48FILM Project

Last updated

Known as 48FILM

48FILM
Location Los Angeles
Founded2009
Website https://www.48filmproject.com/

48FILM is an international short film festival and online competition founded in 2009. The competition is open from January to November each year. Professional and amateur filmmakers worldwide are given 48 hours to write, film, edit, produce and upload a short 4-9 minute movie. [1] The competitors' works are judged by a jury of renowned film personalities, and the films of 15 finalists are screened at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Los Angeles, where the grand winner receives the prize of $10,000. [2] [3] More than 90,000 filmmakers from 130 countries actively participated in the festival by 2016. [4] [5]

Contents

History

Francesco Vitali and Chris Siametis started a film festival in Greece in 2009. Originally it was a film competition only for Greek nationals to create a short film in 48 hours. 48 hour Go Green Athens was a success, and the income from the screening was given to the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). The winner's film was screened at Cannes. To be able to found an international festival, they moved to Cyprus, set up an online company and made an online film festival. Within 20 days, they had 330 entries from all over the world. Online events were held concurrently with live events in 10 major cities in the United States. The top 15 winning films were shown in the Short Film Corner at Cannes and NAB Show in Las Vegas. Deciding to increase the scope of the festival, they moved to the United States. [5] [6]

It was in Los Angeles that Vitali as executive producer and Siametis as co-executive producer, together with a team of filmmakers, writers, producers, cinematographers, directors and actors, created an online festival for short films and called it 48FILM Project. [7] [4] In the first few years of the competition, the films of 15 finalists were screened at the Cannes Film Festival. In 2013, the finalists' films were screened at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Samuel Goldwyn Theater in Beverly Hills. [7] For the last five years, they have been screened at the Directors Guild of America. [1]

For the first time in 2014, 48FILM Project provided a budget of $48,000 for an additional prize. It was given to the best producer, best director and best writer to join forces and shoot a feature film in Hollywood in 2015. [7] In the same year, the competition was accompanied by 48 Music Project, where musicians from all over the world had to create an original song within 48 hours. The prize was a contract with a major record company in Los Angeles plus $10,000 in cash and prizes. Moreover, the 15 finalists performed in front of a music-industry audience in Hollywood. [8]

More than 90,000 filmmakers from 130 countries actively participated in the 48FILM Project festival by 2016. [4] [5]

In 2017, Vitali and Siametis started 48Film Project Hellas 2017 - Respect Greece, a festival aimed at Greek and Cypriot filmmakers, artists, directors and producers. The 30 finalists are slated to have their films screened in Los Angeles and to compete for the grand prize of $5,000. It was announced that footage from the films would be used to rebrand Greece in the documentary Respect Greece, presenting Greek culture to the world. [9] [10]

Rules

The competition is open to anyone with an internet connection, regardless of whether they are professionals or amateurs. The competitors keep the rights to their films and choose whatever genre they want. Everyone is eligible to enter at any point from January to November each year, as many times as they like. However, once a filmmaker has applied online, he or she has two days (48 hours) to imagine a story, shoot and edit the film. They are given additional two hours to upload it to the festival site. When filmmakers submit their application, they are informed about the three elements that their film must contain to prove that it was really made in 48 hours: a character, a prop, and a line of dialog. [11] [7] For example, the 2016 winner Clara was required to include a character named James, a perfume bottle, and the question "Is that a dagger which I see before me?". [11]

Films are judged by a jury of renowned film personalities in December each year. [2] The 15 finalists are announced in January. [12] The first prize of $10,000 is awarded at the Directors Guild of America (DGA) in Los Angeles in February or March. [3] The top 15 films are screened at DGA before an audience of prominent producers, directors, agents, managers and industry professionals. [4] [1]

48FILM phase out during the pandemic and is going back at the Directors Guild of America the spring of 2021.

