On Tuesday “06880” previewed “Breaking Upwards,” Westport writer/director/actor/producer Daryl Wein’s new movie that will be shown tomorrow (Sunday, March 28, 2 p.m.) at Fairfield’s Community Theatre.
This weekend, the New York Times joins the buzz.
We’re not talking a mini-review, all agate type and buried at the bottom of a Saturday page no one reads.
Not hardly. Daryl; his girlfriend/co-writer/co-producer Zoe Lister-Jones; his Staples classmate/co-writer/associate producer Peter Duchan, and the entire cast and crew that helped make this indie film for the astonishingly low cost of $15,000, have scored a full-page feature story in tomorrow’s Sunday Times arts section.
A hugely laudatory story.
With 6 photos.
Including one plastered across the entire top of the page, showing Daryl and Zoe in exactly the type of scene that will be remembered years from now, when they’re accepting Oscars for lifetime achievements.
Daryl Wein and Zoe Lister-Jones, looking very movie-like. (Photo by Alex Bergman/Courtesy of the New York Times)
Writer Larry Rohter calls “Breaking Upwards” “almost a tutorial in how a do-it-yourself ethos can overcome the tough economics of the movie business.”
He describes the recruitment of the cast through Craigslist. The clever use of inheritances and insurance to fund the film. Daryl’s living room editing on a flat-screen TV. Guerrilla marketing tactics like chalking the movie title on Manhattan walls and sidewalks.
And the importance of big names like actors Olivia Thirlby, Julie White, Peter Friedman and Andrea Martin to the success of the project.
Rohter likens “Breaking Upwards” to “Paranormal Activity.” That indie film — also made for the price of a Hyundai Elantra — has grossed more than $100 million so far. Coincidentally, “Paranormal” stars another Staples graduate: Micah Sloat.
“06880” is glad the New York Times recognizes Daryl’s talents — and shares them with the rest of the weekend Arts section crowd. We just hope that — on his way to super-stardom — Daryl doesn’t forget the little people.