The Brooklyn Brothers Beat The Best
Ryan O'Nan
Synopsis
During a tumultuous break-up with his girlfriend, Alex Logan (Ryan O’Nan), a singersongwriter on the verge of giving up his childhood dream of being a musician, has a bizarre and violent run-in with Jim (Michael Weston), a self-appointed music revolutionary. Through unconventional ways, Jim begrudgingly convinces Alex to make one final attempt to pursue his life goal, so the two set off on a cross-country tour culminating with a Battle of the Bands concert in Los Angeles. With both their band and their set list formed within 24 hours (Alex playing acoustic guitar while Jim wields an arsenal of children's instruments), The Brooklyn Brothers fall upon a sultry small-town promoter named Cassidy (Arielle Kebbel) at their inaugural gig in rural Pennsylvania. She joins them on the road, and as an attraction emerges between Alex and Cassidy, the three explore how lying, stealing, and relentless passion are useful tricks of the trade on this seemingly impossible journey. But as is often with the hard knocks of life on the road, the band winds up stranded both literally and figuratively – with no money, no gas, and no hope – playing music for spare change. Galvanized by the realization that their music means everything to them, The Brooklyn Brothers attempt to navigate through the dangerous waters of friendship, love, heartbreak, and family, as the waves of responsibility and adulthood swell higher and higher around them – backed by the beat of a cheap Casio keyboard.
Director's Bio
RYAN O’NAN is an award-winning actor, screenwriter and playwright with a diverse array of credits. As an actor, O’Nan recently finished filming a lead role in the 2012 release FREELANCERS, opposite Robert De Niro, Forest Whitaker, Dana Delaney and 50 Cent, and 513, opposite Taryn Manning, Tom Sizemore and Michael Madsen. Other notable film credits include the lead role in THE DRY LAND (Official Sundance Film Festival 2010 Selection) starring America Ferrera, Melissa Leo, Jason Ritter and Wilmer Valdarrama, YOU’VE GOT MALE, which won him the award for Best Actor at the Asian American Film Festival, as well as EAT PRAY LOVE, starring Julia Roberts and WATCHING TV WITH THE RED CHINESE, based on the critically acclaimed novel, starring Gillian Jacobs and Leo Nam. His television work includes ABC’s THE UNUSUALS opposite Jeremy Renner, Adam Goldberg and Amber Tamblyn. O’Nan spent the last year as a writer on the MTV hit series SKINS, based off the award-winning UK series. His feature screenplay CHU AND BLOSSOM took the Grand Prize for Best Feature at The Expo Screenwriting Conference. His comedic play ANIMALS, which premiered at the 2007 International New York Fringe Festival, has been produced on both coasts, and his latest play UNDER A FULL PINK MOON: CHRONICLES OF A GAY WEREWOLF, has received a public reading at The Atlantic Theater Company in New York. Other produced works written by O’Nan include: I LOVE YOU MORE THAN BRAINS: A ZOMBIE MUSICAL (book/lyrics/music) at the George Street Playhouse, and 1984 AND THE LITTLE PRINCE at the 2011 Humana Festival. In addition to writing and directing theater, O’Nan has appeared on stage in New York, where he starred as Konstantin in Chekhov’s THE SEAGULL, alongside Dianne Wiest, Alan Cumming, Annette O’Toole and Kelli Garner. During his theater studies, he received Best Lead Performance for Peter Shaffer’s EQUUS, Best Director for The APOLLO OF BELAC, and The Betty Joe Tucker Award for Excellence in Performance. Born and raised in San Diego, California, O’Nan now resides in New York. He received a BFA from the Mason Gross School of the Arts at Rutgers University, which he attended after studying at The Mesa College Theater Company in San Diego. BROOKLYN BROTHERS BEAT THE BEST is his feature film directorial debut.
