Guilty

Just like with Old Folks Like Us I was thrilled when Dreams Come True Films released this short film on their Youtube channel.

Even if the fantasy genre is not your favorite genre, I think you will like this. It tells the story of a defense attorney named Jonathon Baxter and how he is a hated man because he has recently just gotten a murderer off scott free. How many times in our lives, in a conversation among friends, do we hear this, "I could never be a defense attorney and represent the scum of the earth clients that they represent!" I know I have personally made that statement. But the fact is, somebody has to do it. It's the way of the land. So Jonathon is merely "doing his job." but he is hated by his community for doing so, and well..... you just have to sit down and watch this for yourself as I don't want to give the whole story away.

I have watched Guilty many times and I've got to say everyone did a great job especially the actor who played the lead Jonathon Baxter. I highly recommend this short film and I hope to see new content on their Youtube channel in the near future.

I stumbled on this sub-par film when I was forwarded a link to another film that this production company did, and I started to read their Facebook pages on all of their big-time productions. Well, not really, but in the forgotten back country where it was produced it might be considered big-time. Like when the city installs a stop light and a parade is thrown to celebrate their emergence in to the 20th century. The accolades that they have received appear to be from friends and family who couldn't bring themselves to telling them the truth.

The acting is atrocious and very monotone. Lighting is not suspenseful, and to call the camera work, script, and editing "sub-par" is being quite gracious. Seriously, a horror scene in a brightly lit room?? The "deleted scene" left me scratching my head, wondering why the entire film wasn't one big "deleted scene". Not only did I have to suspend belief to follow the "film", but I really had to suspend belief that the lead character was cast as such a buffoon that he actually went to law school, much less graduated from high school. Or grade school.

As with their other released film, the audio is horrendous. They would do well to go back to school and learn how to record good audio. And write a good script. And operate a camera. And edit. This way the result can at least look like a high-end amateur production instead of a very low-end amateur production.

This is a short film written by two females originally for the 48 film project in Indianapolis. It was completely botched up by the original director, so it was determined by the two female writers that it should be re-filmed and it was in the summer of 2012. For basically having a zero dollar budget, this is an EXCELLENT little film in the fantasy genre. Neither of the writers had ever written for this genre before, so they are very proud of the outcome.

It tells the story of a defense attorney who is haunted for simply, "Doing his job" as he puts it. This film was shot in two days by new, self taught filmmakers, so again, they have a lot to be proud of. It's not a Hollywood film, nor big name actors, but is well worth watching. The story line is original, the acting is very good, the pacing is right on and it's just a great short film of ten minutes. Enjoy!

If you are a lover of movies but have a very short attention span, I'm pretty sure you will love "GUILTY". I read somewhere early on that this was actually a 48 film project / contest that Mrs. Beard wrote in 2011 but the director of the film completely botched the project in editing and when it showcased at the 48 hour film presentation, it was a huge embarrassment so Mrs. Beard vowed to re-shoot this with her own cast and crew at a later time.

She kept her word and in 2012, Mrs. Beard came together with a few independent actors to re-create what she had originally intended to be a great little film in a genre that she admits she had never even watched a (fantasy film) before getting the genre assigned to them in 2011 as part of the 48 hour film project.

So, with that said, I really did enjoy this 10 minute film when I came across it on You Tube. For having independent actors, a shoestring budget and a first time fantasy genre writer, I will say that this film is really quite awesome. I myself do not normally go for this genre, nor do I normally go for thrillers, (I like family dramas that I can totally relate to, and I like rom-coms), but for a fantasy film, I really do recommend this and whenever it pops up in my recommended feed, I will re-watch it just to reminisce. I've met these filmmakers in person at some of their local premieres and church screenings and they are really down to earth people just trying to make a positive difference in the world (However this film in particular does have a scene that should be viewed with caution - not intended for children under 16, IMO).

Pay no attention to the very first troll who left an ugly review out of spite back in '13. It's a neat project and it is a unique storyline with good acting. The actress, Sara Bakay is a good actress and I am surprised she has not pursued acting a lot more. I was looking over her IMDb credits and she has very little of them, which surprises me. Then Mrs. Beard (the writer and producer) put her husband in the lead role as Jonathan Baxter and it was his very first acting job and he did well for not being a seasoned actor. But Bruce Royer, after Guilty, went on to act in many of Mrs. Beard's films. Though his part in this film was very small, he has really done well in the other films since.

All in all, I give it TWO THUMBS UP.

I'm not sure how I missed the first review left on this short film, but I did. It was left by a "jen jen" in 2013 out of SPITE. Yes....spite. The person who created the user name and posted such an ugly and untrue review about our short film was none other than a disgruntled sound guy that we had worked with on our first film. Things ended badly in his opinion because he agreed to work on our film for free as did all the cast and crew (as our film was the first project for him as well) and he wanted to build a resume. Unfortunately our film did not get distribution and he was angry that no one from cast or crew got a paycheck. Words were exchanged and the next thing I knew he had begun stalking our Facebook page and leaving very hateful comments. Then he came over to our IMDb page and began leaving very ugly and downright hurtful comments to make us look bad. It's true we basically made this film on a zero budget in two days, but it is still a great little film. The cast and crew had a great time filming it, and while it is not perfect, I have seen much worse acting come out of Hollywood and I have seen much worse altogether. Both Directors of this film were new and self taught, and I am proud of them both. I am one of the writers of this film and am still very proud of it today. The point I wish to get across is that the first review left on here was left for spite to hurt me and my reputation as a filmmaker. If you need more proof, please carefully examine my entire resume on IMDb. View all my other films, starting with Vanished, then to Cries Unheard, then to My Mother's Replacement to my very latest, The Promise. Check the reviews and the rating scores and you will see how well our films have been rated. Not bad for indie, ultra low budget films, right? We have been told that every single one of our films continue to get better and better. Thanks for reading this, and we hope you'll watch this short film and judge for yourself and not let a disgruntled sound guy ruin it for you.