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Broken

A Chicago couple can't make ends meet due to an unexpected illness. In this dramatic short, a husband tries to keep their financial struggle a secret from his wife during what might be her last days.

  • Ben Bishop
    Director
    Almost Living, A Little Friendly Murder, Kin-Dread
  • Ben Bishop
    Writer
    Almost Living, A Little Friendly Murder, Kin-Dread
  • Rachel Van
    Producer
    Almost Living, A Little Friendly Murder, Kin-Dread
  • Ben Bishop
    Key Cast
    "Gabe"
    Almost Living, Greg Loves A Human, A Little Friendly Murder
  • Rachel Van
    Key Cast
    "Liz"
    72 Seconds, Collection Day, Almost Living
  • Will Burdin
    Key Cast
    "Dan"
  • Eldridge Shannon
    Key Cast
    "Homeless Man"
  • Cassandra
    Key Cast
    "Manager"
  • Stephen Scalabrino
    Key Cast
    "Dan's Friend"
  • Nicole Stull
    Key Cast
    "Hostess"
  • Nathaniel Guy
    Cinematographer
  • Steve Gast
    Sound
  • Josh Rousseau
    Score
    Almost Living, A Little Friendly Murder
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    7 minutes 46 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    September 5, 2018
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Chicago International REEL Shorts Film Festival
    Chicago, IL
    United States
    November 8, 2019
    Best Drama
  • Top Indie Film Awards
    Tokyo
    Japan
    January 24, 2020
    Best Writing, Best Director (Nominee), Best Editing (Nominee)
  • Genre Celebration Festival
    Tokyo
    Japan
    December 2, 2019
    Best Drama Short, Best Actor
  • Windy City International Film Festival
    Chicago, IL
    United States
    July 18, 2019
    Premiere
    Official Selection
  • Dumbo Film Festival
    Dumbo Brooklyn, New York
    United States
    March 7, 2019
    Official Selection
  • Independent Talents International Film Festival
    Bloomington, IN
    United States
    October 30, 2018
    Finalist
Director Biography - Ben Bishop

Ben Bishop is a Chicago filmmaker that acts, writes, directs, and edits most of his films. During his training to be an actor, Ben learned the value and joy of telling stories which led to him writing his own. He found directing actors to be somewhat natural, after all the times he had been directed. Ben learned how to edit along the way, and learns new things with each project.

Ben finds a different type of artistic fulfillment with each of the four jobs. Each is a different interpretation and each has to be performed from a different standpoint in order to create the best possible story.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Broken is about a few different things. I’d like for you to watch the film before I talk about one of the themes, so I don’t spoil anything. The film centers around a couple struggling with financial issues stemming from the husband losing his job and the wife not being able to work due to an illness and having overwhelming medical bills. A problem far too common in our current climate.
This film ended up hitting a little too close to home. I play the husband and my real-life wife plays the wife. A month after filming, she started having weird pains that got increasingly worse over the next months and we couldn’t figure out what was wrong with her. I was in my own protagonist’s shoes, ready to do anything to help her and keep us afloat. For those of you worried, she is fine now. The doctors fixed her.
But that “ready to do anything” part leads me to the end of the film and the other thing I want my film to be about (hope you watched it): homelessness. Now, our characters don’t make it there in the short, but it isn’t too far away. I have a big soft spot for the homeless; I try to give when I can, but a struggling filmmaker/actor doesn’t have much. So I decided to make a film about the issue. I just didn’t know how. I hear far too often from people who have money that they believe the homeless choose that life, or that it’s their own fault because of drugs or alcohol.
I wanted to make something where it isn’t pounding you over the head with an idea, but tells a
good story where it is a big plot point.
I read an interview with filmmaker Jim Cummings who said he makes shorts about the hardest 15 minutes in someone’s life. After I pondered that for a few days, I saw a homeless man on the street and thought, “What was his hardest 15 minutes? What was it like the first time he asked for money?” Instantly, the entire story came to me and I knew exactly how I wanted to tell it. I wanted to make a film about a white collar guy who didn’t make any of the bad decisions, just has bad luck. And show that anyone can become homeless.