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Presents
In Theaters This Summer
New York: June 24, 2016 / LA: July 1, 2016Opening in additional cities throughout July
Directed by: Luke Meyer
FEATURING: ‘UNLOCKING THE TRUTH’
Malcolm Brickhouse - Vocals/GuitarAlec Atkins - Bass
Jarad Dawkins - Drums
RT: 93 Minuteshttp://www.breakingamonster.com
Twitter: @BreakingaMonstr Facebook: BreakingAMonster
Press Dropbox: https://www.dropbox.com/sh/loaf3cxx4oydk8h/AADEEg5gqZo17Iqvii7XQcXga?dl=0
U.S. Publicity | Falco Ink.Michelle DiMartino, [email protected] Monica Delamater, [email protected] Allison Walker, [email protected]
SHORT SYNOPSIS:
BREAKING A MONSTER begins as the three members of band UNLOCKING THE TRUTH are all in 7th grade, spending their weekends playing a blend of heavy metal and speed punk in Times Square - often drawing substantial crowds. They take on a manager: a 70- year-old industry veteran. With his guidance they are soon on their way to a 1.8 million dollar record deal and a precarious initiation into the music industry.
Anything feels possible, and in some moments the band can almost feel the eyes of the world gazing upon them. The boys are coming of age, not only as they make the leap to being professional musicians, but also as they transcend childhood and take their first steps into the complexities of adulthood. The accelerated breakout of any band, let alone one of pre-teens, is an extremely narrow and specific period in time - BREAKING A MONSTER is the story of this rapid transformation.
LONG SYNOPSIS:
The film BREAKING A MONSTER begins as the band UNLOCKING THE TRUTH is gaining momentum. The band members, Alec Atkins, Malcolm Brickhouse and Jarad Dawkins, are all in 7th grade and live in neighborhoods in central Brooklyn, New York. Guided by Malcolm’s parents, Noreen Jackson and Tracey Brickhouse, the band plays a blend of heavy metal and speed punk in Times Square, often drawing substantial crowds. Many people find the band extraordinary not only because of the combination of their music, skill and age, but also because they break through the stereotype that African-Americans (which all three band-members are) don’t play hard rock.
An audience member records them performing and uploads the video to YouTube. It becomes wildly popular and leads to print and video coverage in the media (including the eponymous short film UNLOCKING THE TRUTH, by the same filmmakers as this feature). When their internet fame explodes, they take on a manager: Alan Sacks, a 70-year-old industry veteran who previously worked with the Jonas Brothers. With his guidance they are soon on their way to sign a 1.8 million dollar record deal with Sony Music Entertainment.
From here on the band’s journey accelerates - and BREAKING A MONSTER chronicles the narrative of their rapid transformation. The boys are coming of age, not only as they make the leap to being professional musicians, but also as they transcend childhood and take their first steps into adulthood. They are confronted with complex contracts, branding decisions and artistic guidance from the team that is suddenly running their career. As 12 and 13 year-olds, they are asked to make critical decisions that will affect their lives in a profound way.
The film tells the story of Malcolm’s journey to find his own voice, both literally and figuratively, Alec’s various methods of projecting what it will be like to be grown up, and Jarad’s coming to terms with the difference between his pre-fame childhood and success-filled future ahead. For the adults too, this process requires a great deal of effort and sacrifice. Alan, who functions as a career father-figure, recognizes that if this band is going to be successful he has to put the boys before everything else in his life. Noreen and Tracey must learn to trust Alan and the professional management team if the band is truly going to be successful. This delicate balance between the demands of stardom and adolescence must be navigated by all the boys’ parents as they try to maintain normalcy in their children’s lives. All the while the band, their parents and their management find themselves less certain and yet more involved with the music industry.
As the film progresses, the band’s ever-busy performance schedule and media demands begin to wear away at not only the boys, but on Alan and their families. Long delays in recording an album lead to frustration, and the boys are forced to learn patience in the face of the music industry and its procedures.
