My Big Break

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Filmed over ten years, this controversial documentary has the unusual distinction of capturing celebrity in the making while it's happening.

Aspiring director, Tony Zierra has no money, stars or crew, so he resorts to filming his four struggling actor roommates as they pursue their dreams of finding success in Hollywood. Incredibly, three of those roommates, Wes Bentley (American Beauty, Ghost Rider), Chad Lindberg (October Sky, The Fast And The Furious) Brad Rowe (Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, Shelter) get their Big Break while Zierra is documenting their lives - while the fourth, Greg Fawcett, is nearly driven insane watching the others get everything he always wanted.

It doesn't take long for the unsettling reality of stardom to set in. Lindberg's hope of becoming a leading man is crushed when he’s repeatedly told he doesn’t have the right look; Rowe ends up typecast as a pretty boy and can't break past his uncanny resemblance to Brad Pitt; while Bentley, who has the most explosive career launch in decades, uneasily retreats from his sudden, overwhelming fame. As the actors deal with life in the public eye, Zierra faces constant obstacles while he tries to complete his film - including being scrutinized and blocked by the actors' nervous agents.

From a unique, personal vantage point, My Big Break shows what it's really like to become famous and how people are changed forever, but not necessarily for better, when their dreams come true.

Featuring: Wes Bentley, Chad Lindberg, Brad Rowe, Greg Fawcett and Tony Zierra.

Audience Reviews

My Big Break is an astonishing achievement in documentary filmmaking. In telling the true story of the struggles of four actors and one filmmaker trying to make it in Hollywood one might say this is the most raw, honest, and enduring tale of Tinsel Town since the mythic and fictional Sunset Blvd.--Michael C. Smith/Amazon Vine Voice
****

A magnificent documentary. It was stunning in its message, giving credence as it does to the saying that fact is often stranger than fiction. --Bill Cohen /The Haworth Press
****

MY BIG BREAK chronicles the journey of five young men who come to live together in a house in Los Angeles to share the expenses and experiences of trying to "make it" in Hollywood. Four talented aspiring actors, and one talented aspiring director under one roof with domestic bliss nowhere in sight. Documenting their daily struggles was budding artiste Tony Zierra's attempt at directorial notoriety. From the most unique of vantage points, Zierra shows us how stardom works in all it's many facets: from the quest for it, to the ascension toward it, to the burden of carrying it, and ultimately, inevitably...to the pain of losing it.

Throughout the documentary, the lives of all five men unfold so much like a Hollywood movie, that the irony becomes almost painful. Three of the four actors, almost in rapid succession, begin to ascend. Chad Lindberg's boyish good looks, sensitivity, and raw talent end up making him a "coming-of-age" go-to-guy in films like THE VELOCITY OF GARY and OCTOBER SKY. Eventually, his efforts to chart his own course post adolescence runs into stumbling blocks. Despite his immense talent, he is constantly perceived, outwardly, as a supporting character instead of a leading man by the image conscious powers-that-be. His struggle palpably illustrates the struggles with vanity and self-esteem that most actors face when they come to Tinsel Town. Actor Brad Rowe's meteoric rise proceeds like a brush fire. Almost without his consent he is labeled as the “next big thing”. And so with an accidental cruelty that is all too common in "La La Land," the circumstances that led to the industry's overwhelming interest in Rowe (not the least of which being a more than passing resemblance to megastar Brad Pitt) end up as the circumstances that lead to his eventual decline. Wes Bentley's true Hollywood story plays out like such a cautionary tale, you start to wonder if it's all a put on! I always wondered what happened to the actor who became an overnight sensation with his role in the Oscar winning film AMERICAN BEAUTY. The answer will genuinely surprise you. Touted as the Tom Cruise heir-apparent; Bentley began seeing his likeness everywhere at one point. Drowning in instant fame, paralyzed by indecision while the industry kept banging on his door, Bentley retreated-- crushed by the weight of high expectations. He is only now beginning to re-emerge.

