What's New with Spec Labs!

Happy May, everyone!

Spec Labs has had a busy few months filled with concerts, comedy shows, and lots of fun working alongside our student artists. Check out some of our 2025 highlights so far and get excited for what’s still to come!

MARCH

March was a big month for Spec Labs!

March Jamboree!

On March 14th, The Neurotribe and a selection of Spec Labs’ songwriters performed their original songs live at Scribble in Highland Park! Check out some of the amazing images from the show below, courtesy of photographer Annie Postlewaite.

2025 Marvels of Media!

March also saw Spec Labs take on the 2025 Marvels of Media Festival as both an educational partner and an honoree! Spec Labs’ psychological thriller short, “House of Masks” made its New York premiere at the festival’s “Vibrant Voices: Four Shorts” screening event! The screening was followed by a panel discussion where co-director and Spec Labs’ co-founder, Jason Weissbrod, spoke alongside his fellow filmmakers. While at the festival, Weissbrod also hosted a “Media Maker Talk and Networking Mixer” where he gave creative and professional advice to fellow artists.

Photograph by Maureen Thedford.

APRIL

In April, Spec Labs celebrated the amazing talents of our autistic, neurodivergent, and disabled artists for Autism Acceptance Month!

Jorge Gutierrez Testimonial!

As part of our Autism Acceptance Month celebration, we put together a video highlighting our relationship with writer, animator, and director, Jorge Gutierrez! Ever since Spec Labs first collaborated with Jorge, he has been a great support to our community and is now a member on our advisory board! Jorge’s passion and positivity inspires all of our artists to share their authentic voices. Spec Labs loves Jorge!

Watch the video below to hear more about Jorge’s experience with Spec Labs.

Spec Labs' Battle of the Bands!

On Sunday, April 13th, Spec Labs hosted its debut Battle of the Bands show! Our four Spec Bands rocked the faces off the crowd at The Goldfish in a musical battle judged by industry judges, Jennifer Decilveo, Ggwendolyn, and Mikey Ferrari! Check out the images below to see our bands in action, photography courtesy of Annie Postlewaite!

One of our musicians at the show, Ben Buisnik, shared some kind words about what it means to him working with Spec Labs. Find out what he had to say in the video below!

The Spec-ond City Players Return to the Laugh Factory!

On Monday, April 28th, Spec Labs’ sketch comedy and improv group once again graced the stage at Hollywood’s historic Laugh Factory! The Spec-ond City Players performed some brand-new sketches on the comedy club’s well-tread stage, several of which were written by the performers! The night also featured some amazing stand-up routines by comedians Nic Novicki, Laurie Kilmartin, and Brian Kiley! Take a look at some highlights from the show in the photos below!

Photography by Annie Postlewaite.

MAY

To kick start May, the Spec-ond City Players performed at our “May Be Funny, May Be Not” improv and sketch comedy show on Thursday, May 1st! Our clever comedians performed two back-to-back shows live at The Little Victory Theatre in Burbank for a night of some much-needed laughter!

MORE TO COME!

We’re currently at work on our ten-year-anniversary film, a high-fantasy adventure story featuring the acting and musical talents of our Spec Labs artists! Also coming up in June, Spec Labs will be hosting a show where our artists in the Make Your Band program will perform their original music live at Scribble in Highland Park! Stay tuned for more info!

2025 has already been an amazing year for Spec Labs so far, and we can’t wait to keep the good times rolling!

Spec Labs at the 2025 Marvels of Media Festival!

Another year, another Marvels of Media festival! Spec Labs is excited to share our return to this year’s 2025 Marvels of Media Festival as an educational partner and honoree!

Co-founder, Jason Weissbrod, represents Spec Labs at the 2025 Marvels of Media Festival.

Photography by Maureen Thedford.

The third annual Marvels of Media Festival was held this past March to share the outstanding work created by artists on the autism spectrum in a celebration hosted at New York’s Museum of the Moving Image. This year, on top of our educational partnership, Spec Labs’ psychological thriller short, “House of Masks,” made its New York premiere at the festival’s “Vibrant Voices: Four Shorts” screening event! "House of Masks" was screened at the festival on Friday, March 28th alongside three other short films. Learn more about the screening event here: Vibrant Voices: Four Shorts – Museum of the Moving Image.

