KICKSTART THIS

Kickstart This: Latino Review's Chase Thriller 'Breakneck' Set in NYC

by Ben Pearson
July 12, 2013

Welcome back to another edition of Kickstart This, FirstShowing's weekly column dedicated to spreading the word about cool indie projects that need your help to become a reality. This week, we want to turn your attention to a project being developed by our friends at Latino Review. If you've been a longtime follower of the movie blogging game, you'll definitely recognize the swagger-ific scoopster El Mayimbe, who's been a thorn in the side of Marvel for years. He and his team are working on a NYC-set thriller called Breakneck, and it's definitely worth supporting. Watch the pitch video, tell us your thoughts and don't forget to donate.

"El Mayimbe" has a pretty juiced up persona on Twitter, constantly bragging about his scoops and throwing out lingo like "what's poppin', cool kids?" so it's easy to see why some people might be a bit put off by his somewhat overbearing personality. But his real name is Umberto Gonzalez, and when he's not bagging big stories, he's just a regular dude like the rest of us (read about his recent cancer scare here). He's tired of seeing Latino audiences not being catered to properly in Hollywood, so he's started his own media company as a spinoff of Latino Review that will produce, acquire, and self-distribute original content that he hopes the Latino audiences will want to see. Breakneck is the first project on their upcoming slate.

Written and directed by Gonzalez, Breakneck is being referred to as "Bourne in the barrio." The story follows a New York City bodega clerk who goes on the run across uptown Manhattan from the cops and a private military contractor for murders he didn't commit, while fighting to stay alive and prove his innocence. Sounds like the kind of simplified story that could be easily filmed on a small budget, and with Gonzalez's film production background, it should be a piece of cake. But they desperately need your help to raise the funds, as they only have a few days left before their campaign expires. Check out the pitch video:

For more on Umberto Gonzalez's Breakneck, and to help support the project, visit its IndieGoGo page. Gonzalez and his team are looking to raise a total of $109,000 by Tuesday, July 16th (just around the corner), and they really need our help with the fundraising process. If you're a fan of supporting the little guy and want to see them succeed in delivering content to Latino audiences that isn't pandering, donate and spread the word about this project on Facebook and Twitter and anywhere else you can.

That's all for this week's edition of Kickstart This. Feel free to e-mail me at BenPears85@gmail.com if you find a cool film-related project that needs some extra attention to meet its goal. My inbox is always open and if you send in any Kickstarter or IndieGoGo film project, I can't promise we'll feature it, but I will always at least take a look at it. Thanks for your continued e-mails, and as always, thanks so much for your support of these independent projects because they definitely could not be completed without the help of film lovers just like you. Every last penny helps. For our full Kickstart This archives, visit here.

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