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The Beta Test

Der Betatest
Encounters 2021
Hollywood is collapsing. Ghastly murders haunt the night. Frenetic conflicts mark the days. A storm is breaking over talent agencies looking for new investors and ideas. As the battle rages on, Jordan Hines, an agent who is about to marry, receives an anonymous letter inviting him to a mysterious sexual rendezvous. Jordan’s world of lies and sinister streams of digital data begins to fall apart. Who has sent him this letter? And who will be waiting for him behind the closed door? His life is at a crossroads: die of fear, or die of desire.
Written and directed by Jim Cummings and PJ McCabe, The Beta Test is a horror film that blends incendiary comedy with brutal political commentary. Cummings and McCabe make sure the storytelling matches the main character’s journey which is exciting, explosive and borders on a nervous breakdown. At the same time, viewers are called upon to pull off the wonderful twofold feat of being trapped inside the thickening web of deception and mysteries while simultaneously, like Jordan, looking for a way out.
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by Jim Cummings, PJ McCabe
with Jim Cummings, Virginia Newcomb, PJ McCabe, Jessie Barr, Wilky Lau, Olivia Applegate, Jacqueline Doke, Kevin Changaris, Malin Barr, Christian Hillborg USA / United Kingdom 2021 English, Swedish, Mandarin 91' Colour

Part of the Berlinale Summer Special

With

  • Jim Cummings (Jordan)
  • Virginia Newcomb (Caroline)
  • PJ McCabe (PJ Pruitt)
  • Jessie Barr (Lauren)
  • Wilky Lau (Raymond Lee)
  • Olivia Applegate (Hotel Dionysis)
  • Jacqueline Doke (Jaclyn)
  • Kevin Changaris (Johnny Paypal)
  • Malin Barr (Annie)
  • Christian Hillborg (Man)

Crew

Written and Directed by Jim Cummings, PJ McCabe
Cinematography Kenneth Wales
Editing Jim Cummings
Sound Design Danny Madden, Shaun Yee
Sound John Bowers
Production Design Charlie Textor
Costumes Stephani Lewis
Make-Up Allia Arite
Casting Amey René
Assistant Director Natalie Metzger
Production Manager Tina Carbone
Producers Matt Miller, Natalie Metzger, Benjamin Wiessner
Executive Producers John Jeffrey Martin, Douglas Choi
Co-Production DiffeRant Productions New York
Sons of Rigor Productions London

World Sales

Vanishing Angle

Produced by

Vanishing Angle

Photos

Jim Cummings

© Sela Shiloni

The writer, director and actor was born in New Orleans, USA in 1986. In 2016, he made his first short as a director, Thunder Road. His often genre-bending films have won recognition around the world. He currently lives in Los Angeles.

Filmography

2016 Thunder Road; short film 2018 Thunder Road 2019 The Wolf of Snow Hollow 2021 The Beta Test

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021

PJ McCabe

© Sela Shiloni

The writer, director and actor was born in Philadelphia, USA in 1987. Films in which he has appeared as an actor have screened at Sundance Film Festival, the South by Southwest Festival in Austin and the Fantasia International Film Festival in Montreal. He currently lives in Los Angeles with his wife and his dog.

Filmography

2021 The Beta Test

Bio- & filmography as of Berlinale 2021