By: Valerie Milano
Los Angeles, CA (The Hollywood Times) 9/14/22 – THT had the opportunity to attend the NAMI 2022 Annual Conference at the Newport Beach Marriot Hotel & Spa. This is their first in-person event in two years, with the theme being “Moving Forward with Hope and Resilience” for the future of mental health.
Some keynote speakers included Michael Jann & Michele Jourdan, who presented their short, animated film, Bug Therapy. The film is about Citronella, voiced by Meghan Trainor, building up the courage to attend group therapy for the first time. The group is led by a pill bug therapist named Dr. Pill, voiced by Dr. Phill. Other bugs also join Citronella with mental health issues which include; Jay Leno, Sterling K Brown, and Tom Green. The film’s premise is to encourage audiences not to be ashamed to ask for help when struggling with mental health issues.
Michael Jann is an Emmy-nominated comedy writer for The Tonight Show with Jay Leno and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.
Michele Jourdan is a personal trainer and gold medal-winning bodybuilder.
They are the writers, creators, and executive producers of the film and together have written four comedy feature screenplays.
Click the link to watch Bug Therapy official Trailer: https://youtu.be/-B_Y6P8wOeU
A feature film version, based on the short, is in the works with details to come.