The 27-minute short film Sherlock Holmes and the True Believer has had a nice little run on the festival circuit since premiering in Jackson, California in December 2024.
The movie was made for just $6,000, thanks to everyone volunteering their time, including several Hollywood veterans such as visual effects wizard Tim Walton, who is based in London, and actor Jeffrey Weissman, who played George McFly in the second and third Back to the Future films. In the short, about a boy who travels back in time to the era of Holmes and Watson to save Christmas, Weissman portrays the evil Moriarty.
Dänna Wilberg, who wrote the children's book of the same name on which the project is based, is the writer-director of the short film. And in a funny twist, her collaborator who handled cinematography and editing duties is also named Tim Walton. His name in fact is what led some years ago the other Dalton to first get in contact with him.
Wilberg and Walton previously made a shorter but similar film, the 6-minute Sherlock Holmes and the Headless Bishop. They are now hard at work raising funds to support the expansion of True Believer into a full-length feature. The expanded movie picks up with the same children in the short, three years later, and will use the short film as its first act.
To support these efforts, there is a special fundraising screening event at the Zittle Family Amphitheater in Fulsom on Sunday November 1st. In addition, various local merchants are pitching in to help raise money under the Rubicon of “I Believe,” selling everything from a limited-edition Christmas ornament to a locally brewed champagne. All of these special items will be on display at the fundraising screening.
Filming for the feature-length version starts in Folsom in November, with the historic part of town and various shops doubling for Victorian-era London. When the crew shot a train sequence for the short in the summer of 2024 at the Railtown 1897 State Historic Park in Jamestown, it was 118 degrees! The historic Sierra Nevada No. 6 rail car had its windows blacked out, with winter scenery effects digitally added in later.
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| A sweltering August day (Facebook) |
What makes all this extra special is that any monies made in turn by the film will go to help Baker Street West, a local Holmes-loving group, settle into their new digs in the former Alamador County Courthouse in Jackson. Wilberg and Walton's company, Synchronicity Films, shot some of the short film at the non-profit's old headquarters and also cast some of its Baker Street Players performers.
The previously mentioned first short was also made in partnership with Baker Street West.
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