When VH-1 premiered The Breaks, writer and executive producer Dan Charnas had no idea what was going to happen. To his pleasant surprise, the 95-minute film reeled in a 2.6 million viewers on night of January 4, 2016. Based on the lives of three friends—Nikki, David and Deevee—who’s love of hip-hop culture permeates every facet of their beings, The Breaks sends the viewer in a time machine back to 1990 New York City, where hip-hop was proving to be big business. With a soundtrack boasting artists like Queen Latifah, Audio Two, De La Soul, and Jungle Brothers, The Breaks’authenticity is a feat in itself. From the hair and street slang to the pop culture references and art on the wall, it stays true to the time period. Cameos include artists like Prince Paul, up and coming emcee Afro, Method Man and music by DJ Premier.
As one of the first writers for The Source and other notable publications, Charnas is highly regarded as a pioneer of hip-hop journalism. In his 2014 book, The Big Payback, he proved his knowledge by painstakingly purveying the ins and outs of the industry. Charnas took some time to talk about the film and VH-1’s recent decision to turn it into a series.
RAPstation: The big news, of course, is VH-1 decided to pick up The Breaks as a series. Were you planning on that happening?
Dan Charnas: We sold it. I pitched it to VH-1 as a series. There are some series that get picked up right away, but with most in the TV world, you create a pilot first, you see how the pilot goes and then you make the series. That’s exactly what happened in VH-1’s case.
The ratings were off the charts.
Yeah. I was really happy because we put so much of ourselves into making The Breaks really authentic to the period. There were certain flows people had in 1993 that they didn’t have in 1990 so we had to make sure if there’s a flow, it sounds like somebody said it in 1990, not 1993.
What was one of the most challenging aspects of making The Breaks?
We needed to make sure the things that appeared on the walls were period appropriate; the clothes that people wore, the hair, the terms and phrases, pop culture references, etc. Phonte Coleman, who wrote the lyrics for Ahm’s performance, mentions Boomer Esiason, so anybody in the ’90s would have gotten that even though a viewer perhaps in 2016 might not, but that’s the point.
I love that Prince Paul makes a cameo and up and comer Afro. How did Afro become a part of the film?
Afro came about as a result of two pretty important folks: Primo and his manager Ian Schwartzman. They were advocates for Afro since day one. Everybody on our executive production team was sold on Afro as a lyrical talent and gave him every opportunity to audition. It was his first time acting, right? Luckily, he was strong enough he could take the part of D Rome, which he did very, very well.
He’s so young and to see him blossom is great. We need new great emcees.
We do. And he is.
How long did it take you to write this?
I didn’t write the script; I wrote the story. There’s a big distinction in the television business and film business. I basically created the plot and I created the characters, named them and then we had to find somebody who was an experienced writer and director for TV to make that into reality. I don’t think I could have supported that on my shoulder; I’m a journalist, you know? There was no way I could do that.
Who did you find to take that on?
Luckily, we found an incredibly brilliant, talented, wonderful, and experienced TV writer and director named Seith Mann. Not only has he done all of these network shows like The Walking Dead and Homeland, but he’s a big fan of the culture. Apparently, he was looking to option my book while we were looking for him.
Oh wow, that’s funny.
It was a great marriage. We worked on it for two years on the treatment based on the story, the script, the revision to the script, and the revisions of the revisions of the script until we finally got the green light from VH-1 to make the pilot.
How were you feeling the day it came out?
I felt more pressure a month earlier on the night we had our first press night in at the Red Rooster in Harlem, where we invited 60 members of the press to see it. That was nerve-racking because nobody outside of our crew had seen it or even cosigned it. I had friends in there and people who’s opinions I trusted. So press night was nerve-racking and the cast/crew night. Some of the people who inspired the characters were in the room.
Who were some of the people?
Cory Robbins from Profile Records, Monica Lynch from Tommy Boy Records, Bill Adler from Def Jam and Rush Artist Management, Bill Stephney, former president of Def Jam, Dante Ross of Rush and Def Jam, and A&R for Elektra were just a few. I think it went well. By the time we aired, I was less nervous. My concern was the authenticity of the period.
Were you happy with how it was received?
It was the number two trending topic on Twitter that night. People loved the music. It was great to have a multiracial cast with a strong black female lead. That in itself was good.
How important is it to have a multiracial cast these days?
There’s no American history without race. We are just so blessed to have folks at VH-1 who understand the culture and respect it.
