We are an independent film company that specializes in visually rich, socially minded content. Founded in 2004 by Margaret Byrne, Beti Films has worked on countless projects across the globe.

Margaret Byrne is an award winning filmmaker whose work focuses on long term storytelling, community collaboration, and the human impact of institutional failure. Her films include Raising Bertie, a six year portrait of three young men coming of age in rural North Carolina; Any Given Day, which follows participants in Cook County’s felony mental health court; Post Conviction, a five year look at two men fighting for freedom after police abuse; and the forthcoming To Catch a Case, an investigation into wrongful convictions and corruption in Chicago.

As a cinematographer, Byrne has contributed to nonfiction films such as The Big Payback (2023), Surge (2020), Generation Wealth (2018), All the Queen’s Horses (2017), and American Promise (2014). Before turning to independent filmmaking full time, she worked at Universal Music and helped produce the first series that launched MTV across Africa, expanding visibility for emerging artists.

Margaret is the founder of Beti Films and a dedicated educator whose filmmaking is rooted in relationship driven storytelling.

Latesha is an independent filmmaker currently working on her first documentary project Teaching While Black which explores the lives of Black teachers in Chicago’s public schools. She is a 2017 Kartemquin Films Diverse Voices in Docs Fellow and a 2019 recipient of Kartemquin Films’ Accelerator Fund grant. She served as an impact coordinator for the short documentary ‘63 Boycott (Kartemquin Films). Latesha is a former educator with over twenty years of experience working in and with Chicago’s public schools. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology from Chicago State University and a Masters of Education in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.

Malik Moore is a cinematographer and photographer whose work centers on documentary and sports storytelling. He began his career filming athletics at the collegiate level and has earned credits from NFL Films, Hard Knocks with The Chicago Bears and Hard Knocks with The Buffalo Bills, and NBA Images. A former athlete himself, Malik brings a clear eye and steady presence to every production.

At Beti Films, Malik is working on several films in different stages of production, from development through distribution. Currently he’s working on a mid-length documentary To Play or Not to Play. He has contributed to productions for Red Flag Media, the Women’s Justice Institute, and The Inheritance Theatre Project.

Fabiola left the corporate world to pursue her dream of working independently. She is a financial consultant and loves to empower strong women to make great financial decisions. Fabi loves to work with people just as much as she loves to work with numbers. She earned a Masters degree from Dominican University as a single mother working full-time and knows the struggles of motherhood. She mentors young women to push through adversity and finish their studies. On a fun day you can find Fabi twirling on the dance floor. Bailamos?

Liz Kaar has worked closely with Kartemquin Films, Chicago’s documentary powerhouse, for over a decade. She has been honored with a variety of award recognition, including short-listed for an Academy Award®, nominated for Emmy® and IDA awards, and winner of the Alfred I. duPont-Columbia Journalism Award. She recently edited ‘63 Boycott, directed by Gordon Quinn, about the forgotten story of one of the largest civil rights demonstrations in the 1960s and how it connects to contemporary issues around race, education, and youth activism. She co-directed and edited Hard Earned, Kartemquin's six-part television series about people living on low wages across the US, airing on Al Jazeera America. She is also editing Kartemquin's Dilemma of Desire.

Rory McFadden is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame’s film program and has worked with Kartemquin Films and Meridian Hill Pictures. She served as outreach coordinator for Raising Bertie (2017) and Minding the Gap (2018), and co-edited the award winning documentary short, Life in Strides (2017). Formerly, she worked as a nurse in critical care and community health, and later in research where she interviewed patients’ family members and healthcare providers about their experiences of stress and trauma in Intensive Care Units. Inspired by their powerful stories, she now works to impact social change through documentaries. She was previously an intern at Beti Films.

Karyn has held support staff roles in writers' rooms at AMC, Showtime, and YouTube Premium. She worked with the Department of State to implement sustainability education programs at Lithuanian universities as part of the VSFS program. She made a guerilla-style documentary that established a legal charter and severed a university's relationship with a corrupt psychiatric hospital in Chicago, and she’s been interviewed by Ronan Farrow for an story on forced leaves of absence and mental health policy. She is also a published short story writer. She studied English (and briefly mathematics) at University of Chicago and British film at Oxford University on scholarship. She began her career as an intern at Beti Films.

Shuling Yong is a Singapore-born, Chicago-based documentary filmmaker, sound mixer and cinematographer with a passion for social change. She has worked on films like Becoming (2020, dir. Nadia Hallgren), Radical Grace (2015, dir. Rebecca Parrish), In The Game (2015, dir. Maria Finitzo), The Feeling of Being Watched (dir. Assia Boundaoui), America To Me (2018, dir. Steve James), and In Time To Come (2017, dir. Tan Pin Pin). Her first feature-length documentary, Unteachable, won the Audience Choice Award at Singapore International Film Festival.

Baili is a production sound mixer in Chicago and a former student of Margaret. She works in all areas of audio recording, from full length features, to documentary, corporate/commercial, and short films. Her recent sound work includes SoulPancake’s, “Four Hands One Question” short, and an upcoming segment for PBS’s Art in the 21st Century series. She has worked with Steve James on the upcoming City So Real documentary series and with Bing Liu (dir. Minding the Gap) on his upcoming documentary, Until the Lion Speaks.