Filmmaker Bio: The Crook Brothers
Writer-director team Joshua and Jeffrey Crook grew up in Brooklyn, NY, in an artistic household, the sons of novelist Howard Crook. Six years ago they formed Crook Brothers Productions, and since then have directed six feature films, five of which they also wrote.
The Brothers most recently completed project is Rockaway, an action film starring Nicholas Gonzalez, Mario Cimarro and Ricardo Chavira. The film was produced by Panamax Films in conjunction with Off-Hollywood Productions, and should be available for audiences in early 2008.
In 2006, the Crook’s feature film, Salvage, premiered to a packed house at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival. Playing in the midnight screenings section, this little horror-thriller generated a lot of industry buzz. The foreign distribution deal included theatrical release and domestic distribution was handled by Echo Bridge Entertainment. Their Sundance Film Festival experience was chronicled in a special segment of MTV News with Seijin Pak.
Other original Crook Brothers films include The Fittest, Sucker Punch, and The Level. The Fittest was released on DVD through Vanguard Film Group in December 2005, having successfully played a variety of festivals across the US, from Cinevegas to Woodstock. It also won the audience award at the 2004 Valley Film Festival in Los Angeles. Ain’t It Cool News described the film as a “hysterical black comedy.”
Sucker Punch screened at the Urbanworld Film Festival in 2002 to a packed house, and Variety predicted in an August 2002 review that Sucker Punch “will be properly appreciated as a subversive variant on the gangsta movie by that genre’s target audience. An auspiciously wry roll in the gutter is had by all.” Sucker Punch also screened at the Indievision Film Festival, where it won Best Actor for the film’s star, Paris Campbell. Artisan Home Entertainment released Sucker Punch in September 2003.
The Brothers are currently in post-production on their most recent project, The Level, an action mystery in the mold of The Usual Suspects. The Level will be ready to premiere in early 2008.
In 2004 the Crook Brothers were hired as directors on the urban feature, Ghetto Dawgs 2: Out of the Pits, which was released through Lion’s Gate Home Entertainment.
In addition to their feature films, the Crook Brothers have produced more than a dozen commercials and two television pilots, including “The Flux Report” for Nickelodeon’s Noggin channel. The Crook Brothers’ commercial projects include spots for such recognizable clients as Heineken, Red Star Records, and Sam Adams. A Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) public service announcement, which was co-directed by the Crook Brothers, showed at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival Commercial Competition, while the Red Star Records campaign, featuring R&B stars Erykah Badu, The Roots, and Glen Lewis, won a 2001 Silver Addy Award for Best Campaign.
The Crook Brothers are represented by The Gersh Agency, attorney James Feldman, and managed by Ilana Sparrow. They reside in New York City.