ABOUT
THE STORY
Intense,dramatic and emotionally moving. After being clean and sober for 6 months, Brittany Bock (Juana Samper) is a recovering alcoholic who envisioned a bright future ahead for herself, until an unfortunate mishap turns her life upside down. Bend and Break is a poignant story of how one young woman struggles to deal with her life’s problems and the crippling effects of alcohol addiction.
THE CAST
Juana Samper (Brittany Bock)
Juana Samper was born in Bogotá, Colombia, and from an early age it became apparent that she wanted to perform. At the age of 5 she was enrolled in the Priscilla Welton Ballet Academy where she danced as the lead ballerina for 10 years. Along the way she realized that as much as she enjoyed ballet it was the acting in it that she loved and couldn’t get enough of. She enrolled in acting classes at the age of 17, during the same year she moved, along with her family, to Vancouver Canada. There she met method-acting teacher Asen Gadjalov and trained with him at Methodica Acting Studio for 4 years. During her time at Methodica Juana was a part of several stage productions and the lead character of ‘Miss Julie’ by August Strindberg, ‘Talk to me Like the Rain and Let me Listen’ by Tennessee Williams, and ‘A Tragic Role’ by Anton Chekov. During that time she also hosted the television show ‘Hola Que Tal’ for channel M and appeared in the critically acclaimed American production ‘Little Girl Lost: The Delimar Vera Story.’ In 2009 Juana moved to Toronto to pursue her acting career and has played title roles in ‘Homeland Security’ (official selection at LA Shorts Fest and TIFF), ‘Night Moves’ and most recently ‘Bend and Break.’ Learn more at: Juana’s IMDb page
Kelly Hoare (Chad)
It was an absolute pleasure to work with director Ian Agard, as well as a very talented and hard working cast, on my feature film debut. I couldn’t have asked for a better team. Credits include: Short films; The Miser Law Firm and As The World Whirls. Theatre; Laius- Bowl- The Nightswimming City Of Wine Theatre Festival. 2009 George Brown graduate… passed the computer course and everything. T.V.; Cold Blood- Det. Philip Bell- Next Film/Cineflix. Web Series; Comedy Made Short, a gut bursting comedy troupe, who’s mandate, is to release one comedy short a week via youtube, please visit: ( facebook/COMEDY MADE SHORT). Feature Film; Bend & Break- Chad Marshal- Speed Of Sound Entertainment! I would like to congratulate Ian Agard and any other film makers, world wide, from Lo/No to the ticket show, on all accomplished films of 2009! Keep em coming, I’ll see you in 2010.
Jennifer Turano (Kelsey)
Guy Castonguay (Josh)
Guy began acting in the second grade performing a song involving a bucket with a hole in it. Guy vividly recalls singing to “Dear Liza” that there “is a hole in the bucket”. Four years after university, Guy was reawakened to his true calling when cast in an adaptation of Phantom of the Opera. Like a wide-eyed baby, Guy began studying the performing arts once again. Learn more at: http://www.guycastonguay.com/
Sandra da Costa (Jodi-Ann)
Voytek Skrzeta (Jaime)
Mike Jones (Will)
While living in New York City, Erica slept on the streets! Well, kind of. It was in front 30 Rockefeller Center, and only on Friday nights when she would line up with the hopes of scoring an SNL ticket the following morning. One night, a few cast members came out to say hello, and she started chatting with them. Soon, they were all joking and laughing when one of them said, “Hey, you’re funny!” In retrospect, she doesn’t remember exactly whether that sentence finished with ‘-looking.’ But regardless, that was the moment she realized that she could entertain people (besides her family). For Bend and Break, Erica was eager to explore a character and subject matter that would be new and challenging for her. She had a great time on set and would like to thank Ian, the cast and crew for a phenomenal experience!
Agatha Krzewinski (Robyn)
This is Agatha’s first role in a feature film. She has done theatre as well as much background work and training at Armstrong Acting Studio and Professional Actors Lab. She is currently studying Radio and Television at Ryerson University. Learn more at: Agatha’s IMDb page
THE CREW
Ian Agard (Writer/Director/Producer)
Ian fondly remembers the exact date he wanted to make movies as a living, September 10th,2000. On that day he saw Ang Lee’s Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon at the Toronto International Film Festival. “Watching that movie changed my life forever” says Ian. He has produced two short films, Karma and Give. Bend and Break is Ian’s first feature length movie. Learn more at: Ian’s weekly filmmaking blog
Jake Vincent (Director Of Photography)
David Planche (Editor)
Dan Medeiros (Composer)
Dan has always idolized those people who can grab their guitars and just play for a random crowd, the people you see playing on the street and subway stations, and just anyone who can express their thoughts and feelings through some sort of art. “It really inspires me to do what I do” says Dan. Learn more at: The DM Project
Alexander Ballis (Sound Design & Mix)Alex is a talented and passionate audio mixer who eats, sleeps and breaths sound. He has done sound mixing/sfx/design for several commercials, films and documentaries. To check out more of his sound work, click here
Jeff Magat (Sound Mixer)
Jeff studied in Orlando, FL where he attended Full Sail and received his Associates of Science Degree in Recording Arts. After graduation he moved to Washington DC where he worked as an Audio Preservation & Restoration Engineer and a Sound Mixer/Boom Operator on various video shoots in the area. He currently resides in The Greater Toronto Area. Learn more at: http://eqtion.com/
Jackie Marculescu (First Assistant Director)
Jackie studied at Seneca College where she graduated with her Broadcast Journalism diploma. She has worked on numerous film sets including a short film which made it into the Toronto International Film Festival in 2009. She has also interned at numerous productions companies such as MTV and January Films. She currently works at an all news radio station and hopes to pursue a career in writing.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS
Runtime: 1hr. 4 mins.
Genre: Drama
Format: HDV (1080/24p)
Filming Locations: Toronto,Ontario,Canada
Company: Speed Of Sound Entertainment
