Autism in Entertainment infiltrates San Diego Comic-Con and beyond

Marlene Sharp
6 min readAug 20, 2024
From left: Marlene Sharp, Dani Bowman, Julian Grajczak, Paul Hemstreet, and Judi Uttal speak on an Autism in Entertainment panel at the San Diego Comic-Con Film Festival, July 25, 2024. Photo by Dollie Grajczak.

Everything you wanted to know about Autism in Entertainment (but were afraid to ask) happened at San Diego Comic-Con.

On July 25, the who, what, when where, why, and how of the first-ever Autism in Entertainment Conference(4/5/24 at Skirball Center in LA) were on full display at the Marriott Harbor San Diego and environs, albeit in encapsulation. However, it was key for the Con-goer to know where to look, à la buried treasure, thrift store bounty, or Easter eggs (video game and otherwise).

Who: Judi Uttal, Autism in Entertainment founder and Orange County Asperger’s Support Group (OCASG) president, led the charge during the Comic-Con International Film Fest screening of the original mini-documentary SPECTRUM SPOTLIGHT: DANI BOWMAN. Paneling with her onstage post video exhibition was the official entry’s cast and crew: Dani Bowman (autistic short film star and writer); Julian Grajczak (autistic short film director, cinematographer, and editor); Paul Hemstreet (co-director and producer/father of autistic twins Gustavo and Joaquin/Warner Brothers alum and CalArts graduate); and Marlene Sharp (consulting producer and publicist).

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Marlene Sharp

Marlene Sharp is a creative and business-savvy entertainment multi-hyphenate who originally hails from New Orleans but is now a (San Fernando) Valley girl.