The Talented Paul Becker Makes His Directorial Debut In Upcoming Film, Breaking Brooklyn
Paul Becker is one of those men; you may not recognize his name… but you definitely know his work. He’s an actor, choreographer, producer and most recently; he’s adding director to his list of accomplishments. Best known as a powerhouse choreographer, he’s responsible for those hot routines in so many top Hip-Hop videos for some of today’s biggest stars having worked closely with Kanye West, Ariana Grande, The Jonas Brothers, The Muppets, and Michael Buble. His work is also featured in scenes from box office blockbusters, Twilight Saga, Hellcats with Ashley Tisdale, and Diary of a Wimpy Kid. He’s also been a major part of the Canadian editions of So You Think You Can Dance and Canada’s Got Talent. And now he’s making his directorial debut with Breaking Brooklyn, featuring the legendary talent and Academy Award winner, Louis Gossett, Jr. and Vondie Curtis-Hall.
Breaking Brooklyn is about a boy who loves to dance and along with his brother; is rescused from the streets of New York City at Christmas time, by teacher and mentor Gossett, Jr. and his brother, played by Curtis-Hall. They live in an old theater, where Gossett mentors and teaches the boys more than just dance lessons. Of the movie, Becker says, “When people see this movie, they’ll leave uplifted.” I hope they’ll walk away feeling the passion and time that went into it. At the end of the day, it’s an unconventional comeback story.
Paul Becker used to live in Brooklyn and talks about how the movie is similar to the life and relationship he had with his own brother; and Brooklyn was the perfect backdrop to create the movie’s setting—especially during the Christmas holiday season. He admits that when he started working on this project, the final results didn’t look how he thought it would. He says, “When you start, you think it’ll go one way, but other people bring their take on the characters. Scenes evolve into something greater. It turned out better than I could have envisioned.”
As a kid, it’s hard to believe but Becker doubted him. He always wanted to dance and act but didn’t know exactly how he would make that happen. Seems like he was able to carve out a nice niche for himself. He says it’s because he would always jump into everything head first, then learn how to do things later. For example when he was asked if he could do a back flip once, he didn’t hesitate when saying yes—even though he had never attempted one before. He says he went home and practiced, practiced, practiced until he could. He’s was a self taught break-dancer but a dance teacher pulled him into classes, got him performing and helped tighten up his skills.
For the young person in the shadows, watching from afar and wanting to follow in his footsteps Paul Becker offers these words of encouragement: Be persistent, be ready, don’t give up, filter negative people out of your life and don’t be afraid to approach that one person that could change your entire life. He explains that his pivotal moment came when he met Kenny Ortega at the FAO Schwarz Toy Store. Ortega had heard of Becker and asked him to come to Seattle the next day to help work on a project with a boy band. Becker said yes, showed up in Seattle and that boy band project, turned out to be teen sensation group, The Jonas Brothers. The rest as they say, is history.
His next projects to look for are Disney Channel’s Adventures in Babysitting, Descendants 2, The Magician and more work on ABC’s Once Upon a Time.
Additionally, Becker invites everyone to go see his upcoming film, his directorial debut, Breaking Brooklyn. It’s a feel good movie with a star-studded cast that is full of heart and passion.
