On Wednesday, April 23 2025, Spectrum Fusion Studios had the honor of being featured in this year’s annual Houston Filmmaker Showcase which, as the name suggests, is an annual event dedicated to highlighting the talents of local filmmakers. This year’s event was held at the historic, recently reopened River Oaks Theater.
Originally, Spectrum Fusion was slated to be one of many local production companies showcased at the event, but ultimately, the team had the privilege of having the entire two-hour showcase dedicated to them and their works.
The showcase began with an opening speech from founder and CEO Dr. Heidi Ham summarizing the videos the audience would be seeing.
The first few videos shown were from the series “Forward to Tomorrow,” in which Spectrum Fusion members talk about their experiences before and after discovering and joining the organization. The first was from Spectrum Fusion’s original incarnation in Perth, Australia, shot roughly a decade ago, followed by a more recent video from the group’s current Houston location.
Next, the audience was treated to a compilation of videos from the “What Employment Means to Me” series, in which Spectrum Fusion’s autistic adults discuss their difficulties finding and keeping jobs.
This was followed by a few episodes of “Working Memories,” a humorous series of animated testimonials from Spectrum Fusion employees about their struggles at previous jobs related to their autism.
Next came a video in which media team members and interns talked about the organization’s partnership with Houston Television, the local government-run TV station located at City Hall.
The next series of videos shown were from a series entitled “Autistics in Cars,” where various autistic adults discuss their passions and special interests while riding in a car with host William Purdy followed by a proposal to people who could potentially help them achieve their respective goals.
The “feature presentation,” so to speak, was the short film “Ripple Cut,” written and directed by Emily Giuffre on which Spectrum Fusion Members served as cast and crew. The film is a comedy-drama about an autistic video editor, played by William Purdy, who struggles to get a job despite his qualifications due to his social awkwardness.
The last video shown was a promotional video for Spectrum Fusion’s upcoming fundraiser gala this October.
Finally, the team stood in front of the crowd for a fruitful and informative Q&A session.
Afterward, the members of the Spectrum Fusion media team gave their testimonials on their experiences seeing their work on the big screen for the first time. Videographer-Editor Lorenzo Vredenburg called it “breathtaking,” raving about the experience of not only seeing the team’s work in an actual commercial theater but even the fact that the showcase was preceded by trailers for independent films from studios like A24, making it feel like a “real movie.” Others described the experience as “a dream come true,” “amazing,” and “an honor to experience the next step in Spectrum Fusion’s evolution,” among other things.
All in all, the Houston Filmmaker showcase proved to be not only a success but a testament to the Spectrum Fusion team’s growth as a studio and a sign of great things to come.
