DOCUMENTARY SERIES - ENGLISH - USA

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​Logline: Of Different Minds: Living with a Neurodivergent Brain aims to expand public understanding of the challenges and often blessings that come with neurodiversity. What makes this series unlike any other is that it speaks from a place of unusual authority—our directors are themselves neurodivergent or share their lives directly with someone who is. Our series looks at scientists who are going beyond traditional definitions of neurodiversity to include a variety of other conditions that affect a person's style of thinking or perceiving the world in different ways. It invites the viewer to reconsider the relationship between brain and mind, as well as society's understanding of those who think differently.

 

Episodes (Alpha): 
1. Autism and the Shifting Definition of Neurodiversity

2. Tourette's Syndrome and OCD

3. Dyslexia and Dysgraphia

4. Attention Deficit - Hyperactivity Disorder 

5. Epilepsy
6. Bi-Polar Condition
 

​Lead Production Companies: Handler Productions, MediaFusion Entertainment
Senior Lender: ScreenLight Media Fund
Fiscal Sponsor: From the Heart Productions, Oxnard, CA

 

Foundation support (in formation): 

• Alfred P. Sloan Foundation

• Oliver Sacks Foundation

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Production Team: 

• Series Creator, Producer, and Writer: Lowell Handler

• Producer: Carol Bidault de l’Isle

• Supervising Producer: David Petersen, Beaufort9Films, Emmy-winning and Oscar-nominated director/producer

• Executive Producer: Kate Edgar, Executive Director, Oliver Sacks Foundation

• Music: Malcolm Burn, Grammy-winning music producer

• Director of Photography: Wolfgang Held, Emmy-winning DP

• Marketing: Paul Cadieux of Filmoption International, Oscar-nominated and Genie Award-winning producer

• Production Counsel: Daniel Sirkin

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Location: New York
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Production Start Date: February 2027
 
​Comps: Of Different Minds is a unique series that combines aspects of HBO’s intimate character documentary, Asperger’s Are Us, with Netflix’s scientific deep dive, The Mind Explained. It is set apart by the fact that all our directors are themselves neurodivergent and/or the partners or caregivers of someone who is. Their personal stories of discovery, coping, and acceptance will be central to the narrative. Each of our filmmakers has been chosen not only for these experiences but also for their proven ability to communicate with a wide audience.

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EPISODES & DIRECTORS: 

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Episode 1 - Autism and the Shifting Definition of Neurodiversity: Through the lens of autism, we will combine insight into the spectrum of neurodiversity and the landscape of how the term is defined. This episode will introduce the science behind the understanding of neurodiversity and the variations in how people perceive and process the world. Central to our comprehension of different neurological states is how they are accepted or rejected in society. Rather than stigmatize people with a neurodiversity like autism, this episode closely looks at the broad variations in the spectrum to understand more deeply why neurodiversity is the condition of our time. Director TBD, with supervising producer David Petersen and input from the other award-winning directors on the series. This first installment will be directed by someone who either has autism or has a loved one with it.

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Episode 2 - Tourette Syndrome and OCD: Directed by Lowell Handler, a photojournalist, filmmaker, and author whose pictures have appeared in The New Yorker, Life, Newsweek, Elle, U.S. News & World Report, the (London) Sunday Times Magazine, The New York Review of Books, The New York Times, and the Boston Globe. Handler served as associate producer, photographer, co-writer, narrator, and presenter of the Emmy-nominated PBS film Twitch and Shout (trailer), which won the San Francisco International Film Festival and screened at the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Handler is the author of a memoir of the same name about his life with Tourette’s syndrome. 

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As the series creator and writer of "Of Different Minds," Handler has long been interested in chronicling the experiences of people often marginalized by society. His career in photojournalism connected him with renowned neurologist and bestselling author Oliver Sacks, a meeting that developed into a lifelong friendship. Sacks and Handler traveled extensively across the United States, Canada, and Europe, pursuing what Sacks called "the neuroanthropology of Tourette's," for which Sacks was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship. Sacks wrote about their discoveries in his essay "Travels with Lowell" (included in the book Everything in Its Place). 

 

Handler cites Sacks as a major inspiration for this documentary series. “Oliver
Sacks and I had a decades-long conversation about neurodiverse conditions: from my own Tourette syndrome to autism and Asperger’s syndrome to epilepsy and bipolar conditions. Sacks was a master at explaining the neuroscience behind human behavior, but it was always blended with curiosity, empathy, and respect for his patients. I like to think that my own approach to “Of Different Minds” reflects this legacy."

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Episode 3 - Dyslexia and Dysgraphia: Directed by Nathan Fitch, an award-winning cinematographer and director whose films have been published by New York Times Op Docs, TIME magazine, the New Yorker, PBS, and NPR. Dyslexia is more than a learning difference—it is a different way of processing language and symbols. In the dyslexic brain, signals between the eyes, ears, and language centers follow alternate pathways, creating both challenges and unique patterns of thought. The director and his young daughter both have the condition.​ Here is a link to his award-winning film, Island Soldier (trailer), which was broadcast on PBS in 2018. 

 

Episode 4 - Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: Directed by Danae Elon, a filmmaker, producer, and cinematographer whose documentary films have won dozens of awards, including a Guggenheim Fellowship. All three of her own children were diagnosed with ADHD in childhood. Here is a link to The Patriarch (trailer), showcased at TIFF, Berlin, Tribeca, IDFA, Hot Docs, Melbourne International Film Festival, Human Rights Watch Film Festival, and many other international festivals.​​

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Episode 5 - Epilepsy: Using the experience of himself, his daughter, brother, and nephew, Academy Award-nominated director David Petersen examines epilepsy as central to the changing definition of neurodiversity. With extensive footage of his daughter, Iris, who was diagnosed with epilepsy at age 2, Petersen takes us on a fascinating journey through genetics, brain processing, and the different forms of neurodiversity in his daughter that are commonly part of epilepsy. Iris’s ADHD, OCD, and dyspraxia all spring from her epilepsy diagnosis, but curiously enough, they are not debilitating. In fact, they may contribute to her extraordinary talents as an actress, especially in Petersen’s latest film. By looking at his daughter’s development during the last 7 years and the presence of neurodiversity tied to epilepsy in his family, Petersen hopes to enlarge our understanding of neurodiversity as an integral aspect of our humanity.

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Episode 6 - Bi-Polar Condition: Resita Heavenly Cox is an Emmy Award-winning film director, Hulu Fellow, North Star Fellow, Chicken & Egg Films Fellow, and Rockwood Doc Leaders Fellow with the Ford Foundation. Her work has been supported by industry giants like Sundance (3x), ITVS (2x), Perspective Fund, BlackStar Film Festival, and PBS. At age 32, she has secured national distribution for all five of her films as director and producer. Here is a link to Firsthand: Life After Prison (trailer), which won the 2023 Regional Emmy.

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