Gigi Vitolo has always loved storytelling.
The Murrysville native has had an interest in theater and performing since middle school. But while she was majoring in business and literature at the University of Pittsburgh, she found herself searching for a creative outlet.
When she was awarded the school’s David C. Frederick Honors College Brackenridge Research Fellowship, she knew it was time to get creative again.
“In my classes I was focused on analyzing books, and doing marketing and accounting,” said Vitolo, 22, a 2021 Franklin Regional graduate. “I had to find some other outlet for my creativity.”
The result was “No Encore,” a short film Vitolo spent nearly three years writing, directing, producing and editing, not to mention playing one of the main characters.
“We filmed for three months in the summer of 2024 and then the editing took a little more than a year,” Vitolo said. “It was an extracurricular project, so it took longer than I anticipated.”
The process also showed Vitolo the collaborative spirit present in Pittsburgh’s local film scene.
“It started with being among peers at the university,” she said. “Some of them are film students and some aren’t, but they were all supportive.”
One of those supporters was Judy Kaplan, director of festival production for Film Pittsburgh where Vitolo worked as an intern in the fall of 2023.
“She was part of the student film club at Pitt, and was very involved,” Kaplan said. “She jumped right in, did a lot of hard work and stayed in touch with us. One of the producers for her movies is a Film Pittsburgh employee, and that was an alliance she formed while working with us. I’m impressed with her tenacity.”
The result of her work was “NoEncore,” in which a man falls in love with a violinist, unaware that she is actually a ghost.
That man is played by Kaplan’s husband, Marc Epstein, an accredited member of the Screen Actors Guild who Vitolo met during her internship.
“It was just really delightful to meet people from the Pittsburgh arts community who were willing to help out,” Vitolo said.
One of her biggest challenges was finding places to film.
“It’s set in an opera house,” she said. “I attend the Pittsburgh Opera all the time, and I worked with them to be able to use their Bitz Opera Factory in the Strip District.
“A friend also recommended The Palace Theatre in Greensburg, and they were great to work with. The spirit of The Palace was exactly what I was looking for.”
“No Encore” debuted late last year during a showing at the Frick Fine Arts Auditorium on Pitt’s campus.
Following the completion of her fellowship and graduation, Vitolo secured a full-time job as a production assistant with Fred Rogers Productions. She said the whole experience opened her eyes to the generosity and collaborative nature of Pittsburgh’s filmmaking scene, but also credited the creative experiences she had at Franklin Regional.
“I owe a lot to Julie Babal, who was running the Thespian Club when I was in high school,” Vitolo said. “She really pushed me to understand what a story is, and her directing style really stuck with me. A lot of the approach she took to acting encouraged me to pursue this movie.”
Vitolo said she plans to upload “No Encore” to YouTube, where it will be publicly viewable.
Below, watch Vitolo’s Q&A following the film’s October 2025 premiere at Pitt.