48 Hour Film Project Judging

I had the great pleasure of being one of the three judges at the 48 Hour Film Project on November 6th, 2009. The other judges were Li Cheuk To, Artistic Director of the Hong Kong International Film Festival and Liz Kerr, film reviewer from The Hollywood Reporter.

There were 14 films but only 10 were eligible because the other 4 handed in their films late. They have strict rules regarding when the project begins and ends. Although the four late films were not eligible for the juried prizes such as Best Film, Best Director, etc., they were still eligible for the Audience Award.

I was impressed by some of the film’s production value and quality of writing. One film had locations such as an apartment, street scene, a bar, a hair salon and a pirate ship complete with Pirates of the Caribbean costumes. They had to come up with a concept, a scrīpt, locations, then shoot it and finally edit and add music and effects all in 48 hours. That’s very impressive.

In the end, the film that won Best Film utilized only a couple of simple locations and one principal actor. It was called , produced by Fly Eye Media and directed by Zac Murphy. Best Director went to Thomas Lo for the film , produced by Spontaneous Combustion. And the Audience Award winner was , by A-Team.

The filmmakers who put themselves on the line and produced such thought-provoking and entertaining films were the real stars of the evening. They should all be very proud of their accomplishment. It was a great inspiration to many. Congratulations to all.