Oh, The Guilt
Las Vegas, Nevada | Film Short
Drama, Teen
OH, THE GUILT is a unique, heartfelt period piece set in the mid-'90s. The film blends a classic coming-of-age storyline with elements of sci-fi and time travel to explore a teen's first encounter with tragedy. We invite YOU to join our award-winning team, and help us produce our best film yet!
Oh, The Guilt
Las Vegas, Nevada | Film Short
Drama, Teen
1 Campaigns | Nevada, United States
Green Light
This campaign raised $4,430 for post-production. Follow the filmmaker to receive future updates on this project.
64 supporters | followers
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OH, THE GUILT is a unique, heartfelt period piece set in the mid-'90s. The film blends a classic coming-of-age storyline with elements of sci-fi and time travel to explore a teen's first encounter with tragedy. We invite YOU to join our award-winning team, and help us produce our best film yet!
About The Project
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Oh, The Guilt is a coming-of-age story set in the 1990s featuring a Persian-American teen as the main character. The plot tackles death, loss, and survivor’s guilt, elements of the human condition that transcend age, race, and creed. With the exception of a cameo by Sean Astin, the entire cast (as well as the screenwriter and musical score composer) are female. The title of the film is a nod to the obscure Nirvana song of the same name.
The main character is played by Shahab and Heela's daughter, who was 16 at the time of shooting. As this is the exact age of the protagonist, we feel this lends authenticity to both the character and the story. Shahab has been directing Mahtab in small productions since she was preschool age, so we were able to achieve an excellent performance.
THE STORY
Following the death of her best friend, sixteen-year-old Sara is visited in her dreams by a woman bearing a terrifying message.
Sara awakens one morning to find that her best friend, Jean, has been killed in a car crash. Weeks later, suffering from insomnia and survivor's guilt, Sara begins taking a powerful prescription sleep aid. However, the medication causes her to experience a series of vivid dreams in which she meets with Jean - only this version of Jean is middle-aged and insistent that she survived...and Sara perished.
Initially, Sara doubts that the woman is Jean, but soon becomes convinced that she speaks the truth. This prompts a need for Sara to find proof in her waking world that her friend is actually visiting her in dreams and not merely a drug-induced hallucination. Sara spends the remainder of the film attempting to prove that somehow, somewhere, Jean is still alive.
HOW YOUR CONTRIBUTION WILL BE USED
Our production team scrimped and saved, and our incredible cast and crew powered through to complete principal photography amid the COVID craziness.
Post-production has already begun, but in order to finish the film and deliver it to as wide an audience as possible, additional funds are required. Specifically, while the film is almost to a picture lock, we have no sound design or score, and need funds for the studio and sound engineers.
We also hope to raise money to be able to submit to film festivals across the globe, regardless of their aggregated submission fee costs.
RETURNING CAST AND CREW
Following the success of the award-winning film, My Name Is Art (2018), numerous talented crew members have jumped back in to work with Shahab on this latest project.
Brooke Herndon, who wrote and produced the score for My Name Is Art, returns to compose a new original score for Oh, The Guilt.
Also among the crew returning from the set of My Name Is Art is sound guru Ryan Ray, as well as director of photography Ryan Galvan.
As we shoot all of our films primarily in Las Vegas, we seek to work with locals in the area who aspire to break out into the industry. For Oh, The Guilt, we recruited many talented area residents with ties to the UNLV and Greater Las Vegas film and theatre communities.
A HISTORY OF SUCCESS
Shahab's last three short films have garnered 18 official selections at worldwide film festivals, including San Diego Comic-Con 2016 (The Crystal Crypt) and Amazon’s Inaugural All Voices Film Festival (My Name Is Art). His films have won a grand total of five major festival awards, and have earned accolades from New York City to Los Angeles, California; from Oaxaca, Mexico, to Fargo, North Dakota.
We think Oh, The Guilt is our best film yet -- and we hope you can share in our continued success!
COVID-19 RESPONSE
Shooting during a pandemic was interesting, to say the least!
Fortunately, our entire pared-down skeleton crew was wonderful during principal photography, and highly mindful of safety. We followed all industry protocols and CDC guidelines, and our PA circulated among the cast and crew every 30 minutes to provide everyone with medical-grade foam hand sanitizer. The crew remained masked 100% of the time, and all craft services were provided as single-serve meals.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Share this update!
