Neil Breen (born November 23, 1958) is an American filmmaker and actor. Since 2005, he has written, directed, independently produced, and starred in five films. Breen's films have garnered a

cult following A cult following refers to a group of fans who are highly dedicated to some person, idea, object, movement, or work, often an artist, in particular a performing artist, or an artwork in some medium. The lattermost is often called a cult classic. ...

for their low-budget production values, acting, writing, and editing.

Life and career

Neil Breen grew up on the East Coast of the United States, and developed an interest in film and filmmaking at an early age. He studied architecture and initially became a licensed architect in

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. He gained a small following after releasing his first film, ''Double Down''. In the years that followed, Breen continued working as an architect as a means to finance his next film: ''I Am Here.... Now''. This second feature proved to be a breakout hit, reintroducing familiar motifs and garnering Breen "a lot of attention." Since then, he has established a reputation as a cult amateur filmmaker.

Film

Breen writes, produces, directs, and stars in each of his own films. The characters he portrays hold advanced and often superhuman abilities and use them in grandiose struggles against corrupt forces and institutions. '' Fateful Findings'' features Breen as a

hacker A hacker is a person skilled in information technology who uses their technical knowledge to achieve a goal or overcome an obstacle, within a computerized system by non-standard means. Though the term ''hacker'' has become associated in popu ...

imbued with supernatural powers by a magical stone he found as a child, who uses his skills to expose government and corporate corruption, while in ''Double Down'' he plays a rogue government super-agent. In other films, his protagonist is a god-like, messianic, or otherwise chosen figure; ''Pass Thru'', for example, has Breen playing a messianic entity who arrives from the future to wipe out 300 million "bad people" to usher in a new era of peace. Breen has said that his films have a "sense of social responsibility" and reflect the "mystical or

paranormal Paranormal events are purported phenomena described in popular culture, folk, and other non-scientific bodies of knowledge, whose existence within these contexts is described as being beyond the scope of normal scientific understanding. Not ...

side of life." Some critics have compared Breen's films to

outsider art Outsider art is art made by self-taught or supposedly naïve artists with typically little or no contact with the conventions of the art worlds. In many cases, their work is discovered only after their deaths. Often, outsider art illustrate ...

. On October 3, 2022, Breen had confirmed that filming on his latest project had wrapped via his Twitter account. On December 16, 2022, Breen confirmed the title of his latest project is ''Cade - the tortured crossing'' ic

Influence

His first feature film, ''Double Down'', was featured on

RedLetterMedia Red Letter Media, LLC is an American film and video production company operated by independent filmmakers Mike Stoklasa (formerly of GMP Pictures) and Jay Bauman (formerly of Blanc Screen Cinema). It was formed by Stoklasa in 2004 while he was li ...

's ''Best of the Worst'' online series, whilst ''Fateful Findings'' was covered by RedLetterMedia along with other film critics on

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

. Since then, Breen's films have been picked up by arthouse theaters and film festivals, including the 2012 "

Butt-Numb-A-Thon The Butt-Numb-A-Thon (also known as BNAT) was a film marathon held in Austin, Texas every December from 1999 to 2016. It was hosted by Harry Knowles of the Ain't It Cool News website in celebration of his birthday. The festival showed 24 hours o ...

" and the 2013

Seattle International Film Festival The Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF), held annually in Seattle, Washington since 1976, is among the top film festivals in North America. Audiences have grown steadily; the 2006 festival had 160,000 attendees. The SIFF runs for more th ...

. In '' Paste'' magazine's 2014 list of the 100 best B movies, Breen's film ''I Am Here.... Now'' was ranked 21st, with the author noting that he thought Breen would one day earn a place in the "terrible movie hall of fame" alongside

Ed Wood Edward Davis Wood Jr. (October 10, 1924 – December 10, 1978) was an American filmmaker, actor, and pulp novel author. In the 1950s, Wood directed several low-budget science fiction, crime and horror films that later became cult cla ...

and

Tommy Wiseau Thomas P. Wiseau ( or ) is an American actor and filmmaker. He is known for writing, producing, directing, and starring in the 2003 film '' The Room'', which has been described by many critics as one of the worst films ever made and has gaine ...

. Breen's third film, ''Fateful Findings'', was compared to Wiseau's ''

The Room ''The Room'' is a 2003 American drama film written, produced, executive produced and directed by Tommy Wiseau, who stars in the film alongside Juliette Danielle and Greg Sestero. The film centers on a melodramatic love triangle between amia ...

'' by the former film's North American distributor Panorama Entertainment. Breen's fifth feature film, ''

Twisted Pair Twisted pair cabling is a type of wiring used for communications in which two conductors of a single circuit are twisted together for the purposes of improving electromagnetic compatibility. Compared to a single conductor or an untwisted ba ...

'', was released in October 2018. In March 2019, Breen confirmed that he would be producing a ''Twisted Pair'' sequel.

Filmography

Film

References

Works cited

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Breen, Neil American architects American film directors American film producers American male film actors American male screenwriters Living people Place of birth missing (living people) 1958 births