.

Hello, my name is Adrian Esposito.

I am a filmmaker.

When I first began making documentaries, they were more historical and educational.

I made my first documentary, which was about my grandmother and other people who lived through World War II in Europe and Asia, called Aging Trees of Knowledge.

That was really the beginning.

One of the first narrative films I actually did, I didn't direct it.

It was called Bury My Heart with Tonawanda.

I wrote and edited that film.

It's my first attempt, I would say, trying to do storytelling and bring out the importance of native people, along with people with disabilities, especially Down syndrome.

It's very, I think, important to be made.

I don't think we've ever seen a film that combined both Down syndrome with the Native American element.

And I was able -- we were able to pull it off under hard conditions because we were again, it was a very low budget, independent film.

The reason I focus on disability in my filmmaking is because I myself have a disability, Aspergers with autism.

One of the reasons I wanted to do Disability Hollywood was because I had seen other documentaries like Hollywood Chinese, which was about the history of the Chinese and in the Asian community in Hollywood films.

Then I saw another documentary film called The Real Injun, which was about the history of Native Americans and Hollywood films and TV.

And then I thought, wait a minute, why not do a documentary about something that's relevant to me?

People with disabilities in Hollywood, films and TV.

One of the main goals for Disability Hollywood is to eventually see people with disabilities, like with Down's Syndrome or cerebral palsy, as the action hero in movies, you know, not just as the victims or saints or whatever, but to show us as the next Jason Statham, for example, I got the Lifetime Achievement award because people believe in me, in my filmmaking.

I'm an important filmmaker that's presenting major and serious issues to the public.

I thought it was a real honor to get the Lifetime Achievement Award.

What was really special for me to get there was not the award itself, but was seeing people tell you how much importance it is to them in their lives and how, oh, I'm going to show this at my college or Oh, this was really interesting, informative film, Adrian, or, Oh, this is going to be the next cult classic, or something like that.

I think that's the biggest payoff.

I know there's a lot of misconceptions about people with Aspergers and autism and so forth, making their own movies or narrative films or whatever, but I would say I'm living proof that that's a myth that's busted.

I have done films.

I will keep doing movies, and I feel that just because I have Asperger's, I'm not going to let that hold me back.