About This Team
Featuring the team from the award-winning short My Name Is Art:
Shahab Zargari - Director/Editor
Ryan Galvan - Cinematographer
Traiana Nescheva - 1st AC/2nd Unit Director
Brooke Herndon - Score
Ryan Ray - Sound
This film's on-screen talent:
Adriana Chavez
Gilda Graham
Savanah Joeckel
Heela Naqshband
Mahtab Zargari
Sean Astin (The Goonies, Stranger Things, The Lord of the Rings)
Current Team
Incentives
- The Story
- Wishlist
- Updates
- The Team
- Community
Mission Statement
The Story
Oh, The Guilt is a coming-of-age story set in the 1990s featuring a Persian-American teen as the main character. The plot tackles death, loss, and survivor’s guilt, elements of the human condition that transcend age, race, and creed. With the exception of a cameo by Sean Astin, the entire cast (as well as the screenwriter and musical score composer) are female. The title of the film is a nod to the obscure Nirvana song of the same name.
The main character is played by Shahab and Heela's daughter, who was 16 at the time of shooting. As this is the exact age of the protagonist, we feel this lends authenticity to both the character and the story. Shahab has been directing Mahtab in small productions since she was preschool age, so we were able to achieve an excellent performance.
THE STORY
Following the death of her best friend, sixteen-year-old Sara is visited in her dreams by a woman bearing a terrifying message.
Sara awakens one morning to find that her best friend, Jean, has been killed in a car crash. Weeks later, suffering from insomnia and survivor's guilt, Sara begins taking a powerful prescription sleep aid. However, the medication causes her to experience a series of vivid dreams in which she meets with Jean - only this version of Jean is middle-aged and insistent that she survived...and Sara perished.
Initially, Sara doubts that the woman is Jean, but soon becomes convinced that she speaks the truth. This prompts a need for Sara to find proof in her waking world that her friend is actually visiting her in dreams and not merely a drug-induced hallucination. Sara spends the remainder of the film attempting to prove that somehow, somewhere, Jean is still alive.
HOW YOUR CONTRIBUTION WILL BE USED
Our production team scrimped and saved, and our incredible cast and crew powered through to complete principal photography amid the COVID craziness.
Post-production has already begun, but in order to finish the film and deliver it to as wide an audience as possible, additional funds are required. Specifically, while the film is almost to a picture lock, we have no sound design or score, and need funds for the studio and sound engineers.
We also hope to raise money to be able to submit to film festivals across the globe, regardless of their aggregated submission fee costs.
RETURNING CAST AND CREW
Following the success of the award-winning film, My Name Is Art (2018), numerous talented crew members have jumped back in to work with Shahab on this latest project.
Brooke Herndon, who wrote and produced the score for My Name Is Art, returns to compose a new original score for Oh, The Guilt.
Also among the crew returning from the set of My Name Is Art is sound guru Ryan Ray, as well as director of photography Ryan Galvan.
As we shoot all of our films primarily in Las Vegas, we seek to work with locals in the area who aspire to break out into the industry. For Oh, The Guilt, we recruited many talented area residents with ties to the UNLV and Greater Las Vegas film and theatre communities.
A HISTORY OF SUCCESS
Shahab's last three short films have garnered 18 official selections at worldwide film festivals, including San Diego Comic-Con 2016 (The Crystal Crypt) and Amazon’s Inaugural All Voices Film Festival (My Name Is Art). His films have won a grand total of five major festival awards, and have earned accolades from New York City to Los Angeles, California; from Oaxaca, Mexico, to Fargo, North Dakota.
We think Oh, The Guilt is our best film yet -- and we hope you can share in our continued success!
COVID-19 RESPONSE
Shooting during a pandemic was interesting, to say the least!
Fortunately, our entire pared-down skeleton crew was wonderful during principal photography, and highly mindful of safety. We followed all industry protocols and CDC guidelines, and our PA circulated among the cast and crew every 30 minutes to provide everyone with medical-grade foam hand sanitizer. The crew remained masked 100% of the time, and all craft services were provided as single-serve meals.
Wishlist
Use the WishList to Pledge cash and Loan items - or - Make a pledge by selecting an Incentive directly.
Share this update!
About This Team
Featuring the team from the award-winning short My Name Is Art:
Shahab Zargari - Director/Editor
Ryan Galvan - Cinematographer
Traiana Nescheva - 1st AC/2nd Unit Director
Brooke Herndon - Score
Ryan Ray - Sound
This film's on-screen talent:
Adriana Chavez
Gilda Graham
Savanah Joeckel
Heela Naqshband
Mahtab Zargari
Sean Astin (The Goonies, Stranger Things, The Lord of the Rings)