Bryan Cranston Stars in 'Writer's Block'

Cranston on the set of "Writer's Block"

There are two things a writer on the film and TV beat is familiar with these days: writer's block and Breaking Bad withdrawal.

Filmmaker and son of Austin Brandon Polanco had the great fortune of getting to confront both of those problems in the making of his short film, "Writer's Block," starring Bryan Cranston.

How does a young writer and producer get a chance to direct the one and only Walter White? Polanco wrote earlier this fall to share his story.

While working in New York as first team production assistant on a feature with Cranston, Hurricane Sandy loomed ever closer to the set. "Since we were shooting upstate and not in the city," Polanco explained, "the producers asked us to stay on location." To pass the time, "Bryan decided that he wanted to make another film, a short film, and that it would it only be for the production assistants."

Cranston read the scripts blind and then selected the one to shoot: Polanco's. Within hours, the team got to work. "I would spend the entire experience of the shoot working on my days off from the feature, and hiding out in my room cutting the entire film together to present to Bryan," Polanco wrote.

The result is what Polanco calls "a story of a group of young people getting a chance to tell a story that would teach us another level of filmmaking … a chaotic love affair that evokes my true feelings toward writing."

Passion project plus big-name actor plus total learning experience? We call that "a once-in-a-lifetime chance."

Watch a teaser for the project here, and read Polanco's interview with Filmmaking Review here.

Bryan Cranston "Writer's Block" Teaser from Brandon Polanco on Vimeo.

Writer's Block is available now for $2.99 from the iTunes Store.