Experiencing Interruptions?

JUST BREAK AWAY

A young boy finds the inner strength to prevail over his surroundings by walking in his late father’s footsteps.

  • Sean Kalra
    Director
  • Sean Kalra
    Writer
  • Yael Carnet
    Producer
  • Laura Carnet
    Producer
  • Christian Lai
    Director of Photography
  • Denzel Onaba
    Key Cast
    "Earvin (Kid)"
  • Mansa Aki Gibbs
    Key Cast
    "Earvin (Teenager)"
  • Benjamin Ayesu
    Key Cast
    "Earvin (Adult)"
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Narrative, Drama
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 33 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    June 25, 2021
  • Country of Origin:
    Canada
  • Country of Filming:
    Canada
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Shorts to the Point

    Winner - Best Commercial
  • Think Shorts

    Official Selection
  • Retrospective of Jupiter

    Official Selection
  • Beyond the Short

    Official Selection
  • Film Shortage

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Director Biography - Sean Kalra

Sean Kalra is an award-winning filmmaker whose career as a visual effects artist features work in the academy-winning film Dune (2021), the Star Wars series, Obi Wan Kenobi (2022), and as on-set VFX Supervisor for upcoming Netflix series, Grendel. His latest project in a writer-director role was met with acclaim for ‘Just Break Away,’ winning awards at multiple festivals, including Gold at the 43rd Annual Telly Awards, and official selection at the Berlin Commercial Festival.

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Director Statement

Nike aspires to give confidence and bring out the fearlessness in athletes, therefore the motto “Just Do It”. I feel that message ties up all their commercials and serves as a foundational message which makes them resonate with such a large audience. I wanted to embody that same aura and create a commercial/short about breaking away that is escaping to what you could become with just a spark of imagination.

Since many athletes come from very humble beginnings and a lot of times it's someone in their family who inspired them or whose unfulfilled dreams it is that they want to carry forward. I wanted to tell the story of Earvin, a ten-year-old who finds the inner strength to break away from his surroundings by becoming the track athlete his father never could.