Special Effects, Visual Effects and Stunt Teams from Lethal Weapon, Blade Runner 2049, Hereditary and Cloverfield Injects High Concept ’90s Blockbuster Movie Adrenaline to the Production
Vice Media
In this biting satire of the entertainment industry, a struggling actor, a delusional director, a two-faced talent agent, and a Gen-X cop collide when they realize that they and everyone around them are spinning a web of lies. When friends and aspiring actors, Will and Jon meet for lunch at a prototypical health restaurant in West Hollywood, their meeting spirals into a deadly altercation with a spin class instructor that escalates into a shootout with the police.
The duo battle their way across Los Angeles with the media and social media influencers capturing their every move and arrive at their talent agency where they take their agent hostage. In a blockbuster finale atop Runyon Canyon, the aspiring power players realize that ultimate survival in Hollywood often comes at the high price for fame and…their egos.
The Big Break Trailer (60 Secs) from Gil Freston on Vimeo.
Writer, director, producer and co-star of The Big Break, Gil Freston’s vision in making the film was to bring the high production value and epic scale narrative of a high-concept ’90s blockbuster into a short mini-movie format, a new offering of premium short form content in today’s entertainment space that goes beyond traditional movies, festival programmed short films and broadcast, cable and streaming television.
The talented and spirited cast joining Arquette who plays Lieutenant Ramirez in the film includes David Shabtai (The Amazing Spider-Man 2) as Jon Lieberman, Gil Freston as Will Kavanaugh, Michael Vlamis (CW’s Roswell) as Michael Glazer, Isabelle McNally (A&E’s Bates Motel, Frances Ha) as Grace Barnett, Thomas Cocquerel (Billionaire Boys Club, Table 19, In Like Flynn) as Officer Eckhart, Brittany Furlan (social media star appearing in Netflix’s American Meme,) as Fable Rae, Ammar Kandil & Thomas Brag aka YES Theory (Social Media Stars) Jude B. Lanston (Magic Funhouse) as Sergeant Bates, Elizabeth Turner (Social Media Star) as Kate Davenport, stunt performer Eddie Davenport (Logan) as Matty, Alexis Beckley (Room for Improvement) as Chloe Perkins, Richard Kohnke (The Billionaire Boys Club) as Brooks Weaver the Waiter, Aaron Jay-Smith (You) as Writer, Frank Mercuri as LAPD Officer, Deina Torres as LAPD Officer, Angelique Yalda as LAPD Officer and Al Burke as LAPD Sergeant.
In keeping with the movie’s aesthetic, The Big Break pays homage to the iconic ’90s movies that inspired the film– The Player, Heat and True Romance– in its look/cinematography (Derek McKane), visual effects team from Hereditary (Lucien Harriet), visual effects team from Cloverfield and Logan Lucky (Josh Hakian), wardrobe (Annie & Hannah) and stunt teams from Lethal Weapon (Ryan Gray, Adam Hart) and film Blade Runner 2049 contributing to the production of the film, working in tandem with Action Director Loren Herbert. The film screened as an official selection at the 22nd Annual LA Shorts International Film Festival 2018.
The film is produced by Gil Freston, Jack Heston, Matthew Brag, and Loren Herbert with Will Meldman, Taylor Vandegrift and David Shabtai serving as executive producers. Freston has written and directed numerous commercials and branded short-form. Upon graduating from the USC School of Cinematic Arts, Freston directed his first independent feature film, PALADAR, a documentary about his friends’ underground restaurant run out of their college apartment. PALADAR premiered at the TriBeCa Film Festival 2013. Freston currently has a show in development at FX Networks and is entering pre-production on his next feature film EDGE OF FEAR, a psycho/thriller horror feature film to be shot in international locations starting in May 2019.
