PRESS & MEDIA
“I hope this film will affect people in such a way that they feel empowered to go after what they want, despite what others may say. At the end of the day, if you believe in something and yourself, it doesn’t matter what anybody else thinks. You can find a way to make it happen.”
- Tytus Bergstrom, Director
AUDIENCE RESPONSE
FROM THE DIRECTOR
I wanted this film to come from my life experience, and dance is the subject matter that I eat, sleep, and breathe. My career as a professional dancer, competitor and coach had taught me that so much of what happens in life, depends on whether one believes in oneself. When I first started dancing, I was getting 2nd place in competitions even when I was the only one on the dance floor. No one would predict that I would one day win the US dance Championship, if they had only seen how uncoordinated and untalented I was when I started! Therefore, this will come as a surprise to even those who have known me for years: The main character, Bergie, who is shy, awkward, uncoordinated and nervous in his own skin, is my own young self-caricature. He is continually being told that he will never succeed or amount to anything in life. Yet, he persists, with undying determination and optimism.
The criticisms Bergie received, are similar to what I was faced with, even before I started making the film. No one believed that such a big-scale full length feature film could be made without financial support from a big production company, expensive equipment as well as a big crew and production team. I was told time and again: “You can’t do it… you will need a big budget... you can’t do all the special effects... you can’t get a Lamborghini, Mansion or Theater in your film...” just to name a few put downs. The impossibilities were endless, but so was my dream. I didn’t know how I was going to do it, but I knew that if I believed and took massive action, I can make it happen. Hence, the journey to create this film gave birth to its controlling idea – You have to believe in yourself to make your dream come true. Reality shows have become the thread of our social and entertainment fabric. Setting the stage on a reality TV show is just a fun and relatable premise for telling the story. Through the 7 years of creating this film, the biggest challenge is finding the belief in myself when others tell me otherwise.