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HIGH ANXIETY: FILMMAKER EXPLORES PANIC ATTACKS IN 'DOING THERAPY'
Coraopolis-Moon Record Joanne Braun, Staff Writer September 7, 2005 He’s not making any money, but Joe Giacobello of Moon is having fun and at the same time bringing awareness to an often ignored medical condition. The writer, producer, director and lead actor in the independent film, “Doing Therapy,” Giacobello says right now his film career is just “a labor of love.” Although he says he tried for a year to secure some funding to make the movie from several art agencies in Pittsburgh, he was not successful and ended up paying for the filming himself. “But someday I’m hoping to make some return,” he says. “So far, it has just been a lot of fun.” Although Giacobello is not pulling in the big bucks with the film, he does believe it is even more important to try to raise awareness about anxiety and panic attacks. He says there is plenty of information about depression, but “you don’t hear much about anxiety and panic. I’ve seen other movies kind of touch on it, but not enough.” In the film, Barbara Winters of Pittsburgh plays an actress, Diane Rischard, who is having anxiety attacks, and Giacobello plays the psychologist who is treating her. Giacobello himself has had such attacks when he has been on stage in front of a live audience, experiencing the sweaty palms, rapidly beating heart and feeling like he was going to die. However, he says, when he acts in front of the camera, he does not have the attacks. “I think it is because I know I can always shoot it over again, but with live, there is no turning back. You’d better get it right.” And, with the filming of “Doing Therapy,” a lot of viewers have told Giacobello they think he has done it right. Giacobello says there is always talk about creating a link between Hollywood and Pittsburgh, and the film does just that. A Pittsburgh psychologist gets together with a Hollywood actress. “I like the ideas of two opposites stuck together like that,” he says, “and you can just watch it evolve from there.” Winters, along with playing the lead actress, has helped out with many other aspects of the film as well. Giacobello says she is a natural in the part and has the look of a high maintenance actress. He decided to keep his own name for the psychologist. “You just can’t buy a name like that,” he says. David Dietz of Crafton plays a crazed psychotic who is stalking Diane, and Jackson Kernion of Wexford plays Bob, a down-on-his-luck, nerdy high school kid who is one of Joe’s patients. Jackson’s character thinks of a clever way to get back at some bullies in school. A local magician, Tom Interval, of Sewickley, plays Giacobello’s boss. Adam Taylor of Pittsburgh did most of the cinematography for the film. Giacobello says people who have seen the film say it’s definitely not boring and holds their interest. “It has comedy, suspense and romance—something for everybody.” He says he always wanted to do a romantic comedy and he always liked psychology, so he put those two loves together for “Doing Therapy.” The film now is playing periodically on Moon Community Access Television (MCA-TV) on channel 14 of Comcast Cable System. MCA-TV permitted Giacobello to use its equipment to film the movie and in return, he let them show it on the station on a regular basis. The next showing of the film will be in November. Viewers can visit the MCA-TV Web sit for exact dates and times. A screening of the film, which was set and filmed in Pittsburgh, was held at Loews Theater in Homestead in July. He says he also will try to get the films into some Pittsburgh film festivals and screenings, but there are no specific dates yet. For Giacobello, it all began with a love of acting and community theater where he grew up in Erie. He had majored in accounting and secondary English at Indiana University of Pennsylvania and Edinboro University and received a degree in both. The acting and film making he learned on his own. While in college, he played the drums in a band, and the acting didn’t “hit” him until after he graduated from IUP. That’s when he began participating in community theater at the Erie Playhouse and Roadhouse dinner theaters. He moved to the Pittsburgh area about eight years ago, looking for more opportunities in film and acting and employment. He found work as a technical writer for Fisher Scientific, and a few years after moving Moon Township, he though it would be fun to try some film. He then created a sitcom for PCTV on the North Side of Pittsburgh. It was called “Mr. G.” and focused on a school teacher, and because he wrote and produced it, he says, he got to play the lead character. Others involved were local actors from community theaters in Pittsburgh. “It was so bad, it was good,” Giacobello says with a laugh. “It was campy, but for some odd reason people liked it. It only ran for four episodes but it consumed a lot of time and was as low budget as you could get.” He is now working on writing another movie and says he would really like to find a source of funding for this one. To learn more about “Doing Therapy” and Bello Productions, log onto www.bellofilms.com. |