"Broken", Directed by Derek Justice and David DeLeon, Premieres in Detroit May 17, 2007

"Broken", a feature film directed by Derek Justice of Farmington Hills and David DeLeon of Sandusky, Ohio, for Top 250 Productions, premieres in Detroit on May 17 at the Emagine Theater in Novi. The team made the film for less than $1,000 and the screenplay was among the top 250 finalists in the first season of "Project Greenlight", the Bravo TV series sponsored by Miramax, Matt Damon and Ben Affleck.

"Broken" is the story of Christian, played by David Gries of Zeeland, whose life was shattered as an eight-year- old after he watched his father brutally murder his mother. Now, twenty years later, he wrestles with his demons through art and heroin. Grand Rapids native Aziza Amy Poggi co-stars as Beth, an abused magazine editor sent to retrieve Christian’s artwork for the next issue. Steve Hopton of Mt. Clemens plays Beth’s abusive boyfriend. This is the beginning of a dark descent into hell for The Junkie, The Girl, The Boyfriend and three lives full of secrets.

LeeAlan Weddel (Novi), Chuck Diamond (Warren), Jayk Hanna (Canton Twp.), Matt Lang (Grand Rapids), Altonio Seahorn Jr. (Detroit) and Adam Hill (Garden City) complete the cast. Several bands contributed music including Dendura, Riot in Progress, Unfinished Thought and David Gries. Susan Stanek (Grand Rapids) created the art that would later become Christian’s work in the film.

Justice and DeLeon based the screenplay on a short story that DeLeon wrote years ago.

At the time, DeLeon was about 20 and going through the customary artistic, Bohemian phase - all dark and broody. The idea of a barefoot hippy chick came to him, complete with a loose flower-print dress and long, dark hair. The character shared his artistic outlook on life - somewhat cynical, yet with the firm belief that if his art couldn’t change the world, then maybe it could change a mind or two. From there came the love interest, Christian and the abusive ex-boyfriend.

After several revisions, his idea eventually morphed into the finished script that the pair entered into numerous contests including "Project Greenlight". The contest generated approximately 7,000 entries. Broken was shortlisted and became one of the top 250 finalists.

After "Project Greenlight", Justice and DeLeon swore off contests. The script sat on a shelf for a while. In the meantime, DeLeon wrote a horror script that was optioned by a producer, re-wrote a script for another independent filmmaker from Michigan and slaved away on an assembly line building cars for Ford. Justice worked on two features, "Generation Xtinct" and "Above Ground".

However, they returned to "Project Greenlight" for the third season. This time, Justice and DeLeon threw their hat into the directing category with a short film called "Sequence 1". They competed against nearly 5,000 entries and advanced to the top 50 finalists.

Justice and DeLeon finally realized that the best way to bring the project to the screen was to do it themselves. They surrounded themselves with a team of people who put their talent, faith and sweat equity into the project. They shot in Detroit, Grand Rapids, Garden City, Warren and Novi.

During the film shoot, "Broken" was not without its share of production nightmares. They lost locations before the scenes at those locations were completed. They faced difficult schedules from cast and crew who, at times, drove more than two hours to get to a location on the other side of the state. And, since Garden City is in the traffic path for planes arriving at Detroit Metro Airport, the scenes shot at Christian’s house were often interrupted with ambient noise.

In the end, Justice and DeLeon made "Broken" for $985. They spent $285 on tape and other production supplies and $700 on catering for the cast and crew.

"Broken" premieres in Detroit on Thursday, May 17 at the Emagine Theater at 44425 W. Twelve Mile Rd. in Novi. Tickets are $10 at the door or $11 in advance via PayPal. Although the film is unrated, nobody under 17 will be admitted unless accompanied by an adult due to language, drug use and sexual situations. Arrive at 7 pm for "Peep Show", a short collection of trailers and short films by Michigan filmmakers including AE Griffin, Michael McCallum, Frank Nemecek, Sean Snyder, Tim Krynicki and Jon Worful. "Broken" begins at 8 pm. After the screening, join the cast and crew for the free after party at Lucky Strikes at 44325 Twelve Mile in Novi. For ticket information or to see the trailer, visit www.myspace.com/brokenmovie or www.broken-movie.com.