Malcolm struggles to improve his vocals, Alec realizes he needs to take his career more seriously and Jarad starts to crack under the stress of performing before one of their largest shows. All the while they are enthusiastically thrust into high-budget commercials and prestigious media appearances. The faster the band finds success, the more compounded these issues become.
The rapid breakout of any band, let alone one of pre-teens, happens in an extremely narrow and specific period in time. Anything feels possible, and in some moments the boys in the band can almost feel the eyes of the world gazing upon them. Whether it’s gusts of excitement or, alternately shadows of frustration, it is a storm of change that rolls in and leaves the landscape forever altered when the sky clears. BREAKING A MONSTER is a film that bears witness to that storm.
DIRECTOR’S STATEMENT: LUKE MEYER I met Malcolm and Jarad a year before making BREAKING A MONSTER (Alec I met a little later). I was making a short documentary portrait on their band Unlocking the Truth. At the time they were 11 and 12 years old and had their dreams clearly outlined. They already named their first five (yet to be recorded) albums and had a list of the stadiums they wanted to play. The short film was released online and in just over one month it was watched by more than a million people. I think the boys’ passion and lack of cynicism reminded many people of what it is like to be that age, to have grand dreams and focus only on a goal. They had not experienced the difficulties and challenges involved in getting there.
By the 7th grade not only did these boys show actual talent, they were surrounded by an aura that suggested a destiny of fame and success. When videos of them started to go viral on the internet the comments sections agreed, these kids were bursting with potential.
Less than a year later, Unlocking the Truth was offered a recording contract from a subsidiary of Sony Music. They now had a manager, the tireless and singular Alan Sacks, who had arranged the contract and was positioning the boys for a blitz on the entertainment industry: reality TV, commercials, publishing and of course music were all part of the plan. The potential everyone had seen in these boys and their band now seemed like it was about to manifest.
This is the point when we started filming for BREAKING A MONSTER.
From the moment I met Alan Sacks and heard his aspirations for Unlocking the Truth, questions about the destiny of the band began to multiply in my head. In the following weeks and months (as we were filming) it became clear that these questions were cropping up for the boys and Alan as well.Up until this point, Unlocking the Truth had been a DIY act - YouTube publicity, performing on the streets of mid-town Manhattan, managed by Malcolm’s parents. How would they react as they were integrated into the record industry? How would the music executives respond to them? Would they be marketed as a metal band or a pop band? And in the end would the music industry help them or harm them?
Not only were they a youth act, but they were also African-American musicians playing hard rock and heavy metal – both distinctions set them apart from most popular musicians. It wasn’t clear if the attention they were getting was because they were seen as a novelty. Would they be able to break through this typecasting?More importantly: As long as the boys were allowed to continue following their dreams of becoming famous rock stars, how much did they really care about these details?
Many people were looking to help the boys in various ways, but a lot of this help came with pre-conceived notions about the band, and sometimes with suggestions about how it should change. All the excitement around Unlocking the Truth was happening while the boys were still figuring out who they would be – not just as performers, but as people. This documentary would not work if it added to the stress, pressure and expectations the boys were feeling everywhere else. It was important to film unobtrusively and to make space for Malcolm, Jarad and Alec to find a way to define themselves. Beyond that, I knew it was the best way to get an honest picture of their experience through this intense time period.
We filmed throughout 2014. Over the course of the year, spending so much time watching Malcolm, Jarad and Alec navigate the minefields of an adult world, it was difficult not to feel concern for them. However, by the end of filming – even though many questions still linger – I feel hopeful about where they are heading. With everything they have gone through, even at the most disappointing moments, the boys have never stopped exploring their self-reliance and as a result they are now better prepared for the lives stretching out ahead of them.
In the film there are two distinct transitions: one where boys begin to become men, and another where a nascent band breaks out to the wider world. I was lucky enough to be making a film at the specific time when both these changes happened for Unlocking the Truth simultaneously and they crossed the threshold into their future.
