Otto Baxter

(He/Him)

Otto’s breakthrough credit is the short film The Puppet Asylum.

If the key to understanding someone is to experience life from their point of view then writer, director and performer Otto Baxter has created an insightful and potent exploration of what it’s like to have Down’s syndrome for a major British broadcast channel. The Puppet Asylum, which screened in cinemas in September and is streaming on NOW TV, saw the filmmaker taking control of his own narrative and explore his disability through a mix of horror, comedy and song. His rollercoaster journey to make the film is captured in the documentary Otto Baxter: Not A F-ing Horror Story (2024).

Otto says performing, writing and directing is in his blood “and it comes from the heart”. His passion and imagination originally led him to the stage, over the years performing the likes of Shakespeare and, most recently, Waiting for Godot and he wants to continue performing and potentially directing theatre.

He’s also part of a drag troupe called Drag Syndrome; is developing his first full feature, Christmas horror film Satan Claus; and is keen to launch a celebrity interview show that he’d host, called A Weekend at Otto’s.

In his own words…

“I want to direct more films. I’d like to do a game. I’d like to be a host, like Jonathan Ross… I want to learn more things. I’ve done one film. I want to make more and there’s a lot to learn about how a film is put together… It’s a good way to express myself… Representation is very important to me. I’d like the balance to be 50-50, between disabled people and non-disabled people. I want equal balance.”