Josie Giordano and the Closing Credits of Once a Week for Life

Every part of Once a Week for Life was painstakingly curated by creator, writer, actor, director, narrator, and producer George Zouvelos, who also oversaw producing, writing, and the restoration and remastering of music for the films.

What started as one film grew into a two film saga, and George carried that same attention to detail through every stage: filming, editing, color, sound, music orchestration, photography, and finally the artwork that closes the story.

How Josie Entered the Story

When it came time to create closing credits that felt truly personal, George wanted something that could not be replicated by templates, trends, or automation.

In 2024, George was approached through a mutual friend, Stephen Johnson, in Milford, Connecticut. Stephen runs BandCave Studios, which assisted in creating, recording, and remastering some of the music George has in Once a Week for Life and Once a Week for Life 2. Stephen is also the mastermind, bassist, and lead writer of a band called Poetic Justice, a local Connecticut favorite, soon to be represented by a record label, with George facilitating as a producer.

Stephen introduced George to Richard Giordano, the son of the renowned comic book artist Dick Giordano. Richard reached out to George, shared artwork created by his daughter, and introduced George to her at the Connecticut Film and TV Alliance, where Zouvelos appeared as a guest speaker on the Emerging Film panel in November 2024.

“What I saw from Josie’s work was not a gimmick. It was original and creative art from a young artist with discipline, instinct, and a real eye.” – George Zouvelos

After additional conversations with Josie’s father, and after seeing her work, George decided to commission Josie, through her parents, to create the closing credits slides for the two film saga, Once a Week for Life.

What Josie Created

Josie Giordano, 14, created the closing credits artwork for Once a Week for Life and Once a Week for Life 2 by transforming the films’ still frames into stylized illustrated scenes.

Working from director supplied 3D images, she traced and rendered the foreground elements as sketches, then colored and detailed them while preserving the original photographic background. The frames were George’s originals, but the line work, color decisions, and final rendering were hers, built shot by shot with patience and taste.

“The result is a hybrid look that bridges cinema and illustration, grounded in the film’s real world texture but filtered through an artist’s hand. It gives the audience a final breath, a visual epilogue, and a signature that stays with them after the story ends. It is not a bonus. It is part of the tone of the film, right up to the last frame.” – George Zouvelos

Josie completed twenty finished slides, ten for each film. While the images begin as still frames, the tracing, color choices, and the final detailing are her original work, giving each moment a distinct tone and graphic identity. She is credited in the films under her name, Josie Giordano, in the permanent end credits.

A Legacy, But Not Nostalgia

Josie is the granddaughter of Dick Giordano, the acclaimed DC Comics artist and editor whose legacy helped define the visual language of American comics. In these closing credits, that lineage is not treated as nostalgia. It becomes a living continuation of craft, discipline, and storytelling through line and color, delivered in a contemporary format.

“You can definitely feel the lineage, but the voice is her very own. For comic enthusiasts, it is a rare crossover, a DC legacy name connected to a modern New York crime saga, through a new generation’s hand.” – George Zouvelos

How the Work Was Done

Josie worked at home in her spare time around schoolwork, home responsibilities, and extracurricular activities, including church and sports. She completed the work ahead of schedule, over many months, at her own pace.

Professional Boundaries and Clear Communication

Josie is a minor, and all communication and approvals were handled through her parents, and the artwork was created under agreement with her family. The artwork was delivered in finalized, production ready files for end credit use and promotional materials, consistent with what was agreed upon with her parents and with Josie’s consent. All communication with Josie was handled only through her father.

At no time did George communicate with her privately.

“As a father of four children, three of them young ladies, I respect the highest standards of integrity and the avoidance of even the appearance of impropriety or anything suggestive. When it comes to professionalism and even appearance when it comes to children and or the opposite sex and even the same sex, I hold myself to a simple standard: protect the person, protect the project, and avoid even the appearance of impropriety. That means clear boundaries, transparent communication, and no private channels with minors, ever. It means keeping things respectful, documented, and aboveboard, treating everyone with the same decency and distance when needed, because integrity is not only what you do, it is how what you do looks to the outside world.” – George Zouvelos

What George sees in Josie is the hope he has for his children and for children everywhere: to do things they absolutely love, respect their families, schoolwork, extracurricular activities, and themselves, to be good, law abiding, productive members of society, and to be happy in whatever they decide to do in their lives. He wishes Josie nothing but the best, offers heartfelt thanks and appreciation to her and to her parents, and looks forward to collaborating again in the future.

“That is what I mean by curated. Even the credits had to be worthy of the story.”  – George Zouvelos

“In an era of templates and AI polish, I wanted the end of the film to feel handmade, personal, and earned. A way to memorialize a few of my hand selected scenes.” – George Zouvelos

We hope you enjoy Josie’s artwork, and if the film moves you, please watch Once a Week for Life and spread the word.