Guest

Logline: A woman contending with her broken relationship struggles with succumbing to a mysterious guest during an overnight stay.

Brief Synopsis: Guest takes place over two nights in one house. Jess, mid-late 20s, wants something more fulfilling her life. She's stuck in a relations-less relationship with John, same age, who is comfortable where his life is. To combat this void, Jess registers their house for RoomShare (i.e. Airbnb) as a new venture in hospitality.
A mysterious, unworldly guest, Allie Baren, a 90s grunge charmer, books the room and arrives, leading Jess to question her current relationship, who she really is and her repressed bisexuality. Through various displays of symbolism and character actions, Allie came for a reason — a reason Jess struggles with succumbing to, but ultimately knows deep down how the final night will end.

  • Lane Fortenberry
    Director
  • Lane Fortenberry
    Writer
  • Lane Fortenberry
    Producer
  • Angela Herr
    Producer
  • Sterling Gates
    Producer
    The Flash
  • Angela Herr
    Director of Photography
    Match Me If You Can
  • Bianca Greene
    Key Cast
    "Jess"
  • Lee Eden
    Key Cast
    "Allie Baren"
  • Cody Shook
    Key Cast
    "John"
    Three Headed Beast
  • Sav Gowling
    Assistant Camera
    Match Me If You Can
  • Michael Willbanks
    Gaffer
    Love & Death
  • Cameron Guernon
    Grip
    Titty Boy
  • Alicia Topolnycky
    Intimacy Coordinator
    Three Headed Beast
  • Rita de Castro
    Production Assistant
  • Farron Whitefield
    Make Up/Wardrobe
  • Colleen Zickler
    Sound Mixer/Boom Operator
    Match Me If You Can
  • Ernesto Grey
    Composer
    Enchanted Cove
  • Angela Herr
    Colorist
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Runtime:
    12 minutes 1 second
  • Completion Date:
    April 12, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    10,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    RED Gemini, Digital
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Lane Fortenberry

Lane (he/him) graduated with a degree in journalism and is a writer and editor. What he's really passionate about, though, is creating characters and telling stories across a variety of genres. He writes screenplays and now directs short films while also creating audio dramas through Riffage Media. You can usually find him writing while listening to a film score or watching movies and shows.

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Director Statement

Some relationships don't feel quite right. Maybe certain aspects change and two people outgrow each other, one outpacing the other. The connection that was once a bright flame gets smothered, leaving dense smoke that suffocates. Perhaps a person discovers something within them or who they truly are. People change, or maybe they finally take a closer look at the person who was always there.
There's anxiety attached to the many reasons why a relationship doesn't work and falls apart, only intensifying when you reach the moment of deciding to move on. I wrote Guest to examine a circumstance when another person expedites that intense process under the umbrella of psychological horror with a touch of magic realism.
Guest was an early collaboration with our Director of Photography Angela Herr (they/them). Once a draft of the script was written, I met Angela at a coffee shop and we hashed out the details, the look and what could be accomplished with the budget. We worked closely together throughout pre-production on the cast, location, budget and crew. Once production rolled around, we were able to move swiftly and smoothly through the shoot because of our thorough preparation, which continued through post-production until completion in April 2023.