On the evening of July 6, a crowd gathered on the sidewalk outside of the Warwick Theater, buzzing with excitement and anticipation before the premier of the student-made feature film “Gilded Lily.” Then, more than two dozen teens who helped make the movie walked down a red carpet to cheers, camera flashes and clapping from the crowd.
The premier of the 90-minute film attracted dozens of families and friends of the cast and crew who came to see the students’ work on the big screen. For the creators of “Gilded Lily,” the premier represented the conclusion of a grueling, three-year effort to write, film and edit the movie.
“Apart from being really nervous, it was awesome,” said writer and co-director Matías Watts Cruz after the premier. “It’s just totally different to see it at the Warwick. It was very gratifying. I started to really settle in and it was just great to see. So many cool shots.”
For the filmmakers, the premiere was certainly a well-deserved victory lap. They worked for over a year writing and editing on a 98-page script, then spent a grueling summer filming more than 80 scenes around Marblehead and the North Shore, before spending their whole senior year editing the film.
The film was directed by Watts Cruz and Cam Gibson, but dozens of Marblehead High School students and recent graduates worked to make it happen. Gibson and Watts Cruz walked down the red carpet last, to wild applause, before the group filed into the theater to watch the movie.
The film, starring Brady Weed, Max Kane, Izzy Scogland and Anya Kane, depicts a group of young filmmakers who try to film a short film set in the 1890s in Salem, when one filmmaker’s ambition derails the project.
The core team included Watts Cruz and Gibson, along with Lucas Rosen as main editor, Quinn Scheib as the director of photography, and Nic Flores who composed an original score for the film.
“My people have told me that the story got across and that the story was engaging, which I love to hear,” said Watts Cruz. “And the ending is amazing. Nick Flores did such a good job with the music for it, and the music does so much for the ending. It really hits you emotionally.”
For the actors, watching the movie play on the big screen gave them a chance to reflect on the experience of putting it together over the last several years.
“It wasn’t as intimidating or crazy as I thought it would be. Every scene, I remember what we were doing when we were filming, and it’s just a whole bunch of memories,” said Max Kane, who starred in the film. “The experience was just so fun and full of life.”
The second screening of “Gilded Lily,” open to the public, will be on July 13 at the Warwick. Tickets are available to purchase HERE.
Here are more photos from the premier.
