The Next Big Thing is a dark comedy about friendship, revenge and the lust for fame. The protagonist is Julian, who, despite his "talent," has never achieved the level of fame he thinks he deserves. When his deranged and estranged best friend Chuck shows up with a plan to make Julian famous by making a film about Julian becoming famous, Julian agrees to do it. Unfortunately for Julian, Chuck's real aim is to make a prank show centered on ruining Julian's life. After a series of embarrassing and painful events Julian begins to regret his decision, but the worse the situation is for Julian, the more popular the videos become. Julian's ego allows Chuck to bring him to the edge of his sanity and beyond.
Acting
Lipnicki leans into his own faded child star status with uncomfortable commitment.
Direction
Gusar blurs mockumentary and found footage until you're complicit too.
Writing
The script knows exactly how pathetic desperate fame-chasing looks.
Director
Brody Gusar
Jonathan Lipnicki
Himself
Lauren Francesca
Lauren Francesca
Marshall Manesh
Mr. Shah
James Kyson
James Kyson
Kelli Dawn Hancock
Officer Barnes
Jonney Ahmanson
Chuck
Ken Sagoes
Terry
Jo Farkas
Ms. Levinson
Circus-Szalewski
Skitz
Kelcey Watson
Russell
Eugene Alper
Dmitri
Sharon Noble
Dotty
Brad Culver
Julian
Cynthia Quiles
Dotty's Nurse
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Jonathan Lipnicki was six when he stole scenes in Jerry Maguire; here he's weaponizing thirty years of 'whatever happened to' energy.
This essentially predicted Jake Paul-era prank culture and the 2010s trend of destroying your life for content—released the same year as the first major YouTube apology video wave.
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