Bryan Young (filmmaker)
Encyclopedia
Bryan Young is a Utah
-based filmmaker, author, and blogger. His films include the documentaries Killer at Large and This Divided State
as well as several other narrative features. He is also a nationally recognized authority on Star Wars, and blogs as the national Star Wars Editor for Examiner.com, often syndicating his stories on The Huffington Post and BigShinyRobot.com, which he co-founded and also edits. With the release of his novel Lost at the Con, he was recognized by IN This Week magazine as the number one of their Top Five “Authors to Watch” 2011.
. Three years later, he got in line for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
21 days early despite the fact that his wife was nine months pregnant. His love of Star Wars has given him national prominence as an outspoken proponent of the Star Wars Prequels, including moderating the "Why We Love The Prequels" panel at Star Wars Celebration V. These contributions to Star Wars fandom led the 501st Legion
to induct Young as an "Honorary Friend of the Legion", adding him to a very short list of people with that honor.
and “Killer at Large”.
Missy, his first feature film (cowritten and codirected by Elias Pate) was notable in its independent approach, utilizing a single set that the directors built themselves in a backyard. The entire film took place inside a cramped spaceship, where two characters that harken back to "George" and "Lenny" from John Steinbeck
's Of Mice and Men
, find themselves in a situation where each of them is developing cabin fever.
The film played to audiences with minimal success, although it did make it to the semifinal round of the 2002 Nodance Film Festival
competition.
The Misbehavers, his first feature documentary (also cowritten and codirected by Elias Pate) documented a group of filmmakers who converged on the 2004 Sundance film festival
in order to promote the film Abby Singer
. Unfortunately, Abby Singer wasn't in the Sundance film festival and the Abby Singer crew had to create their own buzz from the ground up. From impersonating reporters on the red carpets of Park City to invading bars impostering a camera crew from Comedy Central on Main Street, everything and anything was tried to get attention for their film and it was all caught on tape.
A number of celebrities made impromptu appearances in the documentary as they were approached by the Abby Singer crew to attend their screenings. Celebrities included Danny DeVito
, Sally Field
, Maggie Gyllenhaal
, Zach Braff
, Willem Dafoe
, Rhea Perlman and Forest Whitaker
. Donny Osmond
also made an appearance in the film.
Due to legal issues, the film has not seen release.
directed by Steven Greenstreet
that details the conflict that erupted at Utah Valley State College in 2004. This conflict dealt with a speaking invitation from the student council of the school to filmmaker and political activist Michael Moore
.
In an attempt to appease controversy, conservative political pundit Sean Hannity
was invited to speak in order to provide balance to the political views being advocated on campus. Hannity waived his normal $100,000 speakers fee, but still demanded that UVSC cover his travel costs, which were equivalent to Moore's speaker's fee.
After completing the film and premiering it at Utah Valley State College, the liberal organization Center for American Progress
chose the film for its "Reel Progress" series.
Young and Elias Pate, key figures in the production of the film, arranged a "self-distributed" theatrical release. This Divided State played in more than 20 major U.S. cities including New York City
and Los Angeles
. The film ended its theatrical run on September 27, 2005, when it was released in North America
on DVD
by the Disinfo
rmation company.
This Divided State has an approval rating of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes
from 24 reviews counted.
also directed by Steven Greenstreet
that deconstructed the politics and reasons behind the American obesity epidemic. It featured interviews with former President Bill Clinton
, Ralph Nader
, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
, and Jim Hightower
among many others.
It was noted before the film's premiere in New York by USA Today
that Young learned so much about the causes of obesity during production that he lost 40 pounds making the film. At the premiere of the film, actor Chevy Chase
(who appeared in the film) and his wife Jayni were honored with an award celebrating their efforts preventing childhood obesity.
The film was released in January 2008 in North America
on DVD
by the Disinfo
rmation company.
collection The Chain Story.
He also co-wrote (with Elias Pate and artist Derek Hunter) several series of the comic book Pirate Club, released quarterly from Slave Labor Graphics
.