There is a discrepancy between the dreams we hold in our heads and the lives we actually lead; they rarely match up completely. This has often been a focal point and an inspiration for my film work. I think when we are forced to reckon with the discord between these two things – the real and the dreamed – we discover what is most fundamental about our lives and catch glimpses of who we really are.
If my preceding short film on Unlocking the Truth was a portrait of their rock and roll dreams, BREAKING A MONSTER is the story of those dreams’ lurching emergence into reality.
ABOUT THE BAND - UNLOCKING THE TRUTH
MALCOLM BRICKHOUSE – VOCALS/ GUITARALEC ATKINS – BASSJARAD DAWKINS – DRUMS Following years of media excitement, breakouts at Coachella and Bonnaroo, buzzy late-night TV appearances—and more than a few industry-related bumps along the way—the Brooklyn metal trio is finally ready to unleash their debut album, dubbed (no surprise here) Chaos on June 17th via premier independent music distributor, Tunecore. They wouldn’t have had it any other way.
“This hasn’t been a scary time at all,” says Unlocking the Truth’s guitarist/vocalist Malcolm Brickhouse. “This is exciting.” The basis of Unlocking the Truth was formed in 2007. Comprised of a couple of Brooklyn pre-teen musical prodigies —Brickhouse and Jarad Dawkins, who both roped in their friend Alec Atkins a little later on — the guys were initially inspired by music they heard on shows like WWE Smackdown. The band started hunting down the heavy music soundtrack powering their favorite wrestlers (see: Motorhead/Triple H). Initially attracting attention via street performances in Times Square and Washington Square Park, the fervor over UTT grew quickly. The band competed on Amateur Night at Harlem’s Apollo Theater. Later, the trio became the youngest group to perform at Coachella (“It felt like a portent, as if these adolescents were offering a time-traveled glimpse of Coachella's future,” noted the Los Angeles Times). They also opened at Bonnaroo and supported the likes of Queens of the Stone Age, Living Colour, Guns N’ Roses, Motorhead and Marilyn Manson. A lot to go through before an album was even released. But worth the wait. Chaos is better for it, a powerful and, dare say, mature outing. “We’re so much better technically than we were even a few years ago,” says Atkins. “And we’ve had so much experience going into this. You can tell.” Chaos both nods to the past and embraces the present. Practicing and writing together for the past several years, the band has created a heavy but diverse record: the speed and quick vocals of “Take Control” play nicely off the slower grooves of “Escape,” which features a riff purposely inspired by Metallica. There’s a great throwback vibe to the album’s first single “Monster,” a thrasher that deftly shifts tempo and goes out of its way to highlight a fist-pumping guitar solo by Brickhouse. It also provides the album’s best sing-along moment (“I am a monster!”). No doubt, the band exudes power. But they’re also decidedly melodic — songs both slow (“Made of Stone”) and fast (“Numbing”) could live comfortably on rock radio. “It’s interesting, because I have friends who don’t even like metal who dig our stuff,” says Brickhouse, who lists Corey Taylor (Slipknot/Stone Sour) as a major vocal influence. “I’d say we’re metal influenced, but there are certainly other genres in there as well.” One thing the album isn’t, interestingly, is chaotic. These guys are tight. There’s a precision here that lends the songs a real potency. “The title comes from one of our songs,” says Brickhouse. “That song, and the album, is about overcoming a chaotic situation and becoming stronger. Our goal during everything was to focus on the music, and not worry about the industry part.” For Chaos, the band worked with veteran metal producer Johnny K. “He’s an inspiration of ours, and we’re big fans of his work with Disturbed,” says Dawkins. “We were able to experiment with sounds and get something that fit our mindset.” While the record had its delays, the band’s early live success allowed them access to some of rock’s biggest names—which in turn has inspired UTT and helped them go a more independent route.
