Sharon’s Bob Golub gets film deal for ‘Dodo’

By GUY D’ASTOLFO

dastolfo@vindy.com

“Dodo,” a film made by comedian-actor Bob Golub, a native of Sharon, Pa., finally will be released.

It will be available on DVD April 20 through most retail Web sites. Amazon.com is accepting pre-orders now.

Golub wrote and directed the comedy-documentary, which tells the story of his hardscrabble upbringing in Sharon. It was shot entirely in the Shenango Valley and includes home video from Golub’s youth.

To coincide with the release, Golub will mount a tour that will combine his stand-up act with a screening of the film and a question-and-answer session. The tour will kick off April 17 at the Rex Theatre in Pittsburgh. Stops also are planned in the Youngstown/Sharon, Pa., and Kent areas, but dates and locations have yet to be finalized.

Golub grew up in a poor family of 10 that was headed by his hard-drinking father, who was known around town as Dodo. The hard-nosed Dodo viewed any expression of love as weakness, and Golub was left with emotional scars.

The film is touching and funny but is also raw at times. In it, Golub finally comes to terms with his emotionally distant father.

Despite his hard-knocks upbringing, Golub became a headlining comedian, actor and filmmaker. He has appeared in the 1990 film “Goodfellas” and on “The Tonight Show.”

“Dodo” was a labor of love for Golub, and it consumed several years of his life. He conceived of the idea in 1999 and wrapped the film in 2006. It was accepted by the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival that year and won Best Docu-Comedy. It also played at the Three Rivers Film Festival in Pittsburgh that year, where it sold so many tickets that additional screenings had to be added.

“It’s a timeless piece, funny and real,” said Golub.

He shopped “Dodo” to film distributors for the past several years but had no luck. He was just about to give up when he got a call from Celebrity Video Distribution Inc.

“I was ready to post it on YouTube and say, ‘Go ahead and enjoy it,’ when I got the distribution deal,” said Golub, calling from his California home.

Ironically, when the straight-to-video hookup finally came through, Golub was too worn out to jump for joy.

“I had been through so many ups and downs that I wasn’t all that excited,” he said. “It sunk in later, but at first I wasn’t knocked over. It was kind of weird. I mean, I was excited, but I had been burned too many times.”

Golub has written a pilot for a television series based on “Dodo” that he is shopping around. He’s hoping the film’s release will give it more credibility.

“In the pilot, I go back to stay with my father because he’s dying,” said Golub. “Only he doesn’t die. Now I’m stuck back in my hometown with my wife and my old dysfunctional family. I’m still trying to break the cycle, and tell [my father] that I love him.”