But what of the last two housemates? The fourth aspiring actor living in that house was Greg Fawcett. As if his life were being written by a cosmic screenwriter wielding a god-like pen, Greg seems almost forced to provide counter-point to the three success stories happening in front of him. He represents that facet of stardom I've been reluctant to discuss. The last and most common facet of all: the wistful despair at failing to ever achieve stardom. Fawcett is this documentary's strongest source of tragedy as well as comic relief. Through him we run the gamut: the joy of seeing our friends succeed while eagerly anticipating our own lightning strike; the growing resentment that follows as nothing continues to happen to us while everything continues to happen to them. And yet, Greg Fawcett just won't quit. Still, his resolve seems more stubborn than it does noble thereby making it a perfect litmus test for our own Don Quixote syndrome. Any wanna-be that watches this documentary will wonder "Am I as good as I think I am? Or am I just fooling myself?" Listening to the very unscripted musings of Greg Fawcett is as maddening as it is hilarious. He seems incapable of recognizing his own shortcomings, and therefore, seems destined to never overcome them. One particular moment in the film where Fawcett describes a sort of spiritual awakening he undergoes is riveting; both in the fact that it seems so disingenuous while he, at the same time, seems so vulnerable telling it. Eternal optimist, and chronic self-saboteur, you couldn't write the zany crap that comes out of his mouth.

Lastly, and most importantly, we have the architect of this documentary. The last man in that house. Although I've done well up to now, I haven't nearly the words to describe the personal odyssey of Tony Zierra. That's what the film is for. Originally slated to be released in the early 2000's under the title "Carving Out Our Name," MY BIG BREAK is as much a documentary about getting the film made as it is about the subject matter. Tony Zierra's narration throughout proves at times prophetic as young friends with big dreams turn into distant stars who learn to communicate only through lawyers, publicists and other agents of the Hollywood machine. The fun, the stress, the agony and the ecstasy of making this project is captured frame-by-frame and by Zierra's own words.

It isn't always the sex, drugs and rock'n'roll that do in a would be superstar. Most of the time, they're merely the catalyst. The match that lights the fuse to an explosive compound made up of fear, isolation, corrupting narcissism and self-doubt. This is the world of Hollywood. A world whose inhabitants often represent a nasty truism: "The brighter the picture, the darker the negative!" If you wonder about your favorite stars, this documentary is a window into what it took to get them to where they are--and what they might have turned into along the way. If you're an aspiring actor in L.A. working deep in the trenches to carve out you're own name, this documentary speaks to you and says "I understand better than your friends or family ever will!" And finally... if you’re that cocky kid with a dream that won't let go--and you want to come out here... this documentary, quite frankly, shows you just the right kind of crazy you need to be. This is a story that needed to be told and a world that needed to be shown in all its heartbreaking glory. --Dizzy Galette
****

In Tinsel Town, sometimes the hardest role to play is yourself.

I had the very great honor of attending the debut of this film at EyeCon in Orlando, FL, September 27, 2008, with actor Chad Lindberg and director Tony Zierra in attendance. It was an unforgettable experience.

The movie starts off with the hi-jinks and madcap behavior one would expect of a house full of aspiring young, male! Hollywood actors. They are crazed, they are irreverent, they are risqué, they are up for anything you can imagine because they are all here looking for that Big Break. Living with the four aspiring actors is a young filmmaker, Tony Zierra, who takes it upon himself to chronicle the landmarks of their journey. The results are ... unexpected.

Never have I imagined such an unflinching look at what it takes, what it means to reach for stardom in Hollywood. We watch these youngsters strive and struggle, we watch them crash and burn, we watch them get up and keep slugging until ... hey. Look at that. The cameras and the lights are looking at not one, but *three* promising actors who just happen to be friends and housemates. The parallels of their upward climbs is dizzying, exhilarating, amazing, even while the not-so-upward battle of the fourth friend just can't quite get that break. It seems like just the luck of the draw ...

