The Case of the Gilded Lily

**The Case of the Gilded Lily** is a noir-inspired short film produced by Shipwrecked Comedy. It stars private dick Ford Phillips and Fig Wineshine, Junior Ace Reporter at the Tinseltown Times. Together they solve the mystery of who's blackmailing Hollywood starlet and Fig's childhood best friend, Wilhelmina Vanderjetski.

## Plot

Hollywood. 1939. Wilhelmina Vanderjetski, movie star, and Fig Winshine, reporter, enter Ford Phillips' office offering him a case. Ford is skeptical. Wilhelmina informs him that she's being blackmailed with the threat to reveal her real name to the public, Lily Thomas. She explains how she met Roger Haircremé, famous movie producer, working at one of his parties. He took a shine to Wilhelmina, eventually marrying her and jumpstarting her career. She reveals she lied to Roger about her name to convince him she was a guest at the party, not a cigarette girl. Ford refuses the case, saying he doesn't touch Hollywood cases. Not since... *The War.* Fig and Wilhelmina make a move to leave, but Ford reluctantly agrees to take the case.

Ford tells Wilhelmina and, more importantly, Fig, to let him handle the case. As he starts gathering more information from the women, Wilhelmina presents him with a dead lily she found outside her dressing room door. After finding out her co-star, Cliff Calloway, knows her secret, and Vivian Nightingale has a grudge against her, Ford makes a plan, and Fig and Wilhelmina leave. Ford calls his friend Claudette Knickerbocker, an LAPD dispatcher, and after discussing Lily Thomas and Cliff Calloway, he goes to Cliff's dressing room to question him.

Meanwhile, Fig and Wilhelmina visit Bixby's Lounge, the place where Vivian Nightingale has been singing. They talk to Bixby Crane before watching Vivian perform *A Change of Scene* on stage. Wilhelmina stays at the bar while Fig goes back to Vivian's dressing room to ask her some questions.

While questioning Cliff (who is becoming more suspicious by the minute), Ford meets struggling comedian and actor Buster Keaton. Buster is unhappy with his current situation and wants to take it up with Roger. [not finished]

## Credits

#### Main Cast

* Sean Persaud as Ford Phillips
* Sinéad Persaud as Fig Wineshine
* Sarah Grace Hart as Wilhelmina Vanderjetski
* Mary Kate Wiles as Vivian Nightingale
* Tom DeTrinis as Cliff Calloway
* Clayton Farris as Buster Keaton
* Gabe Greenspan as Roger Haircremé
* Joey Richter as Dash Gunfire
* Joanna Sotomura as Claudette Knickerbocker
* Dante Swain as Bixby Crane
* Jessica Jade Andres as Dolly
* Christopher Higgins as Emcee

#### Background Actors

* Madison Brunoehler, Ines Cross, Lauren Cupp, Christopher Darbro, Kinsey Diment, Marissa Flaxbart, Tyler Flynn, Ryan Garcia, Serena Hohenstein, Karen Kavett, Melanie Kocher, Chloe Leadbetter, Corey Lubowich, Peter Madison, Roxanne McDanel, Russel Nickel, Kaley Oliver, Chloe Patton, Edward T Powell, Scott Randall, Estelle Rose, Josh Rutkowski, Keely Kathleen Williams, Tia Workman

### Crew

* Production Designer: Katie Moest
* Art Director: Kim Brunner
* Composer: Dylan Glatthorn
* Production Sound Mixer: Justin Lee Dixon
* Editor: Raymond Fraser
* Director of Photography: Alex Gallitano
* Assistant Director: Eden Perry
* Second Assistant Director: Ashley Hargrove
* Executive Producers: Gregg Gibbons, April Morris, & Paul Komoroski
* Shipwrecked Comedy Producers: Sean Persaud, Sinéad Persaud, Mary Kate Wiles, & Sarah Grace Hart
* American Black Market Producers: Brent Madison & Ryan M. Murphy
* Gaffer: Zach Ziedman
* First Assistant Camera: Heather Flynn
* Second Assistant Camera: Casey Hilliard
* Key Grip: Delaney Teichler & Sargon Saadi
* Wardrobe: Sarah Grace Hart, Sinead Persaud, Mary Kate Wiles & Sean Persaud
* Hair & Makeup: Roxanne McDanel
* Script Supervisor: Russ Nickel
* Grip/Swing: Sargon Saadi & Dustin Supenchek
* Assistant Hair & Makeup: Courtney Heiser
* Logo, Animation, & Endscreen: David Cater
* Site Rep: Karl Risinger
* Assitant Editor: Brian Rosenthal
* Colorist: Michael Solomon
* Post Sound Designer - Justin Lee Dixon
* Additional Sound Editing - Davis McGinn
* BTS: Christopher Higgins
* Production Assistants: Stacy Baker, Laurie Coxson, Ines Cross, Serena Hohenstein, Estelle Rose

## Production

Shipwrecked launched a Kickstarter for The Case of the Gilded Lily on June 6, 2017, with an initial goal of $25,000. Within a week, the project was fully funded, reaching its goal during the first livestream of the campaign on June 11. The Kickstarter ended on June 25, with $43,032 pledged by 825 backers, having reached three stretch goals. The stretch goals guaranteed vlogs from each member of Shipwrecked about their favorite Hollywood locations, BTS content shot by Christopher Higgins, and a cameo in the short from a real life Old Hollywood legend.

Filming took place over four days in late July/early August of 2017. The short was mostly filmed at the American Legion and the YouTube Space.

The Case of the Gilded Lily premiered on September 30, 2017 at Buffer Festival in Toronto. Kickstarter backers who pledged at the $25 level and above were sent a link to watch the unlisted short on October 12, and it was posted to YouTube publicly on December 11.

## Extras

Leading up to the release of the film, a mini vlog series about LA landmarks was posted to Shipwrecked's channel. There are also several vlogs that cover pre-production, production, and post prodution. Other BTS such as bloopers, bonus footage, and commentaries can be seen on Shipwrecked's channel or purchased from their website. Additionally, there has also been another Vivian Nightingale song recorded; it is called The Benefits of Being My Man.

## Trivia

* While filming, it was Joey Richter's birthday. So, the cast suprised him with a cake and sang "Happy Birthday!"
* The short film is partially inspired by *Who Framed Roger Rabbit.*

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 The Case of the Gilded Lily, YouTube description