Another Chicago 48 Hour Film Project weekend kicks off on Friday, September 23rd, and we have pulled together a team for competition once again! This wild weekend of filmmaking occurs once a year and challenges teams to write, shoot, and edit a short film in just…you guessed it…48 hours!

We are no strangers to these timed film competitions, having participated in several over the years. They are always exciting, exhausting, but most of all, fun, and it’s a great opportunity to gather a group of creatives to simply create. No client, no budget, and no pressure, except for the ticking clock!

A few years ago, we put together a blog following one of these timed competition weekends to provide some insights and lessons learned from the experience.

Last year, we competed in the 48 Hour Film Project, and ended up winning “Best Actor” and “Best Editing”.

You can check out our award-winning 2021 short film here:

This year’s team, comprised of some cast and crew from last year, as well as some new faces, will kick things off Friday evening. This is when teams are given two genres to choose from, a required prop, line of dialogue, character name and occupation to use within the film. From there, the brainstorm begins and a script starts to come together!

Teams are allowed to utilize the 48 hours however they see fit, but we typically shoot all day Saturday and then edit, score, mix, and finalize on Sunday, submitting a final file by the required evening deadline.

Wish us luck, send us coffee, and stay tuned for the final work of art completed this weekend!

To learn more about the 48 Hour Film Project, visit: https://www.48hourfilm.com/chicago/48hfp.