Breakdown

A head-strong father takes his two teenage children on a secret trip to visit their imprisoned brother, against their mum’s wishes.

Breakdown is a 12-minute long character-driven, road-trip drama film - being made as one of the capstone projects for the Master of Fine Arts (Creative Practice) at Victoria University. The film is emotionally charged, intended to feel like a raw and real depiction of a family’s dysfunction. However, it’s spun with a hopeful outlook - showing how shared experiences, even when negative, can connect people together. 

 Breakdown is being made by a group of talented  Masters of Fine Arts students, VUW film undergraduates, and other young Wellington filmmakers. All of us are passionate about collaborating on film projects and how we can create stories on screen together. 
 

We are excited to work alongside such a driven and talented team!

Writer/Director: Zara Millkin

Producer: Ashley Pye

Director of Photography: Jerry Chu

Production Designer: Vjeta Covich

1st AD: Ethan Morais

Editor: David Browett

Gaffer: Alfie Hartshorne

Composer: Tom Godbert

Sound Designers: Simon Wrench and Christopher MacClure

Original Soundtrack: Christopher MacClure

Camera Assistants: David Browett and Sahar Fanian

Grip Assistant: Jasper Riley Bruce

DIT: Jack Gosling

Sound Recordists: Brooke Darrow, Simon Wrench, and Christopher MacClure

Lighting Assistants: Roy Hong and Seamus Leathley

Art Assistant: Lucy Woodall, Amanda Smith, Marlo Taylor, Lucy Danko, and David Browett

Colourist: Ethan Morais

Production Assistants: Yolanda Kirschbaum and Eilis McMahon

Stills Photographer: Liam Eagle

As Boosted is an all-or-nothing fundraiser, we need to hit 100% before the campaign ends!

The $3000 will go towards:

• Koha for our amazing cast, as well as our generous locations!
• Catering for our shoot days to keep our cast and crew fed
• Art department, for costumes, and especially for the prison and motel interiors
• The fees to enter festivals both nationally and internationally to get the film out into the world
• The 10% Boosted fee that covers transaction costs

The story of the film follows two teenagers and their worn out dad as they go on a road trip behind their mum's back.  We sit with the characters as they get closer to their destination and slowly realize what's going on - and that their mum has somehow found out whats happened. The film's climax is when they reach the prison - and the youngest son, Frank, reveals that he "snitched" on the group of them. 

It ends on a positive note -  as the family approach a picturesque bridge and decide to just scream off into the canyons to release their frustrations. Just as in real life, there's no one easy solution to the problems, but the knowledge that they're together and connected by their experience offers comfort and release. 

I’m a huge fan of character driven work, and I wrote this script with the aim that the characters in the story would feel like real, flawed & grounded people. I wanted to highlight how a situation like this would be emotionally charged and complex and explore how people would respond to it.  I believe people and their tangled relationships are the most interesting things to tell stories about. I hope that the characters in this story will remind people of themselves, or people around them that they love. 

Your generous contributions allow us to make this film to the best of our abilities. Through our  Masters programme, this talented crew have been honing their skills for the last 8 months to be able to craft this film to a high standard. Getting the crucial budget support we need will allow the film to be made to its full potential, and find success at film festivals around the country and beyond!