“House of Masks” is co-directed by Spec Labs’ co-founder Jason Weissbrod, and the film’s star, Atticus Jackson. Though unable to attend the screening, Jackson shared a moving sentiment with Weissbrod upon learning about this momentous honor: “This is the biggest moment of my career.”

We are so happy to have been able to share our autistic, neurodivergent, and disabled artists’ work on a larger scale with the support of the Marvels of Media! Weissbrod represented Spec Labs at the March festival in Jackson’s stead, participating in a panel following the film’s screening where he engaged with fellow filmmakers in the “Vibrant Voices” category to discuss the makings of their films.

"House of Masks" Co-Director, Jason Weissbrod (far right), spoke on the "Vibrant Voices: Four Shorts" panel. He was joined by filmmakers Ben Stansbery ("Insight") and Samara Huckvale ("420 Ways to Die"), and actor Tal Anderson ("Breaking Normal"). Photography by Maureen Thedford.

Photography by Maureen Thedford.

Weissbrod also hosted a networking event at the festival! The “Media-Maker Talk and Networking Mixer” took place on Saturday, March 29th and featured helpful advice, courtesy of Weissbrod, for artists working to build their professional connections, as well as their creative portfolios. Learn more about the event here!

We are so excited and honored to have been recognized at the 2025 Marvels of Media Festival! We hope to continue working with the festival and meeting fellow artists who are working to support and celebrate the amazing creative talents of autistic artists.

Looking forward to next year!

"Fighting With Autism": Jorge Gutierrez Comes to Spec Labs!

UPDATES:

Check out the highlight reel below to get a better look at the fun and wisdom shared between Jorge and our students!

Gutierrez also lent us his amazing artistic talent working on the merch for our Halloween show, "The Nightmare Before Spec-O-Ween", which took place this past October 30th. Signed posters and wickedly cool t-shirts were available for purchase at the event as a way to commemorate a spooktastic night of music and comedy!

Thank you to Jorge and everyone who supported the show! We hope to continue to collaborate with such a caring, talented creative who consistently inspires our artists to pursue their passions!

ORIGINAL:

Last month, on Thursday, September 26th, Spec Labs held a special workshop event featuring writer, animator, and director, Jorge Gutierrez!

The “Fighting with Autism” workshop was held at the Victory Theatre in Burbank and included a 450-slide (yes, that many!) presentation detailing Gutierrez’s journey from his upbringing in Mexico City to his illustrious career in the animation industry. Gutierrez is well-known for his animated works, including the popular film, The Book of Life, as well as his series, El Tigre: The Adventures of Manny Rivera, and Maya and the Three. Gutierrez has worked with a number of well-known studios and faces throughout his career, from Disney to Nickelodeon to Netflix, learning something new from each success and failure he found along the way.

Gutierrez dazzled the crowd with his charm and humor, sharing funny stories and emotional moments that greatly impacted his personal and career trajectory. One standout moment was a particularly disastrous (but hilarious) pitch meeting for The Book of Life with renowned filmmaker, Guillermo Del Toro. Excessive heat, loud gardeners, and a 5-minute time limit put Jorge through the wringer–but it was all worth it in the end when Del Toro signed on to produce the film. His presentation also highlighted his adult autism diagnosis, and the influence his autism had on his creative instincts and abilities, even before he knew it was a part of him.

Jorge Gutierrez discusses The Book of Life and his autism diagnosis.

Gutierrez’s stories connected with our autistic and neurodivergent artists, who cheered him on and threw thumbs up in the air with each passing slide. The workshop was inspiring to our artists–right in front of them was someone who understood their own experiences and struggles and had used them as a superpower for his success!

At the end of his presentation, Gutierrez was joined on-stage by a cluster of Spec Labs students and staff for a group photo to commemorate this special occasion. Complimentary Maya and the Three t-shirts were passed around the room as a final parting gift from Gutierrez to his rapt audience.

Animation Magazine also published a piece covering this amazing collaboration between Spec Labs and Gutierrez. You can read all about it at this link, or by clicking the image below!

We are so grateful and honored that Jorge took the time to come speak to and inspire our autistic and neurodivergent artists to pursue their creative interests and embrace their individuality! A big thank you to everyone who attended, and, of course, to Jorge, for sharing your lifetime of knowledge with us!