MC Profile:
Breko is a local Z list celebrity across Newtown, Surry Hills & the Sydney CBD, hustling his brand of Trivia and Music Bingo across 5 venues a week.
During Sydney's lockdowns as MC work vanished, Breko quickly pivoted into hosting online Zoom Trivia for work teams across the Country. With hundreds of corporate clients his zany brand of Trivia and Music Bingo has since been featured on The Today Show and in an upcoming episode on Nine's hit TV show, Travel Guides. He's back in Sydney hosting events 5 nights a week as well as corporate events by day. His annual events include a Mardi Gras float, the Sydney Grand Final Eurovision screening & a camp Vivid Dance Cruise.
Breko has dabbled in radio, TV and has written for various publications including The Star Observer & The Huffington Post. He is the founder of DIY Rainbow & also served on the Board of the Sydney Gay & Lesbian Mardi Gras for 3 years.
Community Work Profile (From the 2019 Australian LGBTI Awards):
James 'Breko' Brechney founded the viral rainbow chalking movement DIY Rainbow in 2013 against the backdrop of the removal of the Sydney Rainbow Crossing. Chalk rainbow crossings went on to be an international success with many global landmarks gaining a chalk rainbow crossing for LGBTI equality. The Facebook page is still active today, regularly sharing LGTBI news to it's followers as well as organising events, rallies and raising funds for local projects.
James went on to work with the United Nations body UNESCO on an anti-bullying and anti-homophobia project across Thailand, where chalking rainbows were used to bring groups together and start a conversation about homophobia in primary schools.
In 2014 DIY Rainbow was named one of the 10 memorable pages of Facebook of all time, celebrating a decade of the social network, alongside The Humans of New York and others, which led to James chalking a rainbow at Facebook HQ in Silicon Valley and celebrating San Francisco Pride with the Facebook and Instagram teams.
James began hosting GayRadio.com.au (previously known as OX Live) from the Stonewall Hotel starting discussions in the community and interviewing celebrities and community leaders. Later that year he was also elected to the Sydney Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras board.
James continued to be community leader speaking at rallies, conducting fundraisers, and producing Mardi Gras floats for the community to take part in. He has hosted several live talk show forums on the Oxford Street strip covering topics including Marriage Equality, World AIDS Day and the 78ers. He was also a guest speaker at Glisten, MC’d Queer Thinking, Canberra Fair Day, Mardi Gras Fair Day, and a keynote speaker for iDEA2015, the City of Sydney, AFAO and others.
James continued his personal brand of activism, officiating a number of illegal gay weddings, including outside Pitt Street mall in Sydney and also outside Margaret Court Arena in Melbourne. He was an active member of the Yes campaign, hosting equality calling parties and delivering a 'spine' to Malcolm Turnbull sent from the Imperial Hotel to Canberra, which was featured on the 7.30 Report and the front page of the Sydney Morning Herald. He co produced and MCed the Yes launch rally at Sydney Town Hall. James was instrumental in bringing together all the LGBTI community organisations to make the rally the largest LGBTI rally in Australia's history with 40,000 attendees.
During this time he was also the community casting agent for the ABC telemovie Riot, chronicling the events of 1978 for the first Mardi Gras, recruiting volunteer members of the LGTBI community to get them in the film to ensure it's authenticity.
James Breko Brechney
hello@jamesbreko.com.au
+61 421 958 464