Spectrum Laboratory’s "Boys Don’t Wear Dresses" Celebrated by City of West Hollywood!

This April 15th, make your way over to Fiesta Hall at Plummer Park for a screening of Spec Labs’ short film, Boys Don’t Wear Dresses! In honor of Autism Acceptance Month, the city of West Hollywood’s Disabilities Advisory Board, Transgender Advisory Board, and Women’s Advisory Board are putting on a special community screening of Spec Labs’ award-winning film to celebrate the work of LGBTQ+ and Neurodiverse filmmakers.

Boys Don’t Wear Dresses is a coming of age fairytale that follows the struggles of an autistic, transgender artist exploring new experiences, independence, and love. The film was written by Aloni Schorin, a Spec Labs’ film student, with the help of director and Spec Labs co-founder, Jason Weissbrod, and is inspired by real events. The stars of the film include fellow Spec Labs students, Brandon Rodriguez, Spencer Harte, and Liv Brazill. They worked alongside veteran actors Tom Kenny, Alexandra Billings, and Carol Kane to bring Aloni’s story to life.

Since its release in 2019, Boys Don’t Wear Dresses has made the festival rounds with incredible success. The film was an official selection for nineteen different film festivals and took home ten awards overall, including Favorite Film at the Film Only Film 2021 festival and Best in Show at Wicked Queer 2022. Despite its numerous festival accolades, Boys Don’t Wear Dresses has yet to be screened at a live event. Due to COVID closures and quarantine, the film’s screenings and festival celebrations have been limited to virtual events–until now!

The April 15th event is finally giving us the chance to experience the joy of Boys Don’t Wear Dresses on the big screen and celebrate its success all together in one room. Head over early at 6 pm to find the best seats for this special viewing and get your picture taken on the red carpet. Join us at 7 pm to watch the film for the first time as it was meant to be enjoyed–in a theater full of people. Make sure to stick around after the show to enjoy an exciting Q&A session with the Boys Don’t Wear Dresses cast and crew. There will also be a bonus screening of Spec Labs’ new romantic short film, HANDS. You won’t want to miss it!

Reserve your spot and celebrate this momentous occasion with the Spec Labs community by sending an email to rsvpBDWD@gmail.com. We can’t wait to see you there!

To learn more about the film visit: https://www.speclabs.org/boysdontweardresses

Spectrum Laboratory Honored at 2023 Marvels of Media Awards!

Find your way to New York’s Museum of the Moving Image website to see Spec Labs’ very own Caroline Corry shedding a little light on the banner of the 2023 Marvels of Media webpage. The picture shows Corry as The Lightbulb from Spectrum League, a Spec Labs’ short film about superheroes fighting for their right to bring color to the world. Marvels of Media, hosted by the Museum of the Moving Image, is an awards ceremony, film festival, and exhibition all wrapped into one, with a focus on media makers on the autism spectrum. This year, the Spectrum League team will be healing the world through color at the Marvels of Media 2023 exhibit. The Spectrum League poster, created by Head of Art and Design at Spec Labs, Amos Stillwell, will be on display at the museum for all to see from March 30th until May 7th. The poster will accompany a screening on April 8th from 3 to 5 pm where the Spectrum League will come to life for MoMI visitors and become everyone’s next favorite crime-fighting team. Watch the video below to meet the team for yourself!

Last year, at the first annual Marvels of Media event, Specs Labs’ short film, Boys Don’t Wear Dresses, took home an Honorable Mention award for the Narrative Short category.

Spec Labs co-founder, Jason Weissbrod, who is also the director/ producer of "Boys Don't Wear Dresses", accepts the award presented by Cheryl Henson from the Jim Henson Company.

This year the streak continues with Spec Labs’ VR film, Use Your Imagination (which you can watch below). Use Your Imagination is a virtual reality musical created by a talented group of autistic and neurodivergent filmmakers, musicians, singers, and actors. The Spec Labs film will be taking home this year’s Collaborative Innovation Award at the Marvels of Media Awards. To learn more about the making of Use Your Imagination, check out this article in local magazine, L.A. Parent.

Spec Labs' co-founder, Jason Weissbrod, also moderated a virtual director’s roundtable, where the Marvels of Media filmmakers discussed the creative processes behind their films. Weissbrod was joined on the panel by Sue Ann Pien, Jackson Tucker-Meyer, and Jorge Gutierrez. Follow this link or click on the image below to watch a recording of their exciting discussion.

To top it all off, Spec Lab student Shane McKaskle is also receiving an award at the Marvels of Media ceremony for his video game, Car Machine.

We are very excited for everyone being celebrated at the 2023 Marvels of Media event and are proud of all the hard work the Spectrum Laboratory team has accomplished. Watch the video below to see our appreciation for this incredible honor from the Museum of the Moving Image!

Spec Labs co-founder featured in VoyageLA!

Learn more about how Spec Labs started and what they are up to now, with this awesome article featured in VoyageLA, an online magazine.

http://voyagela.com/interview/conversations-with-jason-weissbrod/