"48 Hour Film Project" Ready to Roll in Miami/Lauderdale

By Jeff Stratton Wed., Jul. 28 2010 at 11:39 AM

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Have an extra $155 just sitting around? Who doesn't in these fund-flush days? And if you happen to be sitting on a video camera too, you've got what it takes to enter the "48 Hour Film Project," which gives local filmmakers the chance to make the area's best short film, which will then compete with shorts from all over the world.

The organizers call it a "wild, sleepless weekend" (and that could involve a lot of things here in South Florida) in which contestants have just two days to write, shoot, edit, and score a little movie.

On Friday in Miami is a meet-and-greet party to prime the creative pump (and probably your liver), and the kickoff is next Friday, August 6. That's when your team is handed a prop, a genre, a character, and a line of dialogue -- then you scamper off to do whatever it is you do.

There are quite a few teams already registered, and space is limited, so pony up that registration fee and get started. Last year, 40,000 people made 3,000 films in 76 cities, and this year's project is set to beat that record.

You can make the movie entirely on your lonesome or get 100 of your friends to bang out a huge song-and-dance production; it's up to you.

What you can do in advance: scout for locations. Get your cast and crew in line. Buy a new lens or tripod. But that's it: You won't have any idea what else your project will require until next Friday.

And no fair calling your uncle Werner Herzog for tips -- that's cheating. But if you win the SoFla competition, you receive a trophy and some editing software and get your film shown August 11 and 12 at the Hollywood Performing Arts Center. If you're lucky enough to win the international award -- which means you beat everyone else in the world -- you get a nicer trophy, a check for $3,000, some nicer software -- and a screening at the Cannes Film Festival. Not bad.

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