Honors student Robert Fox, who will graduate from Gannon this December with his degree in Interdisciplinary Studies (with concentrations in Communications, Fine Arts, and Political Science as well as minors in Philosophy and Entrepreneurship), recently co-wrote, co-directed, and co-produced a horror film, Grinning Man, with his good friend Jarod Gianoni. Grinning Man is an independent feature length film (runtime 113 minutes) which is a sequel to a short film Fox and Gianoni made together in 2019 called Case Closed; however, it is not necessary to have seen Case Closed prior to watching Grinning Man. Grinning Man features the stories of Claire White and Wayne Truman, two private investigators who get more than they bargained for when asked to investigate the resurgence of the infamous Grinning Man, a serial killer long thought dead. Grinning Man follows Claire and Wayne into the rabbit hole as they find themselves in the middle of a turf war between two of the worst monsters this world has to offer while trying desperately not to lose themselves in the process. If you are interested in watching Grinning Man as well as Case Closed, they can be accessed on Gianoni’s YouTube channel titled “Jarod Gianoni,” by searching “Grinning Man 2021” on YouTube, or by using this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZVeZtt92Nv4.

Fox started making films shortly after becoming friends with Gianoni when he was in high school. Their film careers started with a dark surrealist comedy web series, and they’ve now worked their way up to horror films and have even bigger plans for the future!
Fox and Gianoni began planning and writing Grinning Man in 2016-2017 and started production in 2019. Filming took a few years, as the COVID-19 pandemic caused some delays. In addition to writing, directing, and producing the film, both Fox and Gianoni acted in the film, served as directors of photography, boom mic operators, and shoot coordinators. Fox even wrote, recorded, and produced an entirely original musical score for the film! Around 60 people helped them with the film, either by acting, providing shoot locations, or helping on the crew. 

Fox says that filming Grinning Man was entirely a labor of love. He and Gianoni would pay for props and costumes out of pocket as needed and pooled resources together for film equipment. There was no money available to pay the actors or crew, so they asked anyone they thought may be interested if they wanted to be a part of the film as a fun thing to do. Fox and Gianoni used whatever free time they could find to schedule shoots, and it was sometimes challenging to accommodate everyone’s schedules. One of the most difficult parts of filming was going long periods of time without filming due to unexpected circumstances preventing actors from making it to shoots. Despite the challenges, Fox says that he and Gianoni knew, deep down, that they loved the film too much not to finish it though (even if they would not admit it at the time).

Fox feels that all of their hard work was entirely worth it now that Grinning Man is out. On the night of the premiere, a few of their fans drove five hours to be there to watch the film and share the night with Fox, Gianoni, and their crew. Another special aspect of the premiere was that Fox was able to witness the audience engaging with his work. He says that during the climax of the film, one of the characters has something happen to them (no spoilers), and at that moment they heard audible gasps from the audience. It was amazing for Fox to truly see that people were invested in and cared about something he created. He was proud of the film and felt that all of the hard work was worth it in these moments. 

Fox plans to attend film school after graduating from Gannon in just a few weeks. He plans to give a film career his best shot as it is what he loves to do, and to be able to do it for a living would be a dream come true. Fox’s hard work and passion are evident in the quality and success of Grinning Man. Be sure to check out his film using any of the previously mentioned manners of accessing it, and be on the lookout for his future works!