Lost at the Con, a novel, and Man Against the Future, a collection of Young’s short stories, were published simultaneously in June 2011. Lost at the Con in particular received excellent reviews, favorably comparing the novel with gonzo journalism
, noir fiction, and geek
culture. The novel tells the story of a drunken political reporter who is assigned to cover the fictional Griffon*Con, known as the Mardi Gras of sci fi conventions. While there, he exposed to an underground world of sex, drugs, and depravity he could not have imagined. Young also draws upon the idea of the Hero's Journey through the main character.
With the release of his books, he was invited as a special guest to the 2011 Origins Game Fair where he appeared for book signings and was on panels with other authors including Timothy Zahn
, Aaron Allston
, and Michael A. Stackpole
.
to write a weekly geek column.
He is a regular contributor to Huffington Post, often writing about the intersection of comics and politics, or sometimes just politics. He also contributed an essay about obesity to Disinfo
rmation's "You Are STILL Being Lied To" anthology, edited by Russ Kick
.
Utah
Utah is a state in the Western United States. It was the 45th state to join the Union, on January 4, 1896. Approximately 80% of Utah's 2,763,885 people live along the Wasatch Front, centering on Salt Lake City. This leaves vast expanses of the state nearly uninhabited, making the population the...
-based filmmaker, author, and blogger. His films include the documentaries Killer at Large and This Divided State
This Divided State
This Divided State is a documentary by first-time filmmaker Steven Greenstreet that details the conflict that erupted at Utah Valley State College , when controversial figure Michael Moore was scheduled to come speak on campus, shortly before the 2004 presidential election.- Synopsis :In September...
as well as several other narrative features. He is also a nationally recognized authority on Star Wars, and blogs as the national Star Wars Editor for Examiner.com, often syndicating his stories on The Huffington Post and BigShinyRobot.com, which he co-founded and also edits. With the release of his novel Lost at the Con, he was recognized by IN This Week magazine as the number one of their Top Five “Authors to Watch” 2011.
Biography
Young began working in the film industry in 1999, working as an assistant director and crew member on various independent films and corporate video projects. At age 18, he gained a small measure of local fame in Utah, being the first person to get in line for Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom MenaceStar Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace
Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace is a 1999 American epic space opera film written and directed by George Lucas. It is the fourth film to be released in the Star Wars saga, as the first of a three-part prequel to the original Star Wars trilogy, as well as the first film in the saga in terms...
. Three years later, he got in line for Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones
Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones is a 2002 American epic space opera film directed by George Lucas and written by Lucas and Jonathan Hales. It is the fifth film to be released in the Star Wars saga and the second in terms of the series' internal chronology...
21 days early despite the fact that his wife was nine months pregnant. His love of Star Wars has given him national prominence as an outspoken proponent of the Star Wars Prequels, including moderating the "Why We Love The Prequels" panel at Star Wars Celebration V. These contributions to Star Wars fandom led the 501st Legion
501st Legion
The 501st Legion is an international fan-based organization dedicated to the construction and wearing of screen-accurate replicas of Imperial Stormtrooper armor, Imperial officer uniforms, Clone Troopers and other villains and nefarious characters from the Star Wars universe...
to induct Young as an "Honorary Friend of the Legion", adding him to a very short list of people with that honor.
Film
Young has co-directed two feature films, Missy and The Fleapit Three as well as a feature length documentary The Misbehavers. He has also produced and/or assistant directed numerous films, including the award-winning documentaries This Divided StateThis Divided State
This Divided State is a documentary by first-time filmmaker Steven Greenstreet that details the conflict that erupted at Utah Valley State College , when controversial figure Michael Moore was scheduled to come speak on campus, shortly before the 2004 presidential election.- Synopsis :In September...
and “Killer at Large”.
