Exceptional Minds


Exceptional Minds is an American non-profit digital arts academy with attached animation and VFX studios. Established in 2011, it is the first animation studio and digital arts school specifically designed for autistic adults. It is located in Sherman Oaks, Los Angeles, California. Exceptional Minds comprises a vocational academy, post graduate program, and professional post-production studios. The organization's mission is to cultivate the talents and skills of autistic artists to facilitate their employment, self-advocacy and sharing of stories. In addition to the academy and studios, Exceptional Minds offers corporate education in the inclusion of autistic individuals in the workforce.
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Background

Exceptional Minds was founded in 2011 by nine entertainment industry professionals with autistic family members. They developed a media enrichment academy, funded by Bob Stevenson and Neil Young, designed specifically for autistic artists to help those artists find gainful employment in the digital arts and entertainment industry. The first class of eight students graduated in June 2014, with Ed Asner serving as commencement speaker.
The Exceptional Minds VFX Studio was founded in 2014, hiring alumni directly from the academy's alumni population. Since its inception, the EM VFX Studio has provided VFX and Titles services to over a hundred professional productions, with clients including Marvel, Netflix, Warner Brothers, Disney, and NBCU, HBO.
The first major project for Exceptional Minds was the end title sequence for Judy Moody and the Not Bummer Summer. In addition, EM graduate artists have also worked on post-production visual effects for films such as American Hustle ,' Lawless , and Dawn of the Planet of the Apes.
In September 2013, University of Southern California doctoral student Laura Cechanowicz released her documentary about EM titled Exceptional Minds in Transition for the USC School of Cinematic Arts video-based website, "Interacting with Autism". Later, in 2014, EM partnered with Sesame Street in an initiative that will spread "autism acceptance".'
The Exceptional Minds Animation Studio was founded in 2016 to provide career pathways to graduates of the academy who had a focus on animation. Since its inception, the Exceptional Minds Animation Studio has completed projects for Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, CBS Sports, Sloomoo Institute, and PATH Water.
In 2025, the Exceptional Minds Animation Studio launched the Autism Enlightenment Library, a public library of videos that help people understand and appreciate autistic individuals and love them for who they are. Each video in the AEL is created by a graduate of the Exceptional Minds Academy.

Filmography

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania - End creditsSpider-Man: No Way Home - End creditsBlack Widow - Additional visual effectsLoki - End creditsSpider-Man: Far From Home - End creditsAvengers: Endgame - Additional visual effects and end credits

Video clips and interviews