48Hours


48Hours is a New Zealand film-making competition. It involves teams of various sizes competing to write, shoot, edit and score a short film, which must be between 1 and 5 minutes long, over a single 48-hour period. Developed from the US-based 48 Hour Film Project, which was run in Auckland in 2003, 48Hours has been running as a New Zealand-only event since 2004. with regional competitions organised in 8 cities around New Zealand: Auckland, Hamilton, Gisborne, Rotorua, Taranaki, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin. The 2020 competition was scheduled to take place from May 22-24 but was postponed due to uncertainty surrounding the spread of Covid-19 in New Zealand.
The event is organised by Anthony "Ant" Timpson. Teams attend a launch ceremony on a Friday night where each team is given a randomly selected genre within which to base their film's theme. They are also given three compulsory features which are common to all teams. These are a line of dialogue, a prop, a character, and since 2010, a "technical" element.
All creative work required to produce the film must be undertaken and completed within the 48 hours of the competition. This includes storylining, scriptwriting, filming, editing and audio mixing. Teams must deliver their finished film to the competition organisers by the Sunday evening to be eligible for prizes, although late deliveries will still be screened in the heats.
By 2011 the competition had grown to include more than 800 teams nationwide with at least 10,000 people believed to be involved.

Compulsory elements

Every year teams are given a number of compulsory elements to help ensure that film has been wholly created on the shoot weekend. The elements include a character with a gender-neutral name, a character trait, a line of dialogue, a prop, and as of 2010, a technical shot. As well as these, teams are randomly allocated a genre for their film. 2017 saw the introduction of themes, different elements, and the ULTRA48 Challenge for teams that elect to do it for added difficulty.
YearCharacterCharacter traitLine of dialoguePropTechnical shotShoot weekendRefs.
2003Gnarly WatsonRock 'n' roll legend"I didn't see that coming."Torch
2004Jesse McCloud
Total has-been"Do you mind if I have the last one?"Ice
2004Terry Spears
Model"Just put that down nice and easy."Doll
2005Bodil de ResnyAnimal lover"Please don't do that."Banana 13–15 May
2006Robin SladeEternal optimist"That's what I'm talking about."Mirror26–28 May
2007Jerry ReedHypochondriac"What do you call that?"Rope18–20 May
2008Kerry PostPerfectionist"Wait a minute."Brush16–18 May
2009Alex PuddleExaggerator"It doesn't fit."Rock8–10 May
2010Sidney MansonFabricator"When you look at it that way..."Broken toyDolly zoom16-18 Apr
2011Bobby YoungEx-bully"What have you got?"Bent wireFreeze-frame shot20–22 May
2012Nicky BrickUnlucky person"I did that."LeafSlow motion18–20 May
2013Vic MeyerInsomniac"Did you hear that?"CardPoint of view shot24–26 May
2014Morgan FosterLiar"Not with that you're not."BallExtreme close up/macro4-6 Apr
2015Harper HarrisonThoughtless"Oh, really?"BreadMatch cut/match dissolve1–3 May
2016Charlie FlowersThoughtful person"One more time"WoolRack focus16-18 Sep

YearCharacterPhysical ElementSound EffectTechnical shotULTRA48 ChallengeShoot weekendRefs.
2017 A femaleCollisionWilhelm ScreamSmash cutCreate a sequel to any of your team's previous 48 shorts AND
include the required elements from that year.		25-27 Aug
2018PuddleSlamming doorShadow or silhouetteMain characters must be children and/or animals.11-13 May
2019WindLaughterDouble-take, overhead shotSplit-screen and break the 4th-wall.14-16 Jun
2020 A PhotographAn EchoAn Arc ShotN/A17-19 Apr

Genres by year

Regional and national winners

After initially being held in Auckland in 2003 as part of the international 48 Hour Film Project, the independent 48Hours began in 2004 with teams in Auckland and Wellington. At its peak in 2011, it was represented in eight cities.
; 2003
; 2004
; 2005
; 2006
; 2007
; 2008
; 2009
; 2010
; 2011
; 2012
; 2013
; 2014
; 2015
; 2016
; 2017
; 2018
; 2019
; 2020
; Notes