I am currently in pre-production on a documentary, the main subject of which is 15 year old Austin Riley, an absolute rock star on the go kart track. Having only been racing for 7 seasons, Austin is already a three-time champion which may not be all that exceptional if not for the fact that Austin has autism.
Beginning in March of this year, the documentary will follow Austin, his father Jason, mechanic/driving coach Curtis Fox and Austin's education assistant Jessica Benge on a 12 week road trip that will take them from their home just north of Toronto, Ontario to races in Florida, New Orleans, three different stops in California (Fontana, Monterey and Sonoma), Oregon, then into BC, Alberta and Manitoba before heading back home. Between races father and son will be giving talks at high schools along the way to tell Austin's story and raise autism awareness.
One of my goals in telling Austin's story is to show the challenges and victories of living with autism; to show what autism is, but perhaps more importantly, to show what autism isn't. As the process moves along, I'll be posting regular updates including where we are, what I'm shooting and how I'm doing it. A lot of what I'll be shooting will be as-it-happens, shoulder-rig, first person storytelling; this isn't going to be a candy-coated all happy, all the time film, but rather a true representation of what living (and racing) with autism is really like.
In the short term, I've just launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the production portion (I'm also chasing some corporate support outside this campaign). There is a video introducing myself and the main characters in the film with some clips of Austin tearing up the track. I invite you to visit the page and have a look at the video, and of course to contribute if you are able. If you're not, that's fine too; perhaps I can ask you to hit the Like on FB button or Tweet about it to spread the word.
Many thanks. I'm very excited to be telling this story.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/racing-with-autism-a-documentary/x/9558081
Beginning in March of this year, the documentary will follow Austin, his father Jason, mechanic/driving coach Curtis Fox and Austin's education assistant Jessica Benge on a 12 week road trip that will take them from their home just north of Toronto, Ontario to races in Florida, New Orleans, three different stops in California (Fontana, Monterey and Sonoma), Oregon, then into BC, Alberta and Manitoba before heading back home. Between races father and son will be giving talks at high schools along the way to tell Austin's story and raise autism awareness.
One of my goals in telling Austin's story is to show the challenges and victories of living with autism; to show what autism is, but perhaps more importantly, to show what autism isn't. As the process moves along, I'll be posting regular updates including where we are, what I'm shooting and how I'm doing it. A lot of what I'll be shooting will be as-it-happens, shoulder-rig, first person storytelling; this isn't going to be a candy-coated all happy, all the time film, but rather a true representation of what living (and racing) with autism is really like.
In the short term, I've just launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the production portion (I'm also chasing some corporate support outside this campaign). There is a video introducing myself and the main characters in the film with some clips of Austin tearing up the track. I invite you to visit the page and have a look at the video, and of course to contribute if you are able. If you're not, that's fine too; perhaps I can ask you to hit the Like on FB button or Tweet about it to spread the word.
Many thanks. I'm very excited to be telling this story.
https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/racing-with-autism-a-documentary/x/9558081