a brief history

Giovanni Mocibob was born in Prince George, British Columbia, to French Canadian parents. Throughout his childhood, his family often moved for work, and he had the opportunity to live all across Canada. From coast to coast, Giovanni has had the breadth of experience when it came to small-town living.

The first time Giovanni realized he could elicit a captive audience to laughter was in Grade 4 during a short play at church. There was a scene in which he had to "enter a room" on stage. Of course there was no set (there wasn't even a door!), but that didn't limit his imagination, and when it was his moment to "enter the room", he mimed the door and provided his own vocal "creaky door" sound effects. The congregation laughed, and he noticed.

In Grade 6 he had one of the supporting leads in a school play/concert. He arrived at school that evening dressed in his worst jogging pants and tattered shirt. He was stunned to see everyone else had dressed in their "Sunday best"! He wondered why everyone wouldn't dress in the clothing that was appropriate for their character? For a moment his mind flashed back to earlier that evening when his mother had asked him if he wanted to wear something nicer. He was insistent that he wouldn't, although now for a second he wished he had. Though he was wearing his "Sunday worst", no one on that stage made an impression the way he did. He got nothing but good reviews that night. He would continue to commit wholeheartedly. 

During high school, academics failed to captivate him, but the arts, dance, outdoor education, physical education, and the theatre did. He had the wonderful fortune of making friends with the sons of Judy Russell,  owner of the premiere dance studio in Prince George: Judy Russell's Enchainement Dance Centre. He was gifted with the opportunity to play, and found the joy of dance, song, and musicals. It was here that Giovanni realized people do pursue acting as a profession.

After graduating high school he went to Rosebud School of the Arts for the 4-year acting program. In addition to the standard classes that any theatre program offers, Rosebud provided more practical, hands-on experience than conventional theatre schools. He had the opportunity to work alongside professional actors on the Rosebud Theatre Main Stage, often performing in the summer musicals that would run for more than 100 shows over the course of 3 months. The theatre saw over 30,000 patrons annually but more surprising is that the theatre and school are in a town of about 150 people. Under the mentorship of the award winning Morris Ertman, Giovanni became a mainstay on the main stage.

Immediately out of theatre school, he was contracted by the creative physical theatre company Trickster Theatre. For 3 years he toured all over Alberta, creating plays weekly with children from K to Grade 12. The plays, based on the children's ideas, were fashioned together into one cohesive show that incorporated every child in the school into the production and would then be performed for the parents. It was insane, but worked extremely well. David Chantler, who pioneered the program, took him under his wing, and Giovanni became one of their star performers and creators.

During a short contract in Vancouver, B.C., Giovanni Mocibob met the enchanting Holly Pillsbury. Little did he know she would steal his heart, he would move to Vancouver, and marry that lovely gal. 

The week after their wedding, they hopped into producing a remount of Confessions of a Paperboy, a one-man show that Giovanni had done years prior. Pacific Theatre (PT) donated their space for the run of the show during the Vancouver Fringe Festival. It was a critical success and jump started a lasting relationship that has led to many Jessie Award Nominated Productions including My Name is Asher Lev, Doubt, and The Whipping Man.  The quality of his work on the PT stage led to a lot of work elsewhere.

Since 2008, he's been active in the Vancouver commercial, television, and film scene working his way into the hearts and minds of the local artistic community. In 2015, Giovanni had the pleasure of working with Unveil Studios on the feature film She Has A Name. Giovanni was the lead, sharing the screen with Gil Bellows, Will Yun Lee, and many more on location in Thailand. Along with this opportunity came an added bonus: Giovanni realized the magnitude of what he had to offer as an actor and a creative force. 

After sitting in the halls of hundreds upon hundreds (if not a thousand) of auditions, a new revelation dawned. If he waited for someone to cast him, who knows how long he'd wait for his "big break". To do something now, he would have to create it himself. And so Sidelight Pictures was born of necessity and grit. With several projects in development, between acting contracts for film, television, and the stage, Giovanni also creates and produces his own opportunities.

Check them out! Or collaborate with him.