It is okay to not be okay is the message Michael Jann and Michele Jourdan displayed in their adorable animated short film Bug Therapy.

The film launched this week for the Austin Film Festival 2021 has an all-star voice cast, including Dr. Phil McGraw, Meghan Trainor, Jay Leno, Sterling K. Brown, Tom Green, Emily Goglia, and Jason Reisig.

Here’s the brief synopsis:

In Bug Therapy, Citronella (Trainor), a mosquito who faints at the sight of blood, tries to muster the courage to attend group therapy, led by Dr. Pill (McGraw), to overcome her phobia. She learns that everyone faces mental health struggles – Stick Bug (Brown) battles depression over never feeling seen, Fly (Leno) is OCD/germaphobe and can’t stop washing his hands, Grasshopper (Green) suffers from addiction to coffee, Praying Mantis (Goglia) is narcissistic/delusional and believes she’s God, Dragonfly couple (film writers Michael Jann and Michele Jourdan) are co-dependent, and Spider (Reisig) tries to overcome his phobia of spiders.

Jason Reisig (Smallfoot) directed the short film.

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LRM Online’s Gig Patta spoke with writers Michael Jann and Michelle Jourdan on the origination of the story, bugs and insects, shining a light on mental health struggles, and the possibilities of the short film becoming a full-length feature film down the road.

Michael Jann is an Emmy-nominated light-night comedy writer for The Tonight Show With Jay Leno and The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He had written for National Lampoon, Nick at Nite, and Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Michele Jourdan has co-written four romantic comedy screenplays. Also, she is a personal trainer hailing in the Austin, Texas area.

Bug Therapy short film makes its premiere at the Austin Film Festival 2021 on Sunday, October 24 at 4:30 p.m. CT.

Watch the exclusive interview with Michael Jann and Michele Jourdan below. Let us know what you think of it.

Source: LRM Online Exclusive