What began as a look into the life of artist Edward Brezinski becomes something else altogether in the documentary Make Me Famous. The independent production also gives a glimpse into the New York City art scene during its ’80s era. The film, which debuted in New York at the Newfest LGBTQ+ Film Festival, will premiere in Dallas (and other cities) on Friday, March 28 at the Violet Crown for a limited run.
The film is directed by Brian Vincent and produced by North Texas native Heather Spore.
“Really, it’s a dream come true to be able to screen my first film in my old stomping grounds,” Spore said in an email to Dallas Voice. “North Texas is where I went to school, became the Keller High School homecoming queen, sang in choir, found my love for theater…got my first creative spark which set me up for a Broadway performing career and now producing a documentary.”
Raised in Keller, she attended Texas Wesleyan University and then started her career as an actor with roles at Theatre Arlington and Stage West. She then relocated to New York where she was cast in an off-Broadway production of The Fantasticks and later joined as the understudy to Glinda in Wicked on Broadway. The latter was a role she held for more than 10 years.
Now, she’s ventured into the world of film.
“Make Me Famous is about being a striving artist and what that means, foibles and all,” she mentioned. “It represents the 99 percent of creatives who put everything into their art and may never get famous, but they bring it every day nevertheless.”
Artist Edward Brezinski worked alongside such icons of the era like Keith Haring, David Wojnarowicz, and Jean Michel Basquiat in the 1980s Lower East Side art scene. He just ever attained the same level of notoriety they had. The film looks to uncover how Brezinski existed in that orbit but never got the fame he was fixated on.
The artist disappeared from the New York scene and the film speculates on the mystery if he faked his own death.
As people are now discovering Brezinski through the doc, director Brian Vincent finds that the queer community has embraced the story to lift the film up.
“Charismatic painter Edward Brezinski has been captivating audiences and making fans. It hasn’t hurt that he’s as handsome as a movie star – both talented and impossible,” Vincent said. “The support the movie has gotten from the gay community has been its life blood. Our documentary premiered at NewFest, New York’s LGBTQ+ film festival. Then it rocked Outfest in LA. Make Me Famous is now the third highest grossing art-doc of 2023. This documentary isn’t just about the madcap 80s art-scene in NYC, it centers on a mostly gay community of gifted artists that demanded the world’s attention and never let it go. Brezinski is one of many struggling souls that made that happen.”
The film adds in some hot goss from gallery owners and other artists for a distinct insight into the spirit of the era and the artists and people of that time.
“This is a dishy look at what it was like to be an artist in New York and by focusing on young, queer painter Edward Brezinski, you experience the thrill of trying to make it alongside some of the most famous artists in American history all the while delving into the spirit of the artists themselves, what drove their generation and what they were up against,” Spore added.
The film opens Friday for a limited one week run.
See the trailer below:
—Rich Lopez
