Julie Knopp
We sit down with award-winning filmmaker Lillie Gardner to discuss her hilarious new web series, and how the idea stemmed from a head of lettuce.
Veganism is the low-hanging fruit of comedy. Need a fall guy? Write in an annoying vegan.
But that might change, with the help of Lillie Gardner. An Austin Film Festival Winner and one of MovieMaker Magazine’s 25 Screenwriters to Watch in 2023, Lillie is a rising screenwriter and director. She is currently writing and directing a web series named VEGAN PLEASE, inspired by her experiences as a vegan.
VEGAN PLEASE is a comedy web series about a people-pleasing vegan in Minnesota, starring Nicole Weber. With the help of her three friends, an advice blogger named Elizabeth works to build her vegan business in the polite land of “Minnesota Nice”—but confrontation becomes unavoidable after she falls in love with a butcher. The first episodes premiered on April 20.
We invited Lillie to have a conversation about VEGAN PLEASE and why she created it.
Why did you write VEGAN PLEASE?
Lillie: I grew up in St. Paul, Minnesota before living on the East Coast for about a decade. After I moved back home (and accidentally married a good ol’-fashioned meat-eater), I was struck by how many awkward and uncomfortable conversations I found myself in as a new vegan in a Midwest-omnivore’s world. After a few years of this, I started to feel like I had more than enough material for a TV series—a series that I desperately wanted to watch and resonate with, and one that didn’t seem to exist anywhere.
Can you tell us about one of the episodes of VEGAN PLEASE?
Lillie: In the first episode, Elizabeth finds herself on a doomed first date at a steakhouse at the behest of her dad. She doesn’t really want to reveal that she’s vegan—concerned it will cause drama that just isn’t worth it—but after she looks at the menu and reads that every option is “MEAT,” she knows she doesn’t have a choice. Once her date realizes she’s vegan, he asks her what her reasoning is (“Is it for health?”). When she says she’s vegan for animals, well… everything she’s been trying to avoid is unleashed.
How does VEGAN PLEASE challenge conventional representations of vegans in the media?
Lillie: If a movie or series has any vegan character at all, they’re typically the one-note butt of a joke—one that often relies on gendered stereotypes. Male vegan characters tend to be portrayed as pale malnourished weirdos, while female vegan characters tend to be militant and unapproachable. I don’t relate to these depictions, and I wanted to watch something about vegans that resonated more with my own experiences.
I was craving a story that represented authentic vegan experiences while remaining lighthearted and fun—and would also be welcoming for any kind of audience to enjoy, vegan or not. I’m not trying to make a show that says, “You have to go vegan!” Rather, I hope to help normalize the existence of vegan people as, well, real people. People who can have fun (I know, vegans having fun? What?), carry a sense of humor about themselves, and might not be perfect, but do care passionately about something.
Did any specific experiences spark your idea for the series?
Lillie: The first year I was living back home in Minnesota, I went out to dinner at an upscale restaurant with a group of people. I had been to this restaurant in the past; it didn’t have any vegan options, but they were always able to whip up a vegan salad for me. However, on this outing, the waiter served me an entire head of lettuce (with two cherry tomatoes for garnish). When I was served this head of lettuce, much to my own horror, I politely said, “Thank you so much!”
In the weeks that followed, I couldn’t get this experience out of my head. I couldn’t decide which was more ridiculous: being served a head of lettuce for dinner, or the fact that I’d acted like eating lettuce for dinner was a normal day for me. This head of lettuce has come to represent a lot of the interactions I have as a vegan—it’s the reaction you didn’t ask for, but now it’s yours to deal with somehow. With VEGAN PLEASE, I’m not only trying to ask a certain subset of the population, “Hey, why do you get so weird about this?”—I’m also trying to look internally to ask myself, “Why do you get so weird about this?”
Do you see your work on VEGAN PLEASE as a form of advocacy?
Lillie: My advocacy goal with VEGAN PLEASE is to add a small slice of levity to the overall pie of activities furthering the vegan movement. I don’t expect anyone watching the show to suddenly decide they’re changing their lifestyle (there are already plenty of powerful documentaries in the world that can have this effect); rather, I’m trying to create something that represents vegans more authentically, humanizes animal advocates, and invites others into the topic in a fun way.
I’m a big believer in the idea that you don’t have to be vegan to eat vegan. If I can create something that helps lead to a future where the word “vegan” is less negatively charged in mainstream media, I’ll feel very accomplished.
Conclusion: What’s next for VEGAN PLEASE
The two-episode VEGAN PLEASE premiere, co-hosted by Compassionate Action for Animals, took place at Hark! Cafe in Minneapolis on April 20th. The episodes are now available to stream on YouTube. Lillie and her team ultimately hope to create a 10-12 episode season. The team is currently entering a crowdfunding phase, where supporters can pledge financial support to expand the series. With sufficient funding, the web series could serve as proof-of-concept for a broader TV series.
Whether you’re vegan or omnivore, Lillie hopes VEGAN PLEASE will make you laugh and question why we all "get so weird" about veganism. Start streaming now!
