by Caroline Gabsewics
Staff Writer
Lights, camera, action – all in 48 hours.
Jacksonville’s first 48 Hour Film Project went off without a hitch and local organizers are already planning next year’s project.
Mac McDonald, producer of the 48 Hour Film Project in Jacksonville, said the project generated a lot of buzz in Jacksonville’s film and entertainment industry.
“I’ve known that there is a large film and entertainment industry here in town, but I didn’t know it was that large,” he said. “It (the project) was a huge success and we look forward to doing it again next year.”
This year, 26 teams participated in the project and McDonald is already hoping that 48 teams participate in next year’s project.
“It really was the 300-plus people involved in all the teams that made this a huge hit,” said McDonald, who is also the president of the Jacksonville Chapter of the Florida Motion Picture & Television Association. “The whole city got behind it and that’s what is really great.”
The 48 Hour Film Project wrapped up on Aug. 25 with a showing of the top 13 films out of the 26 that were submitted. The films were shown at the San Marco Theatre. Tickets were sold out for the event, he said.
There were professional judges in the audience from the local entertainment industry who judged each film.
This year’s “Best of Jacksonville 2007” went to the team Psycho Film Binge for their film “Easter Bunny Super Hero.” The team will now compete with the other 52 cities that participated this year at the national finals, with the potential of being named “The Best 48 Hour Film of 2007.” The winning film at the national level will be shown at well known film festivals like Cannes and Filmapalooza.
Psycho Film Binge’s team leader Danny Quitter said since the first screening at the Main Library on Aug. 7, there was a “buzz” about their film.
“The buzz continued but I was trying not to take it seriously,” he said. “Then we started picking up award after award.
“It was a huge thrill.”
“Easter Bunny Super Hero” screen writer Sharon Y. Cobb said the team was shocked when they heard they won “Best of Jacksonville 2007.” Cobb also won Best Screen Writer.
Cobb, who has been writing feature films for 20 years, said her biggest challenge was writing a script in an hour and a half.
“It is such a short turn-around,” she said. “I lived in Hollywood for eight years and I am used to tight deadlines, but I have never been under this kind of pressure.”
The team was able to meet a few months in advance to talk about some ideas for the 4-7 minute film. But it wasn’t until the night of Aug. 3 that they found out different pieces of the puzzle that each team had to incorporate into their film.
“There were parts of the film that they didn’t learn about until that first night we met,” said McDonald. “They didn’t know the genre, a specific character, props, line dialogue and a Jacksonville landmark that they had to use.
“The teams had an idea of what they wanted to do, but until they got those, they couldn’t get started.”
From there the teams wrote, shot the film, edited and scored the film in 48 hours.
Psycho Film Binge had to create a film that incorporated a holiday and a super hero, which was the genre they were given. From there they came up with the character “Easter Bunny Super Hero,” which became the name of the film. Cobb said the film is about how the Easter Bunny feels that he is being taken for granted and displaced by children because of the popularity of super heroes. The Jacksonville landmark the team included in the film was the Main Library.
“Because of the pressure from the 48 hour film project, it really pushed our creativity,” said Cobb.
Next Year’s 48 Hour Film Project is in April instead of August. McDonald said it is a great way to see the talent Jacksonville has and what people are capable of.
“This competition has given the Jacksonville film community energy like I’ve never seen before,” said Cobb.
Quitter, a producer and director for Ch. 17, added that he is looking forward to next year’s project and will try to keep together the same team.
“Even though our team was largely made up of professionals in the film and entertainment industry, we still got a chance to look at all of the other good films and the young talented people we have right here in Northeast Florida,” said Quitter.