It began with a clue hidden inside a noir film. A month, 70 million views and crowds of up to 1,000 later, two players found the case.
LOS ANGELES, CA, UNITED STATES, November 6, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ — Jordan N. and Vincent P. won the $25,000 prize in What’s In The Silver Case?, the free citywide contest that began with a clue hidden inside the black-and-white noir The Man With the Silver Case. They won on Wednesday, Oct. 28, during the contest’s in-person finale.
For a month, the film’s story spilled into the real city. A courier in a gray suit, handcuffed to a silver case and trailed by men in black suits, crossed Los Angeles handing out 4,000 calling cards. About 700 fans swarmed creator Braeden Days at Santa Monica Pier, and about 1,000 turned out at the TCL Chinese Theatre the next day. On finale day, players worked their way across the city to a payphone carrying a recorded message from the film’s lead, Stuart Reid, then tracked down the courier himself before the final clue led them to the case.
By the numbers
About 70 million views across campaign content
14,000 new Instagram followers
About 60,000 visits to lookagain.la
More than 5,600 registration submissions
About 100,000 views of the film on Prime Video and 40,000 on Tubi
The creators
The campaign drew in creators across Los Angeles and online, including collaborations with Braeden Days, Dr Pepper Man, Philip DeFranco, Alex Pearlman, Jinx Ultra Violet, Lucky Card Erik, JasonTheWeen, Stable Ronaldo, Arky and Ripyz, who together have more than 35 million followers across platforms, and posts from Editing with Ego, McKenzi Brooke, Fikshun, Girl Who Eats Art, Tracy Rehart, Jnizmo, Black Snow, Hyxx Gaming, Matthew Torres, Luke Mizel, Austun Reid, RE, Los Angeles Fun Events, The Film Memes, Cinema Solace, LA Explained, Los Angeles Bucket List and Places Los Angeles.
The reviews and coverage
Critics embraced the film along the way. INFLUX Magazine called it “an impressive directorial debut that embraces its neo-noir influences” (8/10), Film Threat wrote that “every scene is a stunning visual treat,” IndyRed gave it four out of five stars, and Screen Critix called it “an exceptionally confident piece of filmmaking.” The hunt and the film were featured in LA Weekly, BroadwayWorld and 1883 Magazine, and the launch announcement ran on AP News.
“The biggest lesson is that people will invest deeply in a story when you give them a meaningful role in it,” said David Soltani, who designed the contest.
The Man With the Silver Case, Colin Best’s self-funded feature debut, was shot over 19 days on a single camera in the coldest Swiss winter in 20 years. It is streaming on Prime Video, Tubi and Apple TV. Official rules are at lookagain.la/rules. Photos and video from the campaign are available on request.
About The Man With the Silver Case
The Man With the Silver Case is a black-and-white neo-noir thriller written and directed by Colin Best and produced by Chris Martin and Beni Lehmann, with Colin Best and Joby Ogwyn as executive producers. It stars Stuart Reid, Lara Marian and Tom Ohmer. Shot in Switzerland and released by Freestyle Digital Media, the film is streaming on Prime Video, Tubi and Apple TV.
Zac Hunter
Thelemata, LLC
+1 757-304-2279
zac@thelemata.com
Legal Disclaimer:
EIN Presswire provides this news content “as is” without warranty of any kind. We do not accept any responsibility or liability
for the accuracy, content, images, videos, licenses, completeness, legality, or reliability of the information contained in this
article. If you have any complaints or copyright issues related to this article, kindly contact the author above.
Media gallery