“Marilyn Manson’s been a mentor,” says Dawkins. “He’s helped us figure out what to watch out for. He told us to be brave, have fun and be ourselves. He said if you don’t have fun, you won’t enjoy what you do. And I agree.” You’ll hopefully catch Unlocking the Truth later this year on tour. “That’s our ultimate goal: to be touring throughout the country and internationally, and making some good music,” says Atkins. “I mean, being in a band is a great experience. Being in a successful band? Even more so.” Given the circuitous road that led to Chaos, the band seems happy now to chart its own path. “Over the past few years, I think the biggest lesson we learned is ‘Don’t be afraid to speak up for yourself,’” says Dawkins. “We started out not being vocal about what we wanted. But once we made ourselves heard, well, everything’s rolling.”
ALAN SACKS BIO
Alan Sacks served as the manager for UNLOCKING THE TRUTH from November 2013-August 2015. As a native of Brooklyn, he was drawn to the band after finding them online. Prior to adding Manger to his impressive resume Sacks worked in Hollywood for over 40 years as a writer and producer for television, film, and documentary features.
His earliest work as a show creator and producer was WELCOME BACK KOTTER, in which he cast John Travolta in his first role.
Over the course of his career Sacks has produced over 35 TV movies and series, including 9 for Disney Channel, produced the JONAS BROTHERS 3D feature movie, and wrote and produced THRASHIN, the cult skate boarding feature for New Line.
Additionally he created and produced CAMP ROCK 1 and 2, the successful musical franchise for Disney Channel, in which he cast the Jonas Brothers and Demi Lovato in their first breakout roles.
Sacks also created and produced several other television projects and films including CHICO AND THE MAN starring Freddie Prinze, and the CBS Saturday morning series, RIDERS IN THE SKY, THE ROSEMARY CLOONEY STORY, and WOMEN AT WEST POINT. He has produced documentaries on HH the DALAI LAMA as well as the ELKO COWBOY POETRY GATHERING, for PBS.
In 2000 Sacks won an Emmy Award, Writers Guilds Award, Humanatas and NAACP Image Award for COLOR OF FRIENDSHIP, a Disney Channel movie about Congressman Ron Dellums.
Because of his prolific industry involvement, Sacks has retired from his tenured teaching position at Los Angeles Valley College, and now serves as professor emeritus. He has a Masters of Science in Broadcasting and a BA from Brooklyn College.
ABOUT THE FILMMAKERS LUKE MEYER - DIRECTOR
Luke Meyer’s first feature documentary, DARKON, won the Documentary Audience Award at the SXSW in 2006, and aired on IFC in 2007 after playing in theaters across the country. He directed the documentary NEW WORLD ORDER which started airing on IFC in 2009, breaking the channel’s records for documentary VOD numbers. In 2015 he received the Points North Fellowship for his current project in production. He has edited, written and produced other award-winning films (KING KELLY, ALICE NEEL, THE FEATURE), and is part of SeeThink Films in New York. BREAKING A MONSTER is his latest feature film. TOM DAVIS - PRODUCERTom Davis is a partner at SeeThink Films. He produced their debut film, DARKON (IFC TV, SXSW ’06 Audience Award). He produced NEW WORLD ORDER (IFC TV) and was the lead producer of the critically–acclaimed cell-phone narrative KING KELLY (Puchon International Film Festival Jury’s Choice Award ’12).
