Private Project

JESTER

With a selective license to mock or speak freely towards one’s king, JESTER is a timeless and ever present personal reckoning of the spirit, after forced isolation. When identity and home are lost, we are left to realize what we’ve been looking for all along is ourselves. Filmed in New York City’s iconic West Village on Christopher Street, helmed by drag performers from the LGBTQ community, JESTER is a chapter, and as every chapter comes to an end, we turn the page, without knowing it’s full consequences for the future. With an original score performed by emerging trans vocalist Benjamin Fears of Indiana, and written on Donald Trump’s Presidential Inauguration in 2016, we are forced to ask ourselves what has changed? In times of political unrest, polarization is stressed, and as Benjamin sings “is it red or it is blue?”, we are left to ponder the value of choosing a side. Jester is an intimate look into the director-choreographer's personal vision as performed by Breton Tyner-Bryan, and hopes to inspire unity, equality, and freedom of expression, for a more inclusive world.

  • Breton Tyner-Bryan
    Director
    Egosia, Raze, Goodbye Chelsea, Invicta, Destiny's Fuge, Nina, Apartment, Breton Follies Productions
  • Breton Tyner-Bryan
    Writer
    Egosia, Raze, Goodbye Chelsea, Invicta, Destiny's Fuge, Nina, Apartment, Breton Follies Productions
  • Breton Tyner-Bryan
    Producer
    Egosia, Raze, Goodbye Chelsea, Invicta, Destiny's Fuge, Nina, Apartment, Breton Follies Productions
  • Breton Tyner-Bryan
    Key Cast
    "Actor, Dancer"
    Billions, Divorce, The Knick, Manhattan Love Story,
  • Breton Tyner-Bryan
    Choreographer
    Egosia, Raze, Goodbye Chelsea, Invicta, Destiny's Fuge, Nina, Apartment, Breton Follies Productions, Saturday Night Fever, Mentee Donna Summer Broadway
  • Emily S. Ulrich
    Editor
    Goodbye Chelsea, Invicta, Destiny's Fuge,Breton Follies Productions
  • Michael J. Burke
    Cinematographer
    The Politician, The Hunters, Nerve, Spiderman, John Wicke
  • Benjamin Fears
    Music
  • Breton Tyner-Bryan
    Trailer
    Egosia, Raze, Goodbye Chelsea, Invicta, Destiny's Fuge, Nina, Apartment, Breton Follies Productions, Saturday Night Fever, Mentee Donna Summer Broadway
  • Project Type:
    Experimental, Music Video, Short, Web / New Media
  • Genres:
    Dance, Drama, Music Video, LGBTQ
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes 41 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    July 21, 2020
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Film Color:
    Black & White
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Barcelona International Film Festival
    Barcelona
    Spain
    January 4, 2021
    Spanish Premiere
    Winner Best LGBTQ Production, Best Director, Best Cinematography
  • World London International Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    March 27, 2021
    UK Premiere
    Silver Selection
  • Big Apple Film Festival
    New York City, NY
    United States
    November 4, 2021
    North American Premiere
    Best LGBTQ Short Film
  • Indianapolis LGBT Film Festival
    Indianapolis, IN
    United States
    November 13, 2020
    Indianapolis Premiere
    Best Director
  • JellyFest
    Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    July 16, 2022
    Los Angeles Premiere
Director Biography - Breton Tyner-Bryan

Breton Tyner-Bryan is an American born multi award winning director, writer, actor, choreographer with Canadian roots, based in New York City. A classically trained ballet dancer and award-winning filmmaker, she grew up in the theater in Hartford, CT. Her films have won numerous awards including Best Director, Best Editor, Best Narrative Short, Best Dance film screening at Micheaux Film Festival, Berlin Commercial, Tokyo Shorts, Dances With Films, French Riviera Film Festival, Vegas Movie Awards, Silk Road Film Awards Cannes, Barcelona IFF, Madrid IFF, World Independent Cinema Nice, France, World London Film Festival, La Jolla International Fashion Film Festival, New York Shorts International Film Festival, Big Apple Film Festival, CANIFFF, ASVOFF, Flickfair, Jellyfest, and International LGBTQ Shorts. She is known for Manifest (Netflix), Gossip Girl (HBO), Billions (Showtime), Divorce (HBO), Shackled, working alongside Sarah Jessica Parker and Molly Shannon, The Knick alongside Clive Owen, choreographing for BD Wong and Donny Most of Happy Days, Studio City (VICE), Manhattan Love Story (ABC), Shackled (in production), TEST, and Stories from the Microchasm with John Sanborn. She often plays detectives and tough seductive characters collaborating regularly with cinematographer Michael J. Burke. Her heritage is Native American, Jewish German, Spanish, Italian, Irish, French, and Indian. She is named for Cape Breton, Nova Scotia where her family created a commune. She is in pre-production on her first pilot to series I DREAM OF HAZEL, that she wrote, will direct, and act in.

Directing credits include Merryn John's "Love Is A Blue Jay", Village Playwrights NYC, "All About Love" New Victory Theater, installations for New York Fashion Week, The Pierre Taj Hotel, Madonna-Washington Square Park, Don Most from Happy Days, and Sonas Denim Commercial. Choreographic works include Divorce HBO, Saturday Night Fever Engeman Theater, "Heading East" starring BD Wong, Prospect Theater, "Vinegar Tom", "Retrofactoy" Theater C, Peter Pan Dreamland Stages, "Cotton Candy and Cocaine" New York Theater Barn, choreographic men-tee under Sergio Trujillo for The Donna Summer musical on Broadway, choreographic labs for Waitress (Broadway), Twelfth Night (Public Theater), Encore's God Bless You Mr. Rosewater, commissions for NYU, Marymount, AMDA, and performing alongside The Martha Graham Dance Company at its Benefit for Haiti. She is a CUNY awardee and Dance Lab New York connect artist with Sam Pinkelton and Josh Prince.

She is the executive producer and founder of Breton Follies Productions, featured at New Victory Theater 42nd Street, Jacob's Pillow Dance Festival, City Center, and has taught for New York University, Fordham University, Smith College, Broadway Dance Center, Joffrey Ballet School, The Place (London), Dance Base Scotland, San Francisco State University, LINES and Complexions Contemporary Ballet. She holds a BFA in Ballet Performance from the University of Utah and received her training at the School of the Hartford Ballet. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The New York Post, Curve Magazine, Broadway World, Pointe Magazine, Dance Magazine and the Huffington Post.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

imdb/me/bretontynerbryan