only are neurotypical people writing these characters, they clearly have never even talked to an autistic person. Actually autistic people have their experiences erased constantly. This show is going to be a corrective of that, while being very funny. (And yeah, Sheldon Cooper is an awful stereotype too. The only fully realized autistic character on television now is Tina from Bob's Burgers.)
But Autism Speaks says...
Get the hell off my page!