Broken, a locally-produced film that was one of the top 250 finalists for season one of Bravo's "Project Greenlight," premiered on May 17 to 300 viewers at Novi's Emagine Theater. Directors Derek Justice of Farmington Hills and David DeLeon of Sandusky, Ohio, were thrilled with the turnout – and the audience response.
Justice describes the event: "It went so well, we were so happy, we were kind of overwhelmed actually! People were cheering, there was gasping and applause – our film has kind of a twist ending, and you could hear the gasps and the 'oh no's!'"
Broken follows three main characters: an artist that struggles with heroin addiction, a magazine editor and her abusive boyfriend. It cost less that $1,000 to film, and used local actors and locations – like Detroit, Garden City, Warren and Novi. The directors built local interest with guerilla marketing tactics. Justice says, "We tried to build interest as we were shooting. We updated our website every day. We sold merchandise, like tee-shirts – and your name was in the credits if you bought one. So when we did actually release it, people were all pumped up. The anticipation was just crazy."
Justice and DeLeon will premier the film in Cleveland on June 23 and will participate in local film festivals in the coming year. What's next? The world is their oyster. Justice says, "We kind of want to ride the buzz we've got going. We’re tossing around ideas of what to do next."
Source: Derek Justice, Broken
Writer: Kelli B. Kavanaugh
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