48 Hour Film Project returns to Columbus

Anna Ripken
Wed, 17 Jul 2019 01:00:34 +0000
Arts & Life, Movies, Cannes, contest, featured, film, film festival, filmapalooza, movie

48 Film team Aura Media Productions works on getting its short film together in a limited amount of time. Credit: Courtesy of 48 Hour Film Project

Filmmakers in Columbus, Ohio, will soon be challenged to write, shoot and edit a short film over the course of a single weekend in July, when the 48 Hour Film Project comes to town in search of the best short films.

The 48 Hour Film Project is a contest that challenges participating teams to make the best short film they can in two days, according to its website. The project travels the world for teams who will present their short films on the big screen in their respective cities.

Films will then be selected by top judges for showcase at Filmapalooza, an international film festival hosted by 48 Hour. Top films from Filmapalooza are then shown at Cannes Short Film Corner.

The 48 Hour film challenge kicks off when teams draw two genres out of a hat and either decide to use one of the genres or a combination of both, including options such as action and adventure, comedy, drama and more.

Current Columbus teams registered for the contest include Area Code Productions, Dark Canvas Films, Edwin J. Hill and more.

Vincent Tricaso, filmmaker for Area Code, gained experience producing skateboarding videos when he was younger, leading him to pursue a film studies degree from Ohio State — which he acquired in 2018 — and participate in the 48 Hour Film Project for the first time last year.

Tricaso’s team last year ended up selecting western and musical genres, combining the two to create “High Noon,” a musical parody of the 1952 film.

“When we were making it, I felt like it wasn’t that strong of a film, but then when we were editing it and doing it and putting it all together, it really turned out to be something I really enjoyed,” Tricaso said.

Over the course of the weekend, teams must produce their films based on their genre selections and a character, prop and line provided by 48 Hour for the teams to include in their films.

Founded in 2001, the 48 Hour Film Project travels to more than cities across six continents, from Albuquerque, New Mexico, to Amsterdam, according to its website. It provides aspiring filmmakers with the opportunity to enter the international contest and potentially attend Cannes Film Festival — not only to showcase their films in the Short Film Corner, but connect with other filmmakers and industry professionals to expand upon their career.

“With last year’s experience, it was really good networking,” Tricaso said. “We’ve met some people from that, and I just think it’s overall good experience. So, I use this more to hone in my skills, not as something that I think is going to be super spectacular. I love the challenge, and I love the different atmosphere than what usual, typical sets bring.”

More than 325,000 people have participated in the 48 Hour Film Project since its founding, according to the website, resulting in the production of more than 25,000 films.

“We’ve been in Columbus since 2006, and that really is one of the longest running 48 Hour cities,” Mark Ruppert, creator and executive producer of 48 Hour, said. “It’s always great to see the creativity of the filmmakers in Columbus. And we’ve got, I think, a record number of teams participating this year [in Columbus].”

The 48 Hour Film Project kicks off in Columbus with genre selection on July 26 at 6 p.m. and concludes on July 28 at 7:30 p.m., by which time teams must have submitted their final short films. Premiere screenings take place Aug. 4 at the Gateway Film Center.