BRAD TURNER- EDITORBrad Turner is a New York-based editor. His seven feature credits include Darkon, winner of the 2006 SXSW Audience Award for documentaries, King Kelly, winner of the Puchon International Film Festival's Jury Choice Award in 2012, and Goat,, which was purchased by Paramount at Sundance 2016. He has cut music videos for TV on the Radio, Wolfmother, and others, in addition to hundreds of internationally broadcast commercials, which have won a smattering of awards. Brad holds a Film Studies degree from Columbia University. ETHAN PALMER - CINEMATOGRAPHEREthan Palmer graduated from NYU's Gallatin School in 2002 with a concentration in Film Studies and Comparative Religion. A partner at SeeThink Films, Palmer produced DARKON (SXSW ’06) and ALICE NEEL (’07). His work as a cinematographer includes KING KELLY (SXSW ’12), STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS (Tribeca '13), BREAKING A MONSTER (SXSW ’15) and GOAT (Sundance ’16)
HILLARY SPERA - CINEMATOGRAPHERHillary Spera (director of photography) is a cinematographer based in Brooklyn, NY. She splits her time between documentary, narrative, and commercial work. Her previous narrative work includes Katie Aselton and Mark Duplass' thriller BLACK ROCK, which premiered at Sundance 2012; HIGH ROAD, an improv comedy feature directed by Upright Citizen's Brigade founder Matt Walsh; and SALAR, a film shot in Bolivia and shortlisted for a short form 2013 Academy Award. Documentary credits include DARKON, winner of the Audience Award at 2006 SXSW; ALICE NEEL; AMERICAN JUGGALO; MAIDENTRIP; OXYANA, winner of Best New Director Award for director Sean Dunne at 2013 Tribeca Film Festival; and the 2015 Emmy award-winning AFTER TILLER, directed by Martha Shane and Lana Wilson. Additionally, in 2015 she shot in Wilson's second feature LAST CALL, Janet Grillo’s JACK OF THE RED HEARTS and BEFORE THE BOMB, a short directed by Tannaz Hazemi that screened at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival. Hillary recently completed photography on Richard Levine’s BLUE ANGEL and Olivia Milch’s DUDE, both set for release in 2016.
ABOUT SEETHINK FILMS
SeeThink Films is a production company based in New York City. Partners include Tom Davis, Luke Meyer, Andrew Neel, Ethan Palmer & Brad Turner. Over the past decade SeeThink has built a reputation of being prolific producers of thought-provoking and creatively-driven feature fiction and documentary films.
SeeThink’s first film was DARKON, a documentary about American fantasy as told through an epic war raging through a LARPing group in Baltimore. DARKON won the Audience Award when it premiered at SXSW in 2006, and was picked up for broadcast by IFC after its theatrical run.
The biographical films ALICE NEEL (Newport Beach Audience Award / Sundance Channel ’07) and THE FEATURE (Berlin FF 08 / CPH:DOX ’08 New Visions Award), were about the artists Alice Neel and Michel Auder, respectively.
NEW WORLD ORDER focuses on the controversial talk show host Alex Jones, and investigates the motivations driving “conspiracy theorists” to take action in a perceived fight against global power structures. The film premiered at SXSW in ‘ 08 and aired on IFC ('09).
SeeThink’s first foray into fiction was the New York Time's critics pick KING KELLY ('12). In 2013, BLUEBIRD premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival and took home several awards when it premiered in Europe at the Karlovy-Vary Film Festival. STAND CLEAR OF THE CLOSING DOORS won a special jury award when it premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival. It went on to win a handful of awards at festivals around the world, and was distributed by Oscilloscope Films in 2014.
In 2016 SeeThink will be releasing their latest documentary and fiction features. BREAKING A MONSTER, a documentary about the band Unlocking The Truth, premiered at SXSW and went on to be a festival favorite around the world. GOAT, a dramatic examination of fraternity culture based on Brad Land’s memoir of the same name, premiered at Sundance and was picked up for distribution by Paramount / MTV.
SeeThink is currently developing a new slate of projects, both fiction and nonfiction, including an expansion into television and episodic platforms.
ABOUT BLACK LABEL MEDIA
BLACK LABEL MEDIA (BLM) was formed in 2013 by partners Molly Smith, Trent Luckinbill and Thad Luckinbill to finance and produce bold films with commercial appeal.
Three time Oscar-nominated “Sicario” was released theatrically in September 2015 through Lions Gate Films. This critically acclaimed thriller was directed by Denis Villenueve (“Prisoners”), and stars Emily Blunt, Benicio del Toro, and Josh Brolin.
