At the 2008 Beverly Hills Film Festival, “Bad Guys” a contemporary pulp crime drama with a dark comedic edge that features shades of Reservoir Dogs, Snatch, and a touch of the old school crunchy crime dramas of the 30s and 40s, not only had its world premiere, but received three awards including, Best Actor, Best Producer, and the Audience Choice Award for Best Feature Film. The film was produced by Frederico Lapenda and directed by Rick Jacobson. 

According to Paradigm Picture’s President, Frederico Lapenda, the 2008 Beverly Hills Film Festival opened several doors for “Bad Guys” and the company as a whole.

“After our Beverly Hills Film Festival wins, Paradigm received six distribution offers for ‘Bad Guys’ three of which were from major studios,” said Lapenda. 

And that’s just the tip of the iceberg, as a result of their success at the BHFF festival, Paradigm also cut deals for two feature films, a horror film called ‘Macumba’; another which is an action thriller titled ‘The Way’; and a documentary called ‘Shotcaller’  about  ultimate fighter Matt Hall.

Lapenda thinks Beverly Hills in particular is an important place to host the five-day festival, “this festival brings international attention to Beverly Hills and it’s great that it is set in the heart of the film industry, it’s also less than 10 minutes distance to the five biggest agencies in the world,” said Lapenda.

In closing, Lapenda remarked about his overall festival experience, “the Beverly Hills Film Festival was a fantastic experience for me as filmmaker” Lapenda noted. “It enriched me as an artist and changed my life forever. Up and coming filmmakers are very lucky if they are selected to be a part of the festival. I made a lot of great connections and had a fantastic time,” he said.