Missy
Missy, his first feature film (cowritten and codirected by Elias Pate) was notable in its independent approach, utilizing a single set that the directors built themselves in a backyard. The entire film took place inside a cramped spaceship, where two characters that harken back to "George" and "Lenny" from John Steinbeck
John Steinbeck
John Ernst Steinbeck, Jr. was an American writer. He is widely known for the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath and East of Eden and the novella Of Mice and Men...
's Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men
Of Mice and Men is a novella written by Nobel Prize-winning author John Steinbeck. Published in 1937, it tells the tragic story of George Milton and Lennie Small, two displaced migrant ranch workers during the Great Depression in California, USA....
, find themselves in a situation where each of them is developing cabin fever.
The film played to audiences with minimal success, although it did make it to the semifinal round of the 2002 Nodance Film Festival
Nodance Film Festival
Based in Park City, Utah, the Nodance Film Festival celebrates the alternative digital film culture, with an emphasis on first-time filmmakers and digital filmmaking. Held annually in Park City, Utah, Nodance holds the distinction of being the world's first DVD-projected film festival...
competition.
The Misbehavers
The Misbehavers, his first feature documentary (also cowritten and codirected by Elias Pate) documented a group of filmmakers who converged on the 2004 Sundance film festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
in order to promote the film Abby Singer
Abby Singer
Abner E. "Abby" Singer worked as a production manager and assistant director in film between the 1950s and the 1980s. His name has become famous in Hollywood as a phrase describing the second-to-last shot of the day as the "Abby Singer"....
. Unfortunately, Abby Singer wasn't in the Sundance film festival and the Abby Singer crew had to create their own buzz from the ground up. From impersonating reporters on the red carpets of Park City to invading bars impostering a camera crew from Comedy Central on Main Street, everything and anything was tried to get attention for their film and it was all caught on tape.
A number of celebrities made impromptu appearances in the documentary as they were approached by the Abby Singer crew to attend their screenings. Celebrities included Danny DeVito
Danny DeVito
Daniel Michael DeVito, Jr. , better known as Danny DeVito, is an American actor, comedian, director and producer. He first gained prominence for his portrayal of Louie De Palma on the ABC and NBC television series Taxi , for which he won a Golden Globe and an Emmy.DeVito and his wife, Rhea Perlman,...
, Sally Field
Sally Field
Sally Margaret Field is an American actress, singer, producer, director, and screenwriter. In each decade of her career, she has been known for major roles in American TV/film culture, including: in the 1960s, for Gidget or Sister Bertrille on The Flying Nun ; in the 1970s, for Sybil , Smokey and...
, Maggie Gyllenhaal
Maggie Gyllenhaal
Margaret Ruth "Maggie" Gyllenhaal born November 16, 1977) is an American actress. She is the daughter of director Stephen Gyllenhaal and screenwriter Naomi Foner Gyllenhaal and the older sister of actor Jake Gyllenhaal. She made her screen debut when she began to appear in her father's films...
, Zach Braff
Zach Braff
Zachary Israel "Zach" Braff is an American actor, screenwriter, producer, comedian, and director. Braff first became known in 2001 for his role as Dr. John Dorian on the television series Scrubs, for which he was nominated for an Emmy Award and three Golden Globe Awards.In 2004, Braff made his...
, Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe
Willem Dafoe is an American film, stage, and voice actor, and a founding member of the experimental theatre company The Wooster Group...
, Rhea Perlman and Forest Whitaker
Forest Whitaker
Forest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. He has earned a reputation for intensive character study work for films such as Bird and Ghost Dog: The Way of the Samurai, and for his recurring role as ex-LAPD Lieutenant Jon Kavanaugh on the gritty, award-winning television...
. Donny Osmond
Donny Osmond
Donald Clark "Donny" Osmond is an American singer, musician, actor, dancer, radio personality, and former teen idol. Osmond has also been a talk and game show host, record producer and author. In the mid 1960s, he and four of his elder brothers gained fame as the Osmond Brothers on the long...
also made an appearance in the film.
Due to legal issues, the film has not seen release.
