Pics From VHI’s Hip Hop Film “The Breaks,” Airing On Jan. 4Posted by Wilson Morales
December 28, 2015
VH1 has released some photos from its next original movie “The Breaks,” which premieres on Monday, January 4, 2016 at 9PM ET/PT.
The cast stars Mack Wilds, Afton Williamson, David Call, Wood Harris, and Antoine Harris. Also featured in the film are Evan Handler, Russell Hornsby, J. Bernard Calloway, Cliff “Method Man” Smith, Annalaina Marks, De’Adre Aziza, William Jackson Harper and AFRO.
The film was written, directed and executive produced by Seith Mann (“The Wire,” “The Walking Dead,” “Homeland”).
Inspired by journalist Dan Charnas‘ book “The Big Payback,” a narrative history of the hip-hop business, “The Breaks” will chronicle the journey of Nikki (Afton Williamson), David (David Call) and DeeVee (Mack Wilds), three friends united by their love of hip-hop, as they work to make their big mark in the music industry. The film will travel viewers back to the summer of 1990 in New York City where the music industry’s artists and hustlers intersect in the dance clubs and the street corners of the still crime-ridden city. Nikki Jones is a brilliant recent grad who abandoned a scholarship to law school to pursue her dream of becoming a record exec. Her boyfriend, David Aaron (Call), is the scrappy son of a legendary music producer (Evan Handler) who is unwilling to rest on his father’s laurels and notorious reputation. DeeVee is an aspiring producer on the hunt to find the next big rapper on the come-up.
Nikki fast talks her way into an internship at the premier hip-hop company, Fouray Entertainment and catches the eye of the label’s infamous founder, Barry Fouray (Wood Harris) while David struggles at the city’s top R&B radio station whose celebrity DJ refuses to program real hip-hop. Meanwhile, DeeVee returns to his roots in the Fort Greene projects to scout for talent and runs into Ahm (Antoine Harris), a drug dealer with a lyrical gift whose talent could bring them all to the next level. But they will soon discover lives can be broken as fast as legends can be born.
Seith Mann is the writer, director and executive producer for “The Breaks”. Dan Charnas will also serve as executive producer and co-wrote the story for the script. VH1 executive producers are Susan Levison, Bill Flanagan and Maggie Malina.
“The Breaks” is the third movie in VH1’s successful push into scripted programming, following the 2013 record-breaking premiere of “CrazySexyCool: The TLC Story” and success of last year’s “Drumline: A New Beat,” which drew in 2.4 million total viewers and averaged a 1.4 in the key Adult 18-49 demo during its premiere.
Dan Charnas documented the rise of hip-hop as a young writer for the first rap magazine, The Source; and served behind the scenes for many years as a record executive during the genre’s ascent into the mainstream. Those experiences would in later years inform his work as the author of the renowned book The Big Payback: The History of the Business of Hip-Hop (New American Library/Penguin), the epic, 40-year narrative of the executives, entrepreneurs, hustlers and handlers who turned rap music into the world’s predominant pop culture. Culled from over 300 interviews with top industry figures and artists, and nearly a decade of research, The Big Payback has been called “the most comprehensive journalistic account of hip-hop ever written” (The Boston Phoenix). Labeled “Pulitzer-worthy” by Spin and “epic” by The Village Voice, the 660-page book received four stars from Rolling Stone, a starred review from Publishers Weekly, and accolades from publications like the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Entertainment Weekly and The Atlantic.
Extended Preview
Mack Wilds and Method Man Look Back At Their Shared History
