Campbell Mansion at dusk, Hollywood Hills

A Feature Film

A Castle On The Hill

A film by Oscar Cellura & Deacon Phillippe

A spirited, struggling actor steps into the lavish world of a nepo-baby director when he lands the lead role in his movie. While falling in love with the director's girlfriend, he's forced to choose between the simple life he had and the life he dreams of.

The World

Two Worlds. One City.

Los Feliz apartment, three roommates
The Have-Nots

Los Feliz Apartment

Cramped, cracked tiles, run-down. Three roommates scraping by — Cal the struggling actor, Duncan the busboy, Shaun the dreamer. This is where brotherhood lives, where authenticity is all they have.

Campbell Mansion, Hollywood Hills
The Have-Everything

Campbell Mansion

A glass fortress on the Hollywood Hills. Pool, billiards room, a King Midas statue in the foyer, art on every wall. The grandiose life most can only dream of — and the corruption that comes with it.

"Our story bridges two distinct cultures: we start with the have-nots, then dive into the grandiose life most can only dream of."

The Players

Characters

Cal Baker

21

The Outsider

A broke actor from Newark, Delaware. Hungry, driven, grappling with feelings of inadequacy and fear of abandonment. He auditions for and lands the lead in Hunter's period film — then gets seduced by a world that isn't his. Falls for Jade, and discovers a truth that changes everything.

Hunter Campbell

22

The Heir

A nepo-baby director, son of ruthless studio exec Charles Campbell. Charismatic, wealthy, deeply troubled. Masks insecurities with money and control. Obsessed with escaping his father's shadow, he directs a period film on the Warner Bros. backlot — but his world is built on sand.

Jade

21

The Muse

Hunter's girlfriend, a painter, magnetic and sharp. Dissatisfied with her role as merely "the director's girlfriend." Her attraction to Cal ignites conflict between desire and loyalty. Creates the "Lemons in a Basket" painting — a symbol of art over commerce, independence over possession.

Duncan

22

Cal's loyal roommate. Worn-out busboy, backbone of the friend group — tough, funny, responsible. The one who keeps them together when everything falls apart.

Shaun

23

Stoner roommate, comic relief. Finds the gold Rolex that sets the entire story in motion. His heart is the "north star toward a smaller yet better life."

The Story

Synopsis

Act I

The Have-Nots

Los Feliz apartment

Cal, Duncan, and Shaun share a cramped Los Feliz apartment — struggling to make rent, holding onto each other. When Cal lands the lead role in a period film directed by Hunter Campbell, a charismatic nepo-baby director, he glimpses a life of money, art, and power. But just as doors open, Shaun is beaten and robbed trying to sell a gold Rolex he found — burying the trio under mounting medical debt.

Gold Rolex with Campbell family crest
Act II

The Seduction

Hunter pulls Cal deeper — pool days, cocaine, high-status friends, a blackmail scheme. Each visit to the mansion corrupts Cal a little more. Meanwhile, Jade and Cal share stolen moments: a waltz at a party, watching her paint. When Cal spots the gold watch — with the Campbell family crest — on Hunter's wrist, he realizes the watch that put Shaun in the hospital belongs to Hunter's family. Everything he believed was a lie.

Act III

The Fall

Chateau Marmont pool brawl

At the Chateau Marmont, everything unravels. A public brawl in the pool, a first kiss in a Volkswagen Jetta, a race up the hill in a beat-up Chevy. The mansion is destroyed, Jade is locked away, and the crumbling staircase railing becomes the stage for the final confrontation. Hunter falls three stories — impaled on the King Midas statue's spear. "All that glitters is not gold."

"None of That
High-Def Bullshit"

Gritty but warm, lo-fi but romantic. Think The Holdovers meets Good Time.

An anti-HD aesthetic — 90s nostalgia colliding with modern realities. Color lives in little details: the shimmering gold of a whiskey glass, the dust green of a billiards room. Lo-fi, textured, filmic. Every frame should feel like a memory you can almost touch.

Chevy Silverado cruising down Sunset Boulevard at golden hour

Comparable Films

Uncut Gems A24 · $19M 2019
Drive Bold Films · $16M 2011
Saltburn Amazon MGM · $20M 2023
Anora Indie · $24M 2024
Behind The Story

The Creators

Oscar Cellura

Writer / Director

Musician from Manhasset, Long Island. Over 75 live shows in the US, 10 in China. Transitioned from NYU's Recorded Music program to screenwriting. Directed Deacon's music video KiLL MY HiGH (2023).

Deacon Phillippe

Writer / Performer

From Los Angeles, raised around the entertainment industry. Starred in and executive produced the indie feature BROTHER SAVE US (2026), appeared in Prime Video's MOTORHEADS (2025), and released a full studio album from his dorm room.

"We dreamt up this story in our sophomore year at NYU, inspired by real events and real people."

Motifs

Key Symbols

Gold Rolex with Campbell family crest

The Gold Watch

Campbell family crest. Found by Shaun, beaten for it, seen on Hunter's wrist, given to Cal by Jade — then crushed under the Chevy's tires. The poison of wealth and ownership.

The Chevy Silverado

Beat-up vintage truck shared by the roommates. Blue-collar identity, brotherhood on wheels. Used to crush the gold watch in the final act — defiance over desire.

King Midas

A statue in the Campbell mansion foyer. Hunter is impaled on its spear when he falls. "All that glitters is not gold" — the family motto made literal.

Lemons in a Basket

Jade's painting, signed with a "C." Hangs in the diner in the epilogue. Art over commerce, independence over possession — Jade's quiet triumph.