Until it dawns on us, the viewers, just how funny this all is not. In the end, it is brutally, painfully apparent that "success" in show biz is sometimes just as bad as, if not worse than no success at all. It would be a troubling film if it were fiction. It's downright unnerving to realize that everything we see ... is real. These are actual people, these are actual lives, and the young man pensively *not* looking in the camera, speaking softly about wanting "something real," is not an actor in his own life.

The closing scenes of the movie pick up the foursome several years down the road, when their fellowship is long sundered and their paths have diverged, and one of them isn't even returning the others' calls. For anyone who has ever thought, "Hey, they're celebrities, they should be used to it," or who has ever wondered why our best and brightest stars burn out too young ... you need to see this film. It will change the way you view the industry forever. -- Gloria Atwater
****

...We all know that there is a hidden underside to Hollywood, but we tend to ignore that and only focus on the glitz and glamour that is force fed to us at every opportunity. We see the beautiful people every day showing us exactly what they want us to see...

...Sure Hollywood is great at allowing us to see the massive implosions of our superstars due to the shocking headline grabbing reasons of drugs and alcohol, but it’s fighting tooth and nail the release of this movie which shows how Hollywood itself sets in motion the destruction of these ordinary people with dreams. It sets them on this path, only to watch them be done in by what does most of us in… fear, isolation, desperation, and self-doubt and it stands back to watch it happen as it moves onto the next big thing. This is the world of Hollywood that they fear us seeing. The bright side of Hollywood under all those beautiful lights has a much darker side...-- Linda Shaffer
****

A documentary film much the same as “Entourage”, but this is real -and I do mean real.--Beth Poh
****

A truly fascinating, riveting, raw and often heartbreaking roller coaster of a movie. It was a true privilege to be among the first audience to ever see this film. My hat is off to Tony, Chad and the others who have the courage to continue to fight the fight to get this film seen. It's like nothing I've ever experienced before, and I will never forget the experience. You NEED to see this movie, people! --Jane Jenab
****

As an experience, My Big Break is as funny as it is painful, and it must be seen by the world.--Sarah
****

...I am glad that we have the Internet so directors like Tony who don't give a f*** about what people think can get this movie to where it needs to be…I can only wish great things for all the people involved in this movie. It deserves to be seen and seen again. If I could see this movie again, I would and I encourage you to see this movie. - -Jennifer
****

I would like to thank you all for sharing your film with us at Eyecon. It moved me in ways no other film has.

I cried, I laughed, I cheered, I booed. I found myself torn between two emotions at times (the field scene). I felt as though I was living it with you and that is something that takes talent. It draws you in and makes you feel and understand.

The film truly showed what hides beneath the glitter and lights of Hollywood and how hard life can be to and up and coming actor. I also think that this is something that needs to be seen by all the young adults aspiring to be an actor/actress so that they understand that the life they want is not exactly what it seems.

I hope that WHEN not IF this get to theaters/DVD that the world see what they need to because it is truly a work of art.

Again, Thank you... -–Megan King
****

"My Big Break is a painful look at how Hollywood chews up and spits out the hopefuls that come to town, and it's gripping viewing. It's funny; it's tragic; it's real." --Sue Ashworth
****

It started off in lighthearted fashion but became steadily more serious, particularly as the successes began to learn that fame came with a price and no guarantee of a future, and the one who didn’t succeed became more frustrated and distraught. It was hard to watch in spots because you were seeing people transforming or even disintegrating under pressure, tasting self-doubt and fearing the constant uncertainty of work and ever-present threat of failure. This is a cautionary tale that should be required viewing for anyone with stars in their eyes dreaming of making it big in Tinseltown. It was searingly honest and packed an emotional wallop, and may never be able to find a commercial distributor because the Hollywood machine finds it too critical and disturbing for words --Mary Dominick

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