This Divided State
This Divided State is a documentaryDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
directed by Steven Greenstreet
Steven Greenstreet
Steven Greenstreet is an American documentary filmmaker, known for the controversial film, 8: The Mormon Proposition, which was selected to premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival...
that details the conflict that erupted at Utah Valley State College in 2004. This conflict dealt with a speaking invitation from the student council of the school to filmmaker and political activist Michael Moore
Michael Moore
Michael Francis Moore is an American filmmaker, author, social critic and activist. He is the director and producer of Fahrenheit 9/11, which is the highest-grossing documentary of all time. His films Bowling for Columbine and Sicko also place in the top ten highest-grossing documentaries...
.
In an attempt to appease controversy, conservative political pundit Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity
Sean Hannity is an American radio and television host, author, and conservative political commentator. He is the host of The Sean Hannity Show, a nationally syndicated talk radio show that airs throughout the United States on Premiere Radio Networks. Hannity also hosts a cable news show, Hannity,...
was invited to speak in order to provide balance to the political views being advocated on campus. Hannity waived his normal $100,000 speakers fee, but still demanded that UVSC cover his travel costs, which were equivalent to Moore's speaker's fee.
After completing the film and premiering it at Utah Valley State College, the liberal organization Center for American Progress
Center for American Progress
The Center for American Progress is a progressive public policy research and advocacy organization. Its website states that the organization is "dedicated to improving the lives of Americans through progressive ideas and action." It has its headquarters in Washington D.C.Its President and Chief...
chose the film for its "Reel Progress" series.
Young and Elias Pate, key figures in the production of the film, arranged a "self-distributed" theatrical release. This Divided State played in more than 20 major U.S. cities including New York City
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. The film ended its theatrical run on September 27, 2005, when it was released in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by the Disinfo
Disinfo
The Disinformation Company is a privately held, limited American publishing company that focuses in current affairs titles and seeks to expose disinformation. It is headquartered in New York City, New York...
rmation company.
This Divided State has an approval rating of 85% on Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
from 24 reviews counted.
Killer at Large
Killer at Large is a 2008 documentaryDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
also directed by Steven Greenstreet
Steven Greenstreet
Steven Greenstreet is an American documentary filmmaker, known for the controversial film, 8: The Mormon Proposition, which was selected to premiere at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival...
that deconstructed the politics and reasons behind the American obesity epidemic. It featured interviews with former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
, Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader
Ralph Nader is an American political activist, as well as an author, lecturer, and attorney. Areas of particular concern to Nader include consumer protection, humanitarianism, environmentalism, and democratic government....
, Rabbi Shmuley Boteach
Shmuley Boteach
Shmuel "Shmuley" Boteach is an American Orthodox rabbi, author, TV host and public speaker.Among other books, Boteach wrote Kosher Sex: A Recipe for Passion and Intimacy, published in 1999, which openly discusses intimacy and sexual intercourse...
, and Jim Hightower
Jim Hightower
James Allen "Jim" Hightower is an American syndicated columnist, activist and author.-Life and career:Born in Denison, Texas, Hightower came from a working class background. He worked his way through college as assistant general manager of the Denton Chamber of Commerce and later landed a spot as...
among many others.
It was noted before the film's premiere in New York by USA Today
USA Today
USA Today is a national American daily newspaper published by the Gannett Company. It was founded by Al Neuharth. The newspaper vies with The Wall Street Journal for the position of having the widest circulation of any newspaper in the United States, something it previously held since 2003...
that Young learned so much about the causes of obesity during production that he lost 40 pounds making the film. At the premiere of the film, actor Chevy Chase
Chevy Chase
Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase is an American comedian, writer, and television and film actor, born into a prominent entertainment industry family. Chase worked a plethora of odd jobs before moving into comedy acting with National Lampoon...
(who appeared in the film) and his wife Jayni were honored with an award celebrating their efforts preventing childhood obesity.
