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48 Film Project 2014

To all filmmakers! Ever wanted to challenge yourself to complete that short film production all within 48 hours? All while having fun, to be creative, to collaborate with friends/crews, and have a lifetime experience like never before?

Here is your opportunity! Check out and join 48 Film Project at www.48filmproject.com! The Ultimate International Online Short Film Competition!

You register now, and then you decide when you are ready to shoot. You pick your own dates, week days or weekend doesn't matter, any time , from anywhere in this earth. Also, you choose your favorite genre and when you push the button "start your competition" in your profile, you get assign the 3 elements randomly from our system. And guess what... everything is ONLINE. All you need is your creativity and an Internet connection!!! This is your film's freedom.

The 48 FILM Project is giving to the top winner more than $10,000 in cash and prizes and we screen the TOP 15 winning films in Hollywood. Starting this year and every year now on, the dream team of our winners, a Director, a Producer and a Writer, will get to Hollywood and will be given $48,000 budget to shoot a feature film!!!

Check out our "Mystery Coupon" registration special for the month of April too! What are you waiting for? Grab whatever you need and come take part in 48 Film Project today!
 
The first competition they did in 2011 was done in conjunction with the 48 hour film project. I'm not sure what happened, but about 6 months after that competition the 48HFP people sent out an email making it clear that they were no longer associated in any way with the 48 Film competitions. In fact, they still have a website up with a disclaimer and warning about these competitions:

http://www.48gogreendisclaimer.com/

Our team participated in that first competition, but hasn't participated in any since. One of the things I didn't like was the way they set up the audience choice voting - to vote you had to register on their site, and they immediately were pushing for people to upgrade to a 'pro' membership. I really didn't feel like encouraging my friends to vote for our film knowing it was basically a way to market to them. It seems like they've now made upgrading to 'pro' a requirement to vote at all, which is even worse.

I find it kind of disingenuous that they are still using the logo based so closely on the original 48HFP when they are not affiliated with them, and it seems to me as if they are trying to capitalize on the familiarity people have with the logo and name to promote their own festival.

It also seems like with these new rules they've completely eliminated a lot of the aspects I enjoy in the 48 hour competitions. There's no set dates, you get random assigned elements (part of the fun is seeing how everyone else deals with the same set of required elements), and there's no theatrical screening. It appears they've basically made it as efficient as possible for themselves so that they can collect more entry fees.

So, I guess that's my take on it - I personally won't participate in their competitions because it feels like their whole approach is a little shady. I'll be interested to see if they have any response to this, but I suspect not - they've promoted their stuff here multiple times in the past and it seems like each time they create a new user to post the details and then never come back again under the same account.
 
Our team participates regularly in various film competitions, although the crew and cast vary from year to year, as to be expected. We considered taking part in the 2011 48 Hour Film Project contest, but we didn’t like having to relinquish our rights in perpetuity, and we backed out. In later years in 48 Film Project competitions, we have never experienced the issues you raise, and we retain the copyright to our films.

We like the 48 Film Project concept because as filmmakers we get freedom to choose our genre, which, as you know, is crucial for anyone in the creative arts. We also like the freedom to choose our time and place for completing our entry, and the fact that it is a global, online competition. For those of us with full time work commitments, this is a real blessing. It gives us more opportunity to participate than if we were tied to specific kick-off and drop-off deadlines in whatever city. Are you sure you are talking about the same competition as this one?

The PRO members round of voting, for their People’s Choice Award, we think is a good idea. It makes us confident that bona fide members are voting, rather than everyone’s mum and dad, aunt and uncle casting votes for any old film, under fake accounts. Loyalty is laudable, but there are limits and where it affects the quality of the voting, makes it all rather pointless.

We didn’t feel at all pressured, either to register our team, or to sign up to the pro membership. 48 Film Project advertises and promotes, sure, but doesn’t everybody? And what is $19? It’s hardly the price of a family bucket of fast food, for a lifetime membership. We got free tickets to their 2013 screening at AMPAS last year. Tickets to AMPAS for a night out, for $19, compared to around $300 for a 48 Hour FP provincial screening? Are you kidding? What’s not to like?

