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Dead Serious

Tensions are high in the morgue. Roger, a no-nonsense funeral home director, is determined to teach his unflappingly buoyant protégé a lesson.

  • Lily Brown
    Director
  • Gregory A. Noël
    Writer
  • Lily Brown
    Producer
  • Woody Brown
    Producer
  • Tim Cummings
    Key Cast
    "Roger"
  • Deniz Himmetoğlu
    Key Cast
    "Glen"
  • Doug Green
    Executive Producers
  • Corey Lanier
    Executive Producers
  • Patrick Lashly
    Executive Producers
  • Kim Maxwell
    Executive Producers
  • Emily Noël
    Executive Producers
  • Emma Maltby
    Associate Producers
  • Adrien Bourguignon
    Colorist
  • Stevie Kincheloe
    Composers
  • Steve McKellar
    Composers
  • Henry Mann
    Editor
  • Aidan Mastrogiorgio
    Post-Production Sound Mixer
  • Molly Allison
    Assistant Director
  • Adrien Bourguignon
    Director of Photography
  • Nora Crawford
    Props Master
  • Denny Dormody
    Funeral Advisor
  • Fabio Lauretta
    Production Assistant
  • Henry Mann
    First Camera Assistant
  • Henry Mann
    Gaffer
  • Kim Maxwell
    Craft Services
  • Anthony Paredes
    Location Sound Mixer
  • Amaury Saugrain
    Tech Coordinator
  • Project Type:
    Short
  • Genres:
    Dark Comedy, Comedy
  • Runtime:
    6 minutes 57 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    April 18, 2023
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    4:3
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • New Hampshire Film Festival
    Portsmouth, NH
    United States
    October 12, 2023
    World Premiere
    Official Selection
Director Biography - Lily Brown

A theater rat from rural California, Lily Brown is a Director, Writer, and Meisner-trained Actor whose first narrative short film, Dead Serious, premiered at the Oscar-qualifying New Hampshire Film Festival in 2023. She is in development on two original projects to direct: sitcom pilot The Marine Layer (Semifinalist, Screencraft’s Virtual Pitch Contest) and short film Stealth (Finalist, Ojai Film Society Young Filmmakers Grant; Quarterfinalist, Filmmatic’s Short Screenplay Awards for Drama). In addition to film, she has directed new works, readings, and solo performances at theaters throughout Ventura and Los Angeles Counties. She co-produced a downhome-style storytelling podcast, The Townies Podcast, where selections of these live works can be heard. Lily also serves on the reading committee of the Ojai Playwrights Conference and is the Co-Director of its Youth Workshop. A true collaborator, Lily values long-term creative partnerships and cultivates community with every project. Her work is personal, comedic, and political and centers female and queer characters from small towns.

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Director Statement

In preparation for this film, I watched countless interviews with morticians and met several times with a Funeral Director at the mortuary where we filmed (shout-out to Denny, who is listed in our credits as “Funeral Advisor”). What I found is a collection of people who largely exist in stark contrast to the caricatures we so often see on film: morose, emotionless creeps with greasy hair or swindlers upselling coffins to grieving families. What I found were people who chose this profession out of a desire to usher folks through some of the darkest moments in their lives. What I love about Dead Serious is that it portrays Funeral Directors as the regular people they are – people who have annoying coworkers, who have good days and bad, who feel passionately about their job. Dead Serious is a workplace comedy. The workplace just so happens to be a morgue.