‘It’s more than I hoped for’

It’s nighttime, and now that all of the kids are asleep, a mother takes a shower before heading to bed herself. Her husband is currently out of town, and while the sound of falling water drones out any disturbances in her home, an intruder enters.

After her shower, the mother is unaware there of the unwelcome stranger, and she steps outside to let the dog out. Upon going to open the door, the handle won’t budge. She’s locked out and the intruder is locked in — with her children.

This isn’t a real-life scenario for Vestavia Hills resident Jaime Primak Sullivan, but it was a “what-if” scenario that popped into her head one night.

“Like most of my ideas, it came to me in the shower,” she said. It’s also the premise for her newest movie, “Breaking In,” for which she served as an executive producer.

Sullivan is not native to the South, but was rather born and raised in New Jersey. 

“Now that I don't live there anymore, I kind of see how significant [of] an influence that is on your upbringing,” she said, noting that the influence of a hometown is great regardless of its location. “Just like now that I live in the South, I see how influential it is.”

She moved to the Birmingham area after living in New York City and then Los Angeles, where she worked as a publicist. After managing a long-distance relationship with her future husband, they moved to Alabama, and she continued her work. 

“I was a publicist in LA, I was a writer; I kept all of that going when I moved to Birmingham, which was not easy,” she said.

Sullivan said working in Hollywood can be quite difficult, but despite obstacles, she sold her first movie in 2012. “Once I sold that movie, I knew that it could be done, even living in Birmingham,” she said. Shortly thereafter, she created the vision for the television show “Jersey Belle.” She’s worked on a number of productions since then, and said, “Most of my ideas come from motherhood” — including the one for “Breaking In.”

The story for “Breaking In” started four years and a half ago, when Sullivan’s scene of being locked out of her home with her children inside came to her. She thought about what she would do if in that situation.

“I remember going to bed and thinking, ‘Oh my God, how would I get in?’” she said. “And then from there, I thought … I would do anything and everything I needed to do to get to my kids. Because that’s what mothers believe: We could do anything or we would do anything.”

After working with focus groups of local residents and community members, she built the movie around her imagined scene — “Which I don’t recommend because it’s exhausting,” she said — and pitched the idea to producer Craig Perry.

“He said, ‘It’s brilliant,’” Sullivan said.

Sullivan, along with fellow executive producers Valerie Bleth Sharp and Jeff Morrone, worked to oversee the creative development of the material for the movie. They were involved in working with director James McTeigue, casting actors, choosing locations, hiring department heads, watching cuts, giving notes and reviewing marketing materials and maintaining the creative integrity of the project, among other things.

“It’s really doing all of the heavy lifting that needs to be done, but surrounding yourself with an incredible team,” Sullivan said of her role. “No executive producer does it alone.” 

Other producers include Will Packer, Gabrielle Union, James Lopez, Sheila Hanahan Taylor and Perry.

Union also starred in the movie as the mother. Viewers follow along as she goes with her children, played by Ajiona Alexus and Seth Karr, to her recently deceased father’s home in preparation of selling the property. An old house designed with “impenetrable security,” intruders break in to the home while Union is outside and her children are still in the house, according to the movie’s website.

Union then stops at nothing to rescue her children. 

“No trap, no trick and especially no man inside can match a mother with a mission when she is determined on ‘Breaking In,’” the website reads.

Sullivan said she knew Union, and when thinking about the lead character, she “knew [Union] could do it.” 

Additionally, Sullivan said, the choice to have an African American woman as the lead role was intentional. 

“This was about a mother; this wasn’t a white mother story, or a black mother story,” she said. “It was a mother’s story.”

The movie is 90 minutes long and rated PG-13, and over the time it took to produce the movie, Sullivan said the only thing that was changed slightly from her original idea was the ending.

“My ending was much more sadistic and it was rejected on every level,” she said, but added that she understood why some changes needed to be made to meet audience expectations after speaking with Perry and executives at Universal Studios. But still, she’s proud of the work everyone accomplished for “Breaking In.”

“It’s more than I hoped for,” she said. “I am so appreciative of Gabrielle Union’s commitment to this role and to Will Packer’s support and belief in me and my abilities.”

Opening in theaters on May 11, Sullivan said she is planning on hosting an event at The Summit where she will watch the movie with audience members that night and speak to the audience before it starts. 

Sullivan said she wanted to host the event so the community can feel, “like it’s their movie too,” since they helped with the process through the focus groups.

“I hope [audience members] are entertained, and I hope they are reminded that women and mothers are capable of so much more than even they can possibly imagine,” Sullivan said. “We are challenged every day as mothers to do more … This is one of those movies that reminds you that, you can do it mom. You can do hard things. And I love that.”

To learn more about “Breaking In,” visit breakinginmovie.com.