Template:Actor Info
- "I can't believe you committed suicide! I cannot believe you committed suicide! How could you have done this? How could you have committed suicide? I can't help you out of this one, Jim."
- ―Neil Breen in Fateful Findings
Neil Breen (born November 23, 1958) is an American filmmaker and actor who has been making films independently since 2005. He is best known for his low-budget films.
Early Life[]
Not much is known about Neil Breen's upbringing, apart from the fact that he grew up in the eastern United States (although his exact place of birth is unknown). Before making films, Neil Breen was a licensed architect in California. He gained a small following after releasing his first film, Double Down, in 2005.
Sales websites for the older films are usually taken off in preparation for promoting the current film of Breen's.
Films[]
Neil Breen's films are known for their low-budget production value, as well as their questionable casting (which includes Breen himself as the lead role), writing, and editing. Because of these factors, all of Breen's films have been largely maligned by critics, which in turn gives the films a cult status similar to Tommy Wiseau's cult classic The Room.
Double Down[]
Neil Breen's first film was Double Down, and it was about a lone computer genius who took over the Las Vegas Strip. This film played at the Cinefamily cinematheque in Los Angeles in 2010.
I Am Here...Now[]
Breen continued working as an architect in order to finance his second film, I Am Here...Now, which is about the creator of mankind, who appears as a human in Las Vegas because he is disappointed with people living lives of sin. This film also played at Cinefamily in 2011.
I Am Here...Now proved to be Breen's breakout hit. It reintroduced similar motifs to Double Down and garnered Breen the reputation of a cult amateur filmmaker.
Fateful Findings[]
Breen's third film was Fateful Findings, which features Breen as a hacker with magical powers he gained from a stone he discovered as a child.
This film is largely considered one of the worst ever made. It played at the Harry Knowles' 2012 Butt-Numb-A-Thon, an invite-only film festival. Fateful Findings also played at the Seattle International Film Festival's Midnight Adrenaline program in 2013.
Pass Thru[]
Breen's fourth film was Pass Thru, where Breen starred as a messianic entity from the future, who wiped out 300 million "bad people" in order to usher a new era of peace. Pass Thru was released in 2016.
Twisted Pair[]
Breen's fifth film was Twisted Pair. In this film, Breen starred as two identical twins who became hybrid A.I. beings and were hired by aliens to stop the threat of evil.
Like Fateful Findings, Twisted Pair is on many lists of worst films ever made. It was released in the United States in October 2018 and in the United Kingdom in February 2019, to mostly negative reviews from critics, one of which compared Breen to a modern-day Ed Wood.
Neil Breen's 5 Film Perspective[]
Neil Breen released a self-made documentary about his works in 2020, called Neil Breen's 5 Film Perspective.
Cade: The Tortured Crossing[]
In 2019, Breen confirmed that his sixth film would be a sequel to Twisted Pair, keeping true with Twisted Pair's final message: "Cade Altair will return", shown before the credits. In 2022, Breen revealed that filming of this sequel, Cade: The Tortured Crossing, was wrapping up, and the post-production process had begun.
Cade: The Tortured Crossing had its world premier at Regal Cinemas L.A. Live on February 25, 2023, after a four-and-a-half-year wait. This marked the first time a Neil Breen film premiered at a cinema instead of a film festival; ironically, Cade: The Tortured Crossing was also the first film of Breen's to win awards, as it won the People's Choice Award and Best Fantasy Film Award at the Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival. This was despite the fact that Cade: The Tortured Crossing was considered just as poorly executed as Neil Breen's previous films by critics.
Filmography[]
| Year | Film | Roles | Notes | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Director | Writer | Producer | Editor | Musical Director | DOP | Actor | ||||
| 2005 | Double Down | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Aaron Brand | |
| 2009 | I Am Here... Now | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | The Being | |
| 2012 | Fateful Findings | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | Yes | Dylan | |
| 2016 | Pass Thru | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | A.I., Thigl | |
| 2018 | Twisted Pair | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cade Altair, Cale Altair | |
| 2020 | Neil Breen's 5 Film Perspective | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Himself | Documentary |
| 2023 | Cade: The Tortured Crossing | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | Cade Altair, Cale Altair | Sequel to Twisted Pair |
Awards[]
| Year | Award | Category | Title | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival | People's Choice Award | Cade: The Tortured Crossing | Won |
| Best Fantasy Film | Won |
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- Neil Breen has his own YouTube channel.
- Neil Breen claims to have recruited his cast via Craigslist.