Dan Charnas: The RAPstation Interview
When VH-1 premiered The Breaks, writer and executive producer Dan Charnas had no idea what was going to happen. To his pleasant surprise, the 95-minute film reeled in a 2.6 million viewers on night of January 4, 2016. Based on the lives of three friends—Nikki, David and Deevee—who’s love of hip-hop culture permeates every facet of their beings, The Breaks sends the viewer in a time machine back to 1990 New York City, where hip-hop was proving to be big business. With a soundtrack boasting artists like Queen Latifah, Audio Two, De La Soul, and Jungle Brothers, The Breaks’authenticity is a feat in itself. From the hair and street slang to the pop culture references and art on the wall, it stays true to the time period. Cameos include artists like Prince Paul, up and coming emcee Afro, Method Man and music by DJ Premier.
As one of the first writers for The Source and other notable publications, Charnas is highly regarded as a pioneer of hip-hop journalism. In his 2014 book, The Big Payback, he proved his knowledge by painstakingly purveying the ins and outs of the industry. Charnas took some time to talk about the film and VH-1’s recent decision to turn it into a series.
RAPstation: The big news, of course, is VH-1 decided to pick up The Breaks as a series. Were you planning on that happening?
Dan Charnas: We sold it. I pitched it to VH-1 as a series. There are some series that get picked up right away, but with most in the TV world, you create a pilot first, you see how the pilot goes and then you make the series. That’s exactly what happened in VH-1’s case.
The ratings were off the charts.
Yeah. I was really happy because we put so much of ourselves into making The Breaks really authentic to the period. There were certain flows people had in 1993 that they didn’t have in 1990 so we had to make sure if there’s a flow, it sounds like somebody said it in 1990, not 1993.
What was one of the most challenging aspects of making The Breaks?
We needed to make sure the things that appeared on the walls were period appropriate; the clothes that people wore, the hair, the terms and phrases, pop culture references, etc. Phonte Coleman, who wrote the lyrics for Ahm’s performance, mentions Boomer Esiason, so anybody in the ’90s would have gotten that even though a viewer perhaps in 2016 might not, but that’s the point.
I love that Prince Paul makes a cameo and up and comer Afro. How did Afro become a part of the film?
Afro came about as a result of two pretty important folks: Primo and his manager Ian Schwartzman. They were advocates for Afro since day one. Everybody on our executive production team was sold on Afro as a lyrical talent and gave him every opportunity to audition. It was his first time acting, right? Luckily, he was strong enough he could take the part of D Rome, which he did very, very well.
He’s so young and to see him blossom is great. We need new great emcees.
We do. And he is.
How long did it take you to write this?
I didn’t write the script; I wrote the story. There’s a big distinction in the television business and film business. I basically created the plot and I created the characters, named them and then we had to find somebody who was an experienced writer and director for TV to make that into reality. I don’t think I could have supported that on my shoulder; I’m a journalist, you know? There was no way I could do that.
Who did you find to take that on?
Luckily, we found an incredibly brilliant, talented, wonderful, and experienced TV writer and director named Seith Mann. Not only has he done all of these network shows like The Walking Dead and Homeland, but he’s a big fan of the culture. Apparently, he was looking to option my book while we were looking for him.
Oh wow, that’s funny.
It was a great marriage. We worked on it for two years on the treatment based on the story, the script, the revision to the script, and the revisions of the revisions of the script until we finally got the green light from VH-1 to make the pilot.
How were you feeling the day it came out?
I felt more pressure a month earlier on the night we had our first press night in at the Red Rooster in Harlem, where we invited 60 members of the press to see it. That was nerve-racking because nobody outside of our crew had seen it or even cosigned it. I had friends in there and people who’s opinions I trusted. So press night was nerve-racking and the cast/crew night. Some of the people who inspired the characters were in the room.
Who were some of the people?
Cory Robbins from Profile Records, Monica Lynch from Tommy Boy Records, Bill Adler from Def Jam and Rush Artist Management, Bill Stephney, former president of Def Jam, Dante Ross of Rush and Def Jam, and A&R for Elektra were just a few. I think it went well. By the time we aired, I was less nervous. My concern was the authenticity of the period.
Were you happy with how it was received?
It was the number two trending topic on Twitter that night. People loved the music. It was great to have a multiracial cast with a strong black female lead. That in itself was good.
How important is it to have a multiracial cast these days?
There’s no American history without race. We are just so blessed to have folks at VH-1 who understand the culture and respect it.
