Breaking Upwards

Daryl Wein (Director, Co-Writer, Actor, Producer, Editor) Daryl Wein is an award winning New York based filmmaker. His debut narrative feature film, Breaking Upwards, with Zoe Lister-Jones (State of Play), Julie White (Transformers), Peter Friedman (The Savages), Olivia Thirlby (Juno), and Andrea Martin (My Big Fat Greek Wedding), was an official selection in the Narrative Competition at the 2009 SXSW Film Festival. IFC Films is releasing the film theatrically in 2010. The film won the Grand Jury Prize at the Brooklyn International Film Festival, as well as Best Narrative Feature Film, and the Audience Award at the Little Rock Film Festival. Indiewire said "Wein assembles a playful narrative filled with vibrant dialogue and a swift pace." Quiet Earth wrote "Breaking Upwards is an effortlessly hip and funny new indie flick that easily ranks among the best films about relationships I've ever seen." Film School Rejects said "If the reception at SXSW is any indication, Breaking Upwards is destined to be a winner on the festival circuit and beyond."

Wein's feature length documentary, Sex Positive, won the Grand Jury Prize at the L.A. Outfest Film Fest, and was an official selection at the 2008 South by Southwest Film Festival, London Film Festival, Boston Independent Film Festival, among thirty other film festivals around the world. Regent Releasing has distributed the film theatrically in North America, and the film has been released in 8 foreign countries on broadcast and theatrically, most notably at the BFI in London. The LA Times wrote the film was "illuminating and timelessly timely." The NY Times said "[This] sad, useful film sounds an alarm. The movie jolts you with the realization that the AIDS epidemic and the public debate about such issues have retreated so far under the news radar as to be half-forgotten." NPR calls Sex Positive "indespensable." Indiewire writes the film is "intelligent and engaging...an unabashed and even transgressive portrait of sexuality. It is a sophisticated work of nonfiction that does its very standard format proud."

In 2006 Daryl co-wrote and directed, Unlocked, a short psychological drama starring Olivia Thirlby (Juno, The Wackness) and executive produced by Stephen Daldry (The Reader, Billy Elliot). The film was an Official Selection at the Tribeca Film Festival, as well as the Gijon Film Festival in Spain and 20 other film festiva. It was voted one of the "Best Short Films in the World" by Indy Mogul.

As an actor, Daryl has appeared in films including Breaking Upwards, The Hebrew Hammer, and Porn n' Chicken. Television credits include Law and Order, Law and Order: SVU, and Ed.

He is a graduate of NYU Tisch School of the Arts and USC School of Film and Television.

Zoe Lister-Jones (Co-Writer, Actor, Producer, Caterer) Zoe Lister-Jones is from Brooklyn, NY.

Her film credits include: The Other Guys, Salt, All Good Things, State of Play, Explicit Ills, Arranged, Turn the River, The Marconi Brothers, Goyband, Stuck Between Stations.

Television credits include The Good Wife (CBS), Bored to Death (HBO), Washingtonienne (HBO), Kidnapped (NBC), The Class (CBS). She is the youngest female to ever guest star on all four Law and Order's. She can be seen in the upcoming Adult Swim live action series "Delocated," in which she co-stars with Jon Glaser.

She made her Broadway debut in 2007 with the Tony-Award winning, The Little Dog Laughed, a role that she originated off Broadway at Second Stage, and reprised at the Kirk Douglas theater in Los Angeles. Other theater credits include The Accomplices (The New Group), The Marriage of Bette and Boo (Roundabout), and Codependence is a Four Letter Word: A One Woman Show (P.S. 122), which she wrote and produced.

She Associate Produced Daryl Wein's award winning documentary, "Sex Positive," and co-wrote, starred, and produced, Breaking Upwards.

Peter Duchan (Co-Writer, Associate Producer) This is Peter Duchan's second collaboration with Daryl Wein. Previously, they co-wrote a short film, Unlocked, starring Olivia Thirlby (Juno), which was an official selection of the Tribeca Film Festival (2007). Peter graduated from Northwestern University, where he participated in the Creative Writing for the Media program, writing for both stage and screen. He won the Jewish Theater Ensemble's first annual Playwriting Competition for his play, The Mammary Gardens. His period drama, Lavender Scare, was a semi-finalist for the 2006 Los Angeles Outfest Screenwriting Lab Fellowship. He was Assistant Director for the off-Broadway production, Not a Genuine Black Man, produced by Daryl Roth. Peter currently serves as Director of Development for Bob Balaban's company, Chicagofilms (Gosford Park, Bernard & Doris). He lives in Manhattan.

Alex Bergman (Director of Photography) has lived and breathed films from the moment he got his grubby hands on a VHS recording of Suburban Commando at the age of four. Alex began making movies at 17 and has not put the camera down since, acting as the Director of Photography on two feature films, several commercials, many short films and over a dozen music videos. Breaking Upwards marks his second collaboration with Daryl Wein.

Kyle Forester (Composer) composed scores for the short film "Apartments" by Brian Perkins, and, recently, "Horsefingers 3: Starfucker" by Kirsten Kearse. He co-wrote the theme for the the sci-fi erotica web serial "The Fold". He is a member of the Ladybug Transistor, Crystal Stilts, and Mark Dzula's Magic Caravan, plays for neo-burlesque shows with the Fisherman Xylophonic Orchestra, and once played bass with Nina Hagen. This is Kyle's third collaboration with Zoe Lister-Jones. He arranged the music for her debut covers album, "Skip the Kiss", and wrote the music for her still-in-progress one woman musical "Crying for Cash." The score for "Breaking Upwards" was written and recorded at Marlborough Farms, with the assistance of Gary Olson.

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