You mentioned their logo was similar to 48Hour FP. We noticed the new branding of the 48 Film Project web site this year. It looks totally different from their previous style. Are you sure you are talking about the same company and haven’t mixed up 48 Film Project with another organization? There are hundreds of 48-style competitions in the world, so it’s easy to get confused, I guess.
Bottom line we are 48ers, we love 48 FILM Project more than any other similar or “copy cut project”
Plus there is no comparison between a very old fashion 48 hour local oriented 1980’s event, with the absolutely all time classy International 48 FILM Project.
 
Welcome to IndieTalk, Mr. Smith!

How fortuitous that you discovered IT just as this topic came up, and that you were passionate enough about it to join and share your passion with us in your first post. Some might dismiss it as coincidence, but I prefer to view it as serendipity.

Are you sure you are talking about the same competition as this one?

Yes, I'm quite sure I'm talking about the same competition.

We like the 48 Film Project concept because as filmmakers we get freedom to choose our genre, which, as you know, is crucial for anyone in the creative arts.

Sure, choosing your genre is a nice option, because it removes some constraint from the competition. But isn't working creatively within a set of constraints the whole point of these competitions? The chance of getting a genre you're not familiar with can force you to step outside your comfort zone and stretch creatively. If all you're looking for is the freedom to do what you want, why do one of these competitions at all? Why not just go make a film on your own next weekend?

We also like the freedom to choose our time and place for completing our entry, and the fact that it is a global, online competition. For those of us with full time work commitments, this is a real blessing. It gives us more opportunity to participate than if we were tied to specific kick-off and drop-off deadlines in whatever city.

Personally, I've got more than a full time work commitment at the moment, and somehow managed to complete six similar competitions last year despite having to work with their specific deadlines. But I completely understand that some people might not be able to commit a specific weekend to a competition, and there is some appeal to the flexibility that choosing your own dates affords.

However, you trade off a lot of valuable things for that flexibility. The Friday night kickoff in the 48HFP is a great time to meet & network with your fellow filmmakers, and it's an exciting time as everyone is amped up for the weekend ahead. The drawing of the genres is a big part of the fun, as everyone hopes to get certain ones while dreading the possibility of drawing "musical/western".

Then throughout the weekend everyone's posting on twitter, facebook, instagram, etc - you can get a feel for what other teams are doing, commiserate with each other's struggles, and get inspired to step up your own work when you see someone else doing something that looks awesome. Sometimes you even run across each other's productions as you run around the city to different locations.

Sunday night it's a rush to the deadline, and a race to the finish line. Nothing quite like having to jump on the motorcycle and split traffic all the way across town to make it in time. Or sprinting down the sidewalk, laptop in hand as the render bar chugs along, hoping it'll finish in the next couple of minutes. People are cheering, there's a countdown to the finish, and afterwards you get to hang out with the other filmmakers and swap tales of the crazy weekend you just had.

About a week later you gather with a bunch of the same people in a theater to watch your film on the big screen. You get to experience your own film in front of a packed audience and truly discover what worked and what didn't. You get to see your fellow filmmaker's work the same way, and a big part of the fun is seeing all the different ways people interpreted the shared required elements and incorporated them into their films. There's a Q&A with the teams at the end, so you get to see the faces behind the films you just watched and then meet and talk with them in person afterwards.

And the audience choice voting is structured in such a way as to filter out the effects of stacking the audience with your friends. We've won the audience choice award with 3 people in the audience, despite other teams having 10-20 people there. That makes me a lot more confident that the voting reflects the audience's experience of the films, and isn't just a popularity contest based on who could get the most people to come vote for their film.

A few weeks after that there's usually another screening for the winning films in the competition, where you can see the best of all the screenings, and it has all the same benefits of the first screening. And of course, the winning teams from all the different cities go on to compete globally against each other as well.

And finally, if you come back the next year you run into a lot of the same people. You get to see how people have grown and improved their skills over the past year. Maybe you even team up with some of the people you met the previous year, especially if you've collaborated with them on other projects since then.

It's all those community aspects that you lose when you have no set dates, no local kickoff or drop off, no local screenings. It may make it slightly more convenient, but that convenience comes at the cost of some of what I consider the most valuable aspects of these competitions.

And what is $19? It’s hardly the price of a family bucket of fast food, for a lifetime membership. We got free tickets to their 2013 screening at AMPAS last year. Tickets to AMPAS for a night out, for $19, compared to around $300 for a 48 Hour FP provincial screening? Are you kidding? What’s not to like?

