Product Details

• Actors: Wes Bentley, Chad Lindberg, Brad Rowe, Greg Fawcett, Tony Zierra
• Directors: Tony Zierra
• Format: NTSC
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Number of discs: 1
• Studio: Mantic Eye
• DVD Release Date: November 30, 2008
• Run Time: 105 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B001565ALM
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #327,281 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Review

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

A true insiders look into fame/Hollywood. I don't think I've ever seen anyone get so close to what happens to people when they get into the star making machinery. It was very raw and very real. Every person with stars in their eyes should see My Big Break. --Joan Prowse - Cinefocus Canada

Product Description

This controversial documentary follows five roommates trying to make it in Hollywood who face the unexpected consequences of fame. When Tony Zierra, an aspiring filmmaker with no money, stars or crew, resorts to filming the lives of his four struggling actor roommates, he never imagined the incredible twists of fate he would end up capturing on camera. Things take an amazing turn when three of the actors, Brad Rowe (Billy's Hollywood Screen Kiss, Shelter), Chad Lindberg (October Sky, The Fast And The Furious) and Wes Bentley (American Beauty, Ghost Rider) defy astronomical odds and quickly hit it big. Meanwhile, the fourth actor, Greg Fawcett, is nearly driven insane watching the others get famous. 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 struggle with life in the public eye, Zierra deals with constant obstacles while he tries to complete his film - including being scrutinized and blocked by the actors' nervous agents. While popular shows like Entourage offer a fun, fictionalized view into the workings of the film industry, My Big Break shows the good times along with the darker side of becoming a celebrity. The documentary is a rare, raw look at life in Hollywood that reveals what can happen if your dreams unexpectedly come true.

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars In Tinseltown, sometimes the hardest role to play is yourself, October 13, 2008

By 

G. Atwater (northern Nevada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Big Break (DVD)

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 risque, 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 film maker, Tony Zierra, who takes it upon himself to chronicle the landmarks of their journies. 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 house mates. The parallels of their upward climbs is dizzying, exhilerating, 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 realise 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.

I hope to see this in general release soon. Best of luck, Chad and Tony. Thank you for coming to EyeCon. It was awesome to see you both. :-)
Cheers ~

Gloria
aka "ErinRua"

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Every striving actor young and old needs to see this film!, December 12, 2008

By 

Richard Castle (California) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: My Big Break (DVD)

I watched My Big Break for the first time last night, and loved how the director was able to capture the essence of what it takes to make it in Hollywood - perfectly weaving you through the good and bad times of life in L.A. as a young actor. The DVD also includes many wonderful extras that really put the viewer behind the camera during the making of the film. Along with the interested moviegoer, I would also recommend this film to actors in the industry and anyone who has the desire to be a director in Hollywood. This film shows the truth about what can happen to you in Hollywood, cutting through all the BS and getting straight to the point. Recommended!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The real Entourage, February 7, 2009

By 

Impatient with bad movies "I loved this movie" (New York City) - See all my reviews

This review is from: My Big Break (DVD)

I can't believe the makers of this movie haven't promoted it as being Entourage in real life--except if Turtle and Eric are successful actors, too. In My Big Break, you follow the (real-life) careers of four young aspiring actors who live together in a messy house in LA. Three of them make it fairly big--and one of them, unbelievably big (Wes Bentley, who did the amazing job as the troubled kid in American Beauty). Then things start to fall apart, and Wes's career (among others) starts to crumble. (Vincent Chase, anyone?) This movie is an amazingly honest, searching portrayal of the Hollywood star machine, and how it eats people up. It's unlike anything I've ever seen before. I loved it.