Awards

These are all the winners of 48FILM Project. [13]

2011 Winner

AwardWinner
Best FilmCharlie, the Man Who Brought Back the Sea

2012 Winners

AwardWinner
Best FilmHappy Days
People's ChoiceA Place to Love
Runner Up Best FilmThe Other Half
2nd Runner Up Best FilmWe Are Natural Superheroes

2013 Winners

AwardWinner
Best FilmUnspoken [14]
Runner Up Best FilmTrunk Space
2nd Runner Up Best FilmAn Uncomfortable Truth
People's Choice AwardWorking Class Hero
Best DirectingTom Ruddock, Unspoken
Best ActorGianvincenzo Pugliese, Working Class Hero
Best ActressJustine Priestley, Unspoken
Best ScreenplayRiccardo Toppan, Manuel Giordano, Marta Lombardelli, Working Class Hero
Best ProductionJonathan and Olivia Flint, The Space Between
Best CinematographyMichael Head, Trunk Space
Best MusicMichael Head, Trunk Space

2014 Winners

AwardWinner
Best FilmThe Deal
Runner Up Best FilmUnkillable
2nd Runner Up Best FilmKidnapping
People's Choice AwardHiccups
Missing Memories
Best DirectorChris Cronin, Unkillable
Best ActorSal Hernandez, The Deal
Best ActressJúlia Creus, In the Box
Fiamma Bennet, Kidnapping
Best WriterSal Hernandez, Pablo Schmitt, The Deal
Best ProducerVassili Rouan, Kidnapping
Best CinematographerAlex Stone, Unkillable
Best EditorMichael Lubin, Hiccups
Aaron Morga, The Malignant 8

2015 Winners

AwardWinner
Best FilmClara [11]
Runner Up Best FilmMetaception
2nd Runner Up Best FilmSafe
People's Choice Award
Best DirectorMarco Santi, Clara
Best ActorDelivery Hummingbird, After
Best ActressFrancesca Napoli, Clara
Best WriterLucio Lepri, Andrea Piezzo, Esse Est Percipi
Best ProductionMarco Santi, Greta Biffarino, Clara
Best CinematographerLucio Lepri, Esse Est Percipi
Best EditorMarco Santi, Clara
Best Original MusicStefano Milella, Clara

2016 Winners

AwardWinner
Best FilmChoke [15]
People's Choice AwardThe Nursery
Best Directing Nancy Paton, Choke
Best Actor in a Leading RoleOliver Price, The Wanderer
Best Actress in a Leading RoleShannon Beeby, Apples
Best Actor in a Supporting RoleTyler Derench, A Night at Cagney's
Best Actress in a Supporting RoleJulia Robert, Victoire
Best WritingZachary Byer, Nick Byer, Gus Langley, Morning Wood
Best EditingGergana D. Angelova, Insight
Best CinematographyLiam Iandoli, Choke
Best Music (Original Score)Matthew Morgan, Victoire

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References

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  6. Cole Hayes (9 May 2017). "48 Film Project Takes Hollywood". The Huffington Post.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Jorge Guevara (20 February 2014). "The 48 Film Project Officially Announced". San Diego Red.
  8. Angelica Catalano (26 February 2014). "48 Music Project offers record deal for creating winning song in 48 hours". Music Times.
  9. "Κινηματογραφική ανάδειξη της χώρας μας σε όλο τον κόσμο" (in Greek). Naftemporiki. 11 February 2017.
  10. Francesco Vitali (31 May 2016). "Respect Greece (2017)". IMDb.
  11. 1 2 3 "Gira il corto a Sirmione, vola a Hollywood per un film" (in Italian). Giornale di Brescia. 7 January 2016.
  12. "Giovane regista coneglianese trionfa ad Hollywood" (in Italian). Treviso Today. 12 January 2017.
  13. "All Time Winners". 48 Film Project.
  14. Jason Brubaker (18 January 2015). "48 Film Project Hosts Contest for Filmmakers". Filmmaking Stuff. Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 9 April 2017.
  15. Sonaiya Kelley (24 March 2017). "Filmmaker Nancy Paton: 'Half the world is female and half male. It needs to be that in our films'". Los Angeles Times.