Where are you coming up with the $300 number? Registration for either competition runs about the same price, $150.

You mentioned their logo was similar to 48Hour FP. We noticed the new branding of the 48 Film Project web site this year. It looks totally different from their previous style. Are you sure you are talking about the same company and haven’t mixed up 48 Film Project with another organization? There are hundreds of 48-style competitions in the world, so it’s easy to get confused, I guess.

You're right, they've removed some of the elements from their logo this year that made it look almost the same as the 48HFP logo. That's a step in the right direction, but it's not enough to change my views on them yet since they did use the more similar logo for the past couple of years. Their name also still trades on the 48HFP - leaving out the word 'hour' doesn't do much to convey that they are an unrelated competition. And you're right - there are a lot of other similar competitions, but it's generally not that easy to get confused because they have completely different names, things like '3 Day Film Challenge" or "Film Racing" or "Cinemasports". In fact, "48 Film Project" is the only one I'm aware of that would be so easy to confuse with the original.

Bottom line we are 48ers, we love 48 FILM Project more than any other similar or “copy cut project”

I'm glad you feel so strongly about it, and have had good experiences with them. But that doesn't change the fact that they are the 'copy cat' project - they launched the same year the 48HFP turned 10 years old and was already running in over 100 cities around the world. They made the choice to brand the project in such a way as to ensure confusion with the original, rather than putting in the work to build a brand and competition of their own. And personally I feel that the direction they've taken it over the past couple of years has eliminated a lot of the value that comes with participating in the original 48HFP.

Plus there is no comparison between a very old fashion 48 hour local oriented 1980’s event, with the absolutely all time classy International 48 FILM Project.

Now here's a point we can both agree on - there's absolutely no comparison. We'll just have to agree to disagree on which way the comparison goes.

And 1980's? Really? I think you're off by a couple decades. I've certainly got my own opinions on ways the 48HFP could be improved, based on my personal experiences in the competition, and I've considered starting my own competition to try implementing some of those ideas. Honestly, if I hadn't just moved across country I probably would have taken on the 48HFP producer role for my previous city and tried implementing my ideas there. But none of those ideas are anything like what 48 Film Project is doing, for a lot of the reasons I've stated above. And if I were to start my own competition I definitely wouldn't call it 48-anything - I'd put in the time and effort to build my own brand rather than trying to capitalize on someone else's.

So again, that's just my take on things, people can take it or leave it as they will.
 
I truly appreciate the fact that you dedicate so much time to “write a book” about the old fashioned local competition 48 hour FP, but I have to remind you of a few reasons that personally I will never again do a 48HFP. From now on I will only do 48 Film Project.

First of all, I keep the rights to my film. I do not give up the rights to my intellectual property. 48 Hour Film project is asking me, and actually makes me give away the rights to my film. This is insane. This is not the right way to treat a filmmaker if you are filmmaker as well.

So the 48 FILM Project states clearly:
“Keep the rights to your film. Retaining the rights to your art is of major importance to all artists, and filmmakers are no exception. 48 FILM Project believes in the integrity of your intellectual property while other similar competitions take the rights to your own film. We don't think it's fair that you pay, you give your energy, your effort, and creativity and they hold the rights. With 48filmproject.com the rights of your films belong only to YOU!”

Secondly I was asked to pay $265 + per person just to enter the screening of Filmapalooza to watch my own film. Me and my guests artists who worked for FREE to create a little short we had to pay to watch our own film. Our personal creation. And where? In a Chinese theater!!! A tourist spot in Sunset! While from the other competition people was entering FREE of charge at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to watch their winning films in the best theatre of the world, for FREE. How does that sound?

Third how about the great prize of more than $10,000 in cash the winner gets. How much money does a winner get from the 48HFP? No one knows, right? Who is judging the winning films all these years? This is so vague!!!! Don’t you think that filmmakers deserve better?

And again we agree to disagree it is your absolutely your right to do 48 Film Project or to do 48 HFP.
 
I truly appreciate the fact that you dedicate so much time to “write a book” about the old fashioned local competition 48 hour FP

It may seem like a book to you, but most of my posts tend to be long - that's just the way I think & write, and I'm a fast typist...

