‘An Open Door,’ Temple Grandin film starts worldwide streaming

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She changed the beef industry by making the humane handling of cattle a standard practice. She changed perceptions of autism through persistence and global success. And she shifted notions of neurodiversity on campus by becoming a distinguished professor of animal science at Colorado State University.

Temple Grandin has done it all with insights gained from her own autism.

Now, audiences worldwide can learn about Grandin’s extraordinary life and influence through a documentary film, “An Open Door.” It will be available on the streaming platforms Amazon Prime, Apple TV+, and Kanopy beginning Aug. 12. The film is presented by CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences, was written and directed by award-winning filmmaker John Barnhardt, and is distributed by Good Deed Entertainment. It has been accepted into 72 festivals, has earned 27 individual awards, and has been featured in 26 states and nine countries.

“At the age of 77, Temple Grandin lives life full of purpose and meaning that continues to inspire millions around the globe,” said Barnhardt, a CSU alumnus and film producer based in Fort Collins.

Grandin was also inspiration for an HBO feature film, “Temple Grandin,” released in 2010. Among dozens of accolades, she has been named one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people in the world, was recently honored by USA TODAY among its 2025 Women of the Year and received CSU’s 2023 Founders Day Medal for her profound impact.

Ten CSU students contributed to all aspects of the new documentary – part of the film Grandin says she finds especially gratifying.

For instance, Jacob Faulkner worked as an assistant editor of “An Open Door” as he was completing his bachelor’s degree in computer science; the experience prompted him to pursue a master’s degree in journalism and media communication with the aim of working in the film industry.

“It was such a blast,” Faulkner said of working on the documentary. “I feel like I learned something every single day, and working with Temple was such an inspiration. She’s such an important person.”

In her books, appearances, and in the film, Grandin describes the importance of teaching kids with autism useful skills that align with their interests – and giving them a chance to work and contribute, so their lives are not defined by a diagnosis.

In “An Open Door,” she describes the opportunities she found when key people saw the value of her work and gave her a chance.

“I recognized doors to opportunity. Doors have always been very symbolic for me because I have to have visual images,” she says. “One thing I figured out very early on is certain people can open doors.”

The concept is on display at the Temple Grandin Equine Center, with branches at CSU in Fort Collins and at the CSU Spur campus in Denver. The center honors Grandin and hosts equine therapy sessions for children and adults with disabilities and other challenges, including many with autism. It is also an unparalleled site for university research examining benefits and best practices in equine-assisted services.

“Horses saved me,” Grandin often says, referring to experiences in the horse barn at the private high school she attended. Her interest in horses led to her broader interest in livestock – and eventually to her career in the cattle industry and teaching, the documentary shows. “When I was in high school, one of the few places I was not bullied and teased was horseback riding and working in the barn,” she says in the film.

“An Open Door” traces Grandin’s life from her upbringing near Boston, through school, into the cattle industry, on to higher education and to her standing as a hero in the autism community. In 1990, Grandin joined CSU, where she has conducted ground-breaking research and taught classes in livestock behavior and humane handling; she has likewise mentored dozens of graduate students who have gone on to careers in animal welfare.

It has not been an easy journey, the film shows. Determined to give food animals a decent life and painless death, Grandin persevered through sexism, skepticism and even ridicule to demonstrate the value of her designs.

Over time, Grandin’s concepts, handling systems and associated auditing tools have been adopted as gold standards around the globe, in many cases by beef producers and meatpackers that supply the world’s largest grocers and fast-food chains. If you’ve eaten a hamburger, you’ve likely been an end user of Grandin’s work.

Her story is widely embraced as proof positive that innovation springs from different kinds of thinking and diverse personal experiences – a point Grandin stresses in countless invited talks.

“In this documentary, Temple shows us that it’s not only important but necessary that we have different minds solving our global problems,” said John Festervand, executive producer of “An Open Door” and director of development in CSU’s College of Agricultural Sciences.

Grandin hopes the film encourages people in both the animal welfare and autism communities.

“When I was younger, I used to look for great, mysterious meanings of life,” she says in the film. “Now that I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized the most important things are the things I do – that I help do something real to make something better. I want to open doors for other people now.”