'The production of "My Big Break" was fraught with setbacks and challenges. Tony Zierra originally intended to shoot a fiction film but while trying to find a script and secure financing he decided to film his roommates, Wes Bentley, Chad Lindberg, Brad Rowe and Greg Fawcett, who were struggling actors. He thought that their pursuit of success in the film business would make an interesting story. At the time, in the 1990s, the concept of "reality" media was virtually unknown so Zierra's idea was considered by the actors and others in the industry to be unusual. He self-financed the production through the money he made at various jobs and by other means such as holding garage sales.