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Jason T. Gaffney’s Analysis Paralysis

Jason T. Gaffney’s Analysis Paralysis

Jason T. Gaffney, the driving force behind My Pet Hippo Productions, recently released a new LGBTQ romantic comedy called Analysis Paralysis that explores the intersection of imagination and society and the courage to reach for love.

Starring Gaffney and Kevin Held, Analysis Paralysis is about a young, gay author named Tyler (Gaffney) who visits a therapist and discovers that he suffers from an anxiety disorder known as “Analysis Paralysis”—an inability to take action without imagining the ways each possible choice could go wrong. To confront the disorder, Tyler decides to fight through his anxiety and ask his cute neighbor, Shane (Held), out for coffee.

Gaffney co-wrote Analysis Paralysis with his father, Ed, and this film marks his directorial debut. According to Gaffney, this film is special because it tackles the issues of mental illness and breaking Hollywood stereotypes when it comes to LGBTQ representation on screen in unusual ways.

How did you come up with the concept, and why did you want to make this film?
I have been in the industry since I was about six years old, and originally, I was going to do stage acting. As I got older, I realized I was better suited for film. My parents and I are all writers, and I was talking to my dad who ended up co-writing Analysis Paralysis and we were trying to come up with a concept/story we could film.

My dad brought up a family friend of ours named Bill who struggles at work sometimes making decisions. He talked about [how] in business, there’s a thing called analysis paralysis where you can kind of freak out when making the right call. So, my dad and I were talking about this, and I came up with the concept of what if we use that, but made it every aspect of the main character, Tyler’s, life? That’s kind of where it stemmed from, and by doing this, by having the repeats of the scenarios, it allowed us to film a feature-length film without having to change locations very much, which helped with setups and timing and keeping our schedule tight, so weren’t going to break the bank. It also allowed us to amp up the comedy aspect of it.

Analysis-Paralysis-poster

You talk about how this film tackles mental health issues and breaking Hollywood stereotypes when it comes to LGBTQ representation on screen in an unusual way. How so?
We wanted to tackle mental health in a more comedic light. A lot of Hollywood films, when someone’s depressed or has extreme anxiety, they often like stay in bed. They are visually represented as, like, the world is blue and everything’s terrible. They don’t feel their emotions, and they’re just kind of dead on the outside. The reality of the situation is, I have lots of friends who have depression or anxiety. I have anxiety myself. We all feel the entire gauntlet of emotions; it’s not just only sadness and sorrow.

There are times when we laugh; there’s times when we cry; there’s times where we feel ambivalent about stuff. We wanted to show Tyler, who struggles with extreme anxiety, living his life; he still has to live it. He still has to write the books that he writes when he’s an author; he still has to get up in the morning and brush his teeth. We wanted to show him fighting it and choosing to fight against it.

As far as the LGBTQ aspect, I love all LGBTQ movies. I think they’re great, and I think we need more of them. We need a lot more people in the LGBTQ community to get out there and tell our stories. One thing I noticed, especially growing up, was the majority of films I was seeing tended to be coming-out stories, or the humor or conflict [is] centered around their sexual orientation. Those stories are very important, and we still need coming out stories, especially today with Trump, but we also need films that are post coming out. The humor in this film, none of it comes from Tyler or Shane, our two heroes’, sexuality. It comes from situations that they end up in that more traditional heterosexual couples in a film would find themselves in.

Director, Writer, Producer, Star Jason T. Gaffney

What do you do to take care of yourself and help your own anxiety?
The first thing is I started seeing a therapist, which everyone should do. Everyone in this country should see a therapist, whether you have extreme anxiety or mild anxiety. Even just to chat with someone, I think we would all be better off. One of the things that I’ve been working on with my therapist is that I try to live with the anxiety, and I know that it will pass. It’s easy when you get anxious to feel like the world is ending, or you have to go back and double check something. When you can start to learn how to trust yourself, which is challenging, it allows for you to understand that. Anxiety isn’t necessarily the worst thing in the world. Sometimes it’s there for a reason. You must trust your gut and learn how to read that.

