Eliza Gibson has lived many lives. She wanted to be a concert pianist until an injury in her early 20s forced her to change course. She then turned to humanitarian work in the former Yugoslavia. Then, she moved into the world of theater – specifically, one-woman shows.
Inspired by women like Lily Tomlin and Whoopi Goldberg, Gibson wrote and performed her first solo show, “Dialogues with Madwomen,” in 1995.
“I think [a one-person show] forces you as an artist or as an actor and a writer to really push the limits of what you can do in theater,” Gibson said about the art form.
But in 2018, after her one-woman show “Bravo 25: Your AI Therapist Will See You Now” had a mainstage run at The Marsh Theater in San Francisco, that pushing went a little too far. Gibson decided she needed a break, and a pivot into screenwriting led her to “Symptoms,” her first short film which will play at this year’s Atlanta Women’s Film Festival on Sept. 27.
“Symptoms” follows Eleanor (Pinky Jones), a woman in her late 40s dealing with a very bad day at work while also dealing with symptoms of perimenopause, or the transitional period that women go through before fully hitting menopause. These symptoms can include hot flashes, irregular periods, brain fog, and much more – basically, everything that would make an already rough day at work that much harder.
“It’s very much inspired by my personal experience of living through perimenopause,” Gibson said. “Which is having a bit of a moment in some parts of the country, I think. Women are starting to talk about it more, which is great.”
The idea for “Symptoms” originally started out as a television show. In order to make what became the short film out of a season-long wealth of ideas, Gibson pulled out key moments that she could put into a “day in the life” type structure. Gibson’s solo show background is evident here – it feels like Eleanor could just as easily be delivering a monologue about all the terrible things that happened to her at work one day.
“I prefer to call it a companion piece versus a proof of concept, because I think it’s so important that a short film is satisfying,” Gibson said. “It has a beginning, middle, and end.”
While this is Gibson’s first stab at directing, she felt that her experience in other arenas helped her lead the charge. As she put it: “This is my first film, but it’s not my first rodeo.” She might not have known the ins and outs of making a film going into the project, but she knew what she wanted, and she knew she needed to hire the best people to make her vision come true.
For Gibson, that involved finding a co-director and executive producer in her friend Todd Eric Valcourt.
“I knew I needed a partner in crime, because it was my first film,” she said. “I needed someone who knew more than I did and was comfortable working with someone who was very clear on a creative vision, but didn’t necessarily know the language.”
According to Gibson, Valcourt was able to help take on that translator role on set. It wasn’t always easy – sometimes, she felt that because Valcourt had more filmmaking experience than she did, the crew was more inclined to listen to him.
“That can be frustrating, right? But when you’re in the middle of a shoot, you can’t really process that,” she said. “What was great was Todd knew that was happening sometimes, and he would redirect.”
One of the parts of directing that Gibson loved the most was working with actors. Being an actor herself (she also has a role in “Symptoms” as an unhoused woman named Shirley), she thinks a lot about character during the writing process.
“I write character-driven stories,” Gibson said. “I hear the voice, I see the way they move. I see all of these things as I’m writing.”
“Symptoms” is nominated for awards in three categories at the Atlanta Women’s Film Festival, including Best Dramedy, Best Actor for Pinky Jones, and Best Sound Design for Valcourt. According to Gibson, this festival is the first women-focused film festival that “Symptoms” will play. The diversity of the cast and crew of the film was very important to her.
“I always wanted mostly women, mostly queer people, [and] from a racial standpoint, people from the global majority,” she said.
The Atlanta Women’s Film Festival takes place from Sept. 24-28 at 7 Stages Theater.
