Abramorama announced today they will release Luke Meyer’s (“Darkon”) fascinating music documentary “Breaking a Monster” in theaters nationwide. The unique coming of age story follows the breakout of Unlocking the Truth, a teen heavy metal trio from Brooklyn who skyrocket to fame after a video of their performance in Times Square goes viral. Following its world premiere at the 2015 South By Southwest Film Festival, Abramorama plans a June 24th opening in New York, followed by Los Angeles on July 1st with additional cities to be added throughout the summer.
Said Richard Abramowitz, President of Abramorama, “This is an exceptional, crowd-pleasing, insightful film crafted with great thought and sensitivity. It appeals to a cross-section of demographics that make us excited about broadening the traditional art-house audience. It’s films like this that give us all hope about the future of the movie-going experience.”
“As a filmmaker, this is the type of film you always hope to get to make,” says director Luke Meyer. “We were able to get extraordinary access to a fascinating story at a fleeting and unrepeatable moment in time.”
“Breaking a Monster” begins as the three members of band UNLOCKING THE TRUTH are all in 7th grade, spending their weekends playing a blend of heavy metal and speed punk in Times Square – often drawing substantial crowds. They take on a manager: a 70- year-old industry veteran. With his guidance they are soon on their way to a 1.8-million-dollar record deal and a precarious initiation into the music industry.
Anything feels possible, and in some moments the band can almost feel the eyes of the world gazing upon them. The boys are coming of age, not only as they make the leap to being professional musicians, but also as they transcend childhood and take their first steps into the complexities of adulthood. The accelerated breakout of any band, let alone one of pre-teens, is an extremely narrow and specific period in time – “Breaking a Monster” is the story of this rapid transformation.
Luke Meyer’s first feature documentary, “Darkon,” won the Documentary Audience Award at the SXSW in 2006, and aired on IFC in 2007 after playing in theaters across the country. He directed the documentary “New World Order” which started airing on IFC in 2009, breaking the channel’s records for documentary VOD numbers. In 2015 he received the Points North Fellowship for his project “Fourth Wall,” currently in production. He has edited, written and produced other award-winning films (“King Kelly,” “Alice Neel,” “The Feature”), and is part of SeeThink Films in New York.
Unlocking The Truth’s debut album, CHAOS, will be released on June 17th via premiere independent music distributor, Tunecore.