Do you think Hollywood is wary when it comes to focusing on mental health and LGBTQ issues, or at least putting them in a positive light?
I think everyone loves drama and when there’s a great conflict. It makes for a great story. So, there are times when Hollywood tells a story that has good conflicts surrounding mental health or LGBTQ issues that we’ve done before. They know it’s been done, and they know it works, and it’s successful. So, there’s a little bit of, like, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, but my opinion is, we should try to explore other things and other reasons, like going the more comedic route because it makes it more approachable for mass audiences, and it allows people to discuss it afterwards. Comedy does kind of get shoved to the side at times in Hollywood because it’s perceived to be easier, which is ironic because comedy is tragedy plus timing, so it is harder. So, I think Hollywood likes to play it safe because they know that it works.

How has Analysis Paralysis been received by audiences?
So far, it has gotten a lot of love. People have really related to the main character, Tyler, because we all have anxiety. We’ve all imagined scenarios where things could go wrong and been nervous. Like, we have all been that little kid at school that forgot to study for the test, and you’re thinking, ‘I’m going to fail.’ Although we took Tyler’s journeys to a more wild and wacky point in certain places, it’s like, we have all been there. We’ve all been nervous about the first date; we’ve all been nervous about meeting the parents. It’s relatable. I am happy that people have been enjoying it. They have been laughing, which is a main goal of mine in the films that I create. I want people to leaving having laughed and having some of the weight of the world lifted off their shoulders.

Related article: World Mental Health Day- Check Yourself

Is the main character, Tyler, is based off your own personal life?
Pieces of him for sure. I am nowhere near as anxious as he is.

What did you do to prepare yourself for this role?
It’s funny because I was not just acting as the role of Tyler. I was also writing the script and doing the rewrites and producing and getting ready to direct it. My hands were in a ton of different cookie jars [laughs]. To an extent, it was easy for me to prepare for the role of Tyler because as I was learning my lines and getting to know him, I was doing the rewrites and tweaking things and making it flow out of my mouth better.

I was also creating artwork for the walls and mapping out the direction of the scene with my cinematographer. By having all these different layers coming at me, it was almost easier for me. Especially the month beforehand, it was me getting up, doing a big workout, getting my mind centered, and learning my lines. I do this fun thing where I learn my lines best by walking in a giant circle. So, I walk around my block for hour with the script in my hand just learning line. I’m sure to the outside [world] I look insane because I’m just spouting lines, but it gets me to remember.

Analysis Paralysis Film Still

Additionally, this film is your directorial debut, and you co-wrote it with your father, Ed. Overall it sounds like Analysis Paralysis was an amazing experience for you.
Yes, it was wonderful. I had a great co-star in Kevin Held who played Shane, and having my dad on set was great. He opened my eyes and ears when I’m in the scene. Before every scene, I would tell him what I was looking for, and then I was able to trust and know that he’s going to get my vision. We were a finely tuned machine. My husband, Matt, was also on set with us doing catering and production paperwork and helping the camera department.

Working with family can be tough in any field, but it sounds like you have a great working relationship with yours.
Oh, yes. I am incredibly lucky. I have worked with both of my parents on feature films, and I have worked with my husband on two different films. My cousin Jack came in and helped me with the edit and music for this film. So, I have worked with a lot of family on different projects. I do have, you know, certain people in my family where I’m just like, it’s best if we don’t do something together. Let’s just hang out during the holidays [laughs].

Do plan to direct again?
Yes. I directed the next film that’s in post-production right now called Out of Body. Starring Kevin Held and I again, it’s a paranormal rom com with some ghosts, Halloween, spirits, and stuff like that. I am currently in pre-production for a couple projects that I am working on and hoping to film next year.

Can we expect a sequel to Analysis Paralysis?
I would love to do a sequel. We have been talking about it, and the plan is at some point to try and do a sequel where it’s Shane and Tyler planning their wedding. All the shenanigans that come about in planning that.

Analysis Paralysis is available to buy or rent on Amazon, iTunes and Google Play. The film can also be streamed with a Dekkoo subscription.

For more information and news about My Pet Hippo Productions, sign up for their newsletter at tinyletter.com/mypethippo. To stay up to date with Gaffney, follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

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