The film was released in January 2008 in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
by the Disinfo
Disinfo
The Disinformation Company is a privately held, limited American publishing company that focuses in current affairs titles and seeks to expose disinformation. It is headquartered in New York City, New York...
rmation company.
Fiction
Young is the author of several published works, including ‘’Lost at the Con’’, ‘’Man Against the Future’’, and as a contributor to Mike Stackpole’sMichael A. Stackpole
Michael A. Stackpole is a science fiction and fantasy author best known for his Star Wars and Battletech books. He was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, but raised in Vermont...
collection The Chain Story.
He also co-wrote (with Elias Pate and artist Derek Hunter) several series of the comic book Pirate Club, released quarterly from Slave Labor Graphics
Slave Labor Graphics
Slave Labor Graphics is an independent American comic book publisher, well-known for publishing darkly humorous, offbeat comics.-Company history:...
.
Lost at the Con, a novel, and Man Against the Future, a collection of Young’s short stories, were published simultaneously in June 2011. Lost at the Con in particular received excellent reviews, favorably comparing the novel with gonzo journalism
Gonzo journalism
Gonzo journalism is a style of journalism that is written without claims of objectivity, often including the reporter as part of the story via a first-person narrative. The word "gonzo" is believed to be first used in 1970 to describe an article by Hunter S. Thompson, who later popularized the style...
, noir fiction, and geek
Geek
The word geek is a slang term, with different meanings ranging from "a computer expert or enthusiast" to "a carnival performer who performs sensationally morbid or disgusting acts", with a general pejorative meaning of "a peculiar or otherwise dislikable person, esp[ecially] one who is perceived to...
culture. The novel tells the story of a drunken political reporter who is assigned to cover the fictional Griffon*Con, known as the Mardi Gras of sci fi conventions. While there, he exposed to an underground world of sex, drugs, and depravity he could not have imagined. Young also draws upon the idea of the Hero's Journey through the main character.
With the release of his books, he was invited as a special guest to the 2011 Origins Game Fair where he appeared for book signings and was on panels with other authors including Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn
Timothy Zahn is a writer of science fiction short stories and novels. His novella Cascade Point won the 1984 Hugo award. He is the author of nine Star Wars Expanded Universe novels, including seven novels featuring Grand Admiral Thrawn: the Thrawn Trilogy, the Hand of Thrawn duology, Outbound...
, Aaron Allston
Aaron Allston
Aaron Allston is an American game designer and novelist of many science fiction books, notably Star Wars novels. His works as a game designer include game supplements for several role-playing games, several of which served to establish the basis for products and subsequent development of TSR's...
, and Michael A. Stackpole
Michael A. Stackpole
Michael A. Stackpole is a science fiction and fantasy author best known for his Star Wars and Battletech books. He was born in Wausau, Wisconsin, but raised in Vermont...
.
Non-Fiction
Young is the editor-in-chief of Big Shiny Robot!. He co-founded the site in February 2009 with Lucas Ackley. It is a "geek news and reviews site" geared toward movies, films, games, and comics. As editor of Big Shiny Robot!, he was asked by Salt Lake City WeeklySalt Lake City Weekly
Salt Lake City Weekly is a free alternative weekly tabloid-paged newspaper published in Salt Lake City, Utah. It began its life as the Private Eye. City Weekly is published and dated for every Thursday by Copperfield Publishing Inc...
to write a weekly geek column.
He is a regular contributor to Huffington Post, often writing about the intersection of comics and politics, or sometimes just politics. He also contributed an essay about obesity to Disinfo
Disinfo
The Disinformation Company is a privately held, limited American publishing company that focuses in current affairs titles and seeks to expose disinformation. It is headquartered in New York City, New York...
rmation's "You Are STILL Being Lied To" anthology, edited by Russ Kick
Russ Kick
Russ Kick is an American editor and publisher. He is editor of the website The Memory Hole which published and archived U.S. government documents, including scientific studies and reports, civil rights-related reports, intelligence and covert action reports, consumer safety reports, and images...
.