Watching lasers, spaceships and a galaxy swirled with intergalactic heroes and villains, Dominic Giannetti knew he loved movies when he was 5 and saw the first “Star Wars” movie in theaters. Walking through a lobby seeing posters for upcoming releases, going through the door and seeing the big screen, he’d grown to love cinema. While getting there early to snag his favorite seat, hugging his family-size popcorn and allowing himself a few slurps of soda during the trailers, that love would start his appreciation for the art of filmmaking.
He found inspiration from quirky comedies like “Airplane!”, films by Judd Apatow, David Lynch and Steven Spielberg, and one of his favorite movies, Federico Fellini’s “8 1/2.”
“I love a big variation of movies,” Giannetti said. “I see movies once for enjoyment and go back and watch it again from a technical standpoint, wardrobe, and pull it apart to see how they did things.”
During his teen years, he started a theater program after realizing his school didn’t have one. Growing up, Giannetti and his father would watch the 1980s TV show “Miami Vice,” which inspired him to move to Florida.
“Watching that show led to a family vacation and we picked Florida because of the show,” he said. “I ended up buying a condo, and the year I graduated from high school is the year Burt Reynolds opened his theater institute in Jupiter, Florida, which was five minutes from the condo, and I took classes there.”
Giannetti has lived in Palm Beach County for over 30 years. Taking that interest in movies he had since he was a child, he has produced 14 films in the last four years. He’s also contributed to film festivals, produced films and has become a partner at a Palm Beach studio, and wrote and directed several award-winning short films with his production company, Film Factory.
“Doing these made me fall even more in love with the [film] business,” he said. “And made me fall even more in love with Palm Beach County and wanting to film here.”
Giannetti, 50, lives in Boynton Beach with his 14-year-old daughter Sofia. The father-daughter duo have made a movie together focused on family drama and mental health. Emotional teen issues are compellingly portrayed in their new film. In this drama, he brings to life the days leading up to and following a school tragedy.
“I’m friends with someone who was the neighbor with the shooter from Parkland,” he said. “He told me a bunch of stories about that person growing up and those real-life events inspired the script.”
Writing the script with his daughter, the plot of Giannetti’s film, “God Will Listen,” follows two teenage sisters navigating the challenges of mental illness and family issues in an inspiring and relatable story of resilience and hope. The movie, which stars 1990s “Superman” actor Dean Cain, explores the emotional complexities of families today. It looks at the events leading up to and following a tragic day at school right before the summer break.
“I injected some faith into the script then my daughter read it, giving her feedback on how high school students are today,” Giannetti said. “She sat down with me for several days and we rewrote it together making it more modern and with the issues they deal with that I wasn’t even aware of.”
From notes to the final shooting script, they worked he worked on it for three years. The film, which is an emotional drama that deals with teen mental health issues, bullying and toxic relationships, also features several Palm Beach County locations, including Hatch 1121 in Lake Worth Beach and G-Star School of the Arts in Palm Springs.
“I think these issues are more of an issue now more than ever,” Giannetti said. “It is about a shooting. But we never hear, see or say the word ‘gun.’ I think this is unfortunately something that kids today deal with a lot more today than they would have 10 years ago because what we grew up with fire drills is what they’ve grown up with code reds.”
Once they finished the screenplay, the next phase was production. Throughout his career, Giannetti mostly filmed in Miami. But he wanted to film closer to home and as a writer, director and producer. He also worked with the cinematographer on storyboarding. With a total of four to five months, he was looking for local places to film using a permit, raising money, filming based on the budget and finding actors.
While building a cast of actors, Giannetti came across professional dancer and social media star Lev Cameron. The YouTube and TikTok sensation took on the role of a bullied teen in the feature film.
“He [Cameron] loved the script and wanted to do it, and the stars aligned,” Giannetti said. “And by eliminating the gun from that entire process of this film, we can focus more on the teens and the effects before and after the event. Strictly dealing with the mental health of the teenagers.”
Cameron has performed on “Dancing with the Stars: Juniors” and has garnered millions of fans on YouTube and TikTok with his humorous antics. But with this new role as Alex, he sheds that persona to join a talented cast of local actors who are bringing to life a story designed to open an important dialogue between parents and teens.
“I asked my daughters about famous YouTube and TikTok personalities,” Giannetti said. “I sent an email to his mother and she responded immediately. Even though they live in L.A., they were filming right down the street from us and here for a couple more days.”
“The Voice” Season 17 competitor Preston C. Howell plays the lead protagonist, Bobby, in Giannetti’s movie and local actress Gabby Estabrook plays Molly. Her sister is played by Sofia Giannetti.
“A lot of my films are made for a young audience,” Dominic Giannetti said. “But I hope from a parent point of view, they walk away from this film realizing there are opportunities to have conversations with your kids and don’t miss out on those opportunities because kids are dealing with more than what we realize.”
While putting a spotlight on Palm Beach County locations and teen drama, Giannetti also filmed at Delray Beach’s 505 Teen and Hobbit Center Skate Park. He also hopes by January to work on a six-episode TV series with a friend.
“My wife’s batting stage 4 cancer and what a lot of people don’t see behind the scenes are the struggles we have when we’re at home,” Dominic Giannetti said. “She’s my biggest supporter and there’s a lot she helps me with when she can. I want people to come away from this knowing we have to understand and be nice to each other because we never know what someone is going through. I’ve always loved movies and even though I could have moved to L.A. a million times, I stayed here because I love everything local.”
A release date has not yet been set. Follow for updates.