First of all, I keep the rights to my film. I do not give up the rights to my intellectual property. 48 Hour Film project is asking me, and actually makes me give away the rights to my film. This is insane. This is not the right way to treat a filmmaker if you are filmmaker as well.

Trust me, I'm very aware of the intellectual property issues involved in entering these contests; I've personally had a bad experience with another competition which required the filmmakers to give up the rights to their film. I do like that the 48 FIlm Project doesn't require this as many competitions do.

And to be clear - the 48HFP doesn't actually make you give away the rights. Their terms basically amount to a distribution agreement. For one year from the competition they have the exclusive right to license or sell your film, with revenues shared between the filmmaker and the organization. After that year the rights become non-exclusive and are shared by the filmmaker and organization equally. There's also a provision allowing for the filmmaker to pursue outside distribution even during that one year period. The filmmakers are also free to submit to festivals & other contests and post their film online during the one year agreement period.

The 48 Film Project does require you to grant them a license to distribute your film in any medium, and they also expressly forbid you from uploading the film to other sites like youtube or facebook (which the 48HFP does not) without obtaining permission first. That last clause is of more concern to me as that's the primary way we distribute our films after the competition is over.

So while the agreements are different, it's not nearly as simple as saying one requires you to give up your rights while the other leaves you free to do as you wish with your film. Each has it's own terms and it's up to the filmmakers to decide which are more agreeable to them.

Secondly I was asked to pay $265 + per person just to enter the screening of Filmapalooza to watch my own film. Me and my guests artists who worked for FREE to create a little short we had to pay to watch our own film. Our personal creation. And where? In a Chinese theater!!! A tourist spot in Sunset! While from the other competition people was entering FREE of charge at the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to watch their winning films in the best theatre of the world, for FREE. How does that sound?

Sounds great. Except that Filmapalooza is their international event at which all the city winners compete, and it's a five-day conference consisting of multiple screenings (over 100 short films and music videos), workshops, discussion panels, and parties - that's why it costs a couple hundred dollars to attend. And "a Chinese theater"? Sure, I guess that's one way to describe Grauman's, one of the most iconic landmarks in Hollywood, and a theater where major studios regularly hold premiers of their films.

The local screenings for the 48HFP usually have ticket prices of ~$10 and the teams get a couple tickets included with their entry fee - and everyone who completes a film gets to screen at those. The 48 Film screening is only for the top 15 films nationally, so most people entering the competition don't get the chance to see their film on the big screen at all - and since it isn't local to the filmmakers, most of those that do get selected to screen will have to factor in travel expenses as well.

Third how about the great prize of more than $10,000 in cash the winner gets. How much money does a winner get from the 48HFP? No one knows, right? Who is judging the winning films all these years? This is so vague!!!! Don’t you think that filmmakers deserve better?

The $10,000 prize is great. The 48HFP hasn't typically included cash prizes in the past, although it varies from year to year depending on their sponsors - my team actually won $3k in one of their competitions a few years ago (and we were just 3rd place). I believe this year they are offering a grand prize of $5k. But realistically that doesn't sway me either way - I don't enter these competitions to make money.

As for the judging it varies from city to city as the judges are local, and usually professionals in the local filmmaking scene. The nice thing about that is I've met the judges at most of the competitions we participated in and received personal feedback from them afterwards on what they liked and didn't like about our films.

And again we agree to disagree it is your absolutely your right to do 48 Film Project or to do 48 HFP.

Definitely. And I sincerely wish you (or anyone else who chooses to participate in either) luck in the competitions and look forward to seeing your work here in the screening room.
 
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Secondly I was asked to pay $265 + per person just to enter the screening of Filmapalooza to watch my own film.

Something else just occurred to me - if your film was screening at Filmapalooza that means you won your local city competition, correct? So that means you'd already had a couple of opportunities to see your film screened theatrically - first at the regular screening, and then again at the awards screening where you won. Plus, since your profile says you're in Atlanta it seems like the cost of flying across country and getting a hotel in LA for a week would have been a much bigger expense than the cost of the festival pass.

And I'm a little confused, you said in your first post that you decided not to do the 2011 48HFP due to the intellectual property issues - so did you change your mind for the 2012 competition, and then win your local competition and then get into Filmapalooza?
 
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