“Demolition,” celebrated its World Premiere opening night at Toronto Film Festival in 2015 and was released in April 2016 through Fox Searchlight. The film, directed by Jean Marc Vallée (“Dallas Buyer’s Club”) stars Jake Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.
Black Label’s “’71,” starring Jack O’Connell was released in February 2015 to rave reviews. The film was directed by Yann Demange and premiered at the Berlin Film Festival in 2014.
Black Label premiered Philippe Falardeau’s “The Good Lie” at the 2014 Toronto Film Festival. The film, starring Reese Witherspoon, was inspired by true events surrounding the Sudanese Civil War. The film was released in the fall of 2014 through Warner Bros.Also in 2014, BLM acquired an interest in “Begin Again,” written and directed by John Carney and starring Keira Knightley and Mark Ruffalo. The Weinstein Company released the film in the summer of 2014.
Currently in production is “Rebel in the Rye,” a biopic about famed reclusive author, J.D. Salinger, starring Nicholas Hoult and Kevin Spacey. This marks the directorial debut for writer/director Danny Strong (writer of “The Butler” and “Hunger Games: Mockingjay.”)
Currently in pre-production is Untitled Granite Mountain, the true story of Arizona’s Granite Mountain Hotshots, nineteen firefighters who worked to achieve elite status, putting them on the front lines of one of the most dangerous wildfires in the country. The film stars Josh Brolin and Miles Teller, with director Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy) at the helm.
ABOUT ABRAMORAMA
An independent distribution and marketing company, Abramorama is an industry leader in the focused, personalized form of film distribution that provides invaluable alternatives to filmmakers and content owners. Coming off the successful releases of Laurie Anderson's astonishing New York Times critics’ pick, HEART OF A DOG, and Dawn Porter’s Sundance Award-winner TRAPPED, Abramorama’s recent multiple-nominated and award-winning titles also include Showtime's LISTEN TO ME MARLON (National Board of Review Winner) and Drafthouse's THE LOOK OF SILENCE (2016 Documentary Academy Award® Nominee and 2015 IDA Best Documentary Winner). Over the course of more than 20 years, Abramorama has successfully distributed and marketed hundreds of films, including Asif Kapadia’s SENNA, Robert Stone’s PANDORA’S PROMISE, Cameron Crowe’s PEARL JAM TWENTY, Sacha Gervasi’s ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL, Banksy’s Academy Award®-nominated, EXIT THROUGH THE GIFT SHOP, the surprise indie hit AWAKE: THE LIFE OF YOGANANDA, and the critically acclaimed documentaries PARTICLE FEVER and AN HONEST LIAR. Abramorama continues to lead in event cinema distribution, with current titles including HAMLET starring Maxine Peake from Manchester’s Royal Exchange Theatre, Operas from La Scala, Roma, Fenice & Torino, and recent titles including the Royal Opera House Ballet and Opera Cinema Season, Shakespeare’s Globe on Screen, Matisse at the Tate, Hermitage Revealed, PLANETARY (launched theatrically on Earth Day, 2015), the visceral action sport feature THE SEARCH FOR FREEDOM, Green Day’s HEART LIKE A HAND GRENADE, and Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein’s THIS CHANGES EVERYTHING. For more information visit http://abramorama.com,
CREDIT LIST
Abramorama
Presents
A Black Label Media Production
In association with SeeThink Films
A Film by Luke Meyer
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Documentary Competition selection SXSW 2015TRT 93 min
Directed by: Luke Meyer
Produced by: Tom Davis, Molly Smith, Thad Luckinbill, Trent Luckinbill
Executive Produced by: J Axel Holl, Andrew Neel, Alan Sacks, Ellen H Schwartz
Edited by: Brad Turner
Cinematography by: Ethan Palmer, Hillary Spera
Unlocking the Truth is: Alec Atkins, Malcolm Brickhouse, Jarad Dawkins
Written by: Luke Meyer and Brad Turner
Music by: Unlocking the Truth
