2024 Competition
The 2024 shoot weekend is May 17th - 19th, 2024.
After a big 20th year celebration and a gap-year, the Vista Foundation 48Hours is back for 2024 in full swing!
Share the dates with your friends, school mates, colleagues, or go solo / duo - the competition welcomes participants of all ages and abilities.
Whether you're new or have competed before it's a good idea to read through this information so you're ready to go.
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Register a team
To compete in the 48Hours you need to register a team in your local region. Teams can be any size. We've had solo operators and teams of over twenty. You can be an industry veteran or have never made a film before, the competition is open to everyone.
Earlybird registrations run March 18 - April 17 - $199 per team.
Full registrations run April 18 - May 15 - $260 per team.
If you want to find and join an existing team then join our Facebook group or get in touch with your nearest City Manager.
Prepare yourself
It can be hard to prepare yourself for the unknown, but there are a few things you can do. Stocking up on snacks is good, locking in some actors and locations and testing your equipment and workflow. You can watch a lot of past entries over on the Screening Room for inspiration or check out our page full of good advice.
The shoot weekend: May 17th - 19th
Launch - The shoot weekend begins on Friday night with the launch. This year the launch will be streamed online on the home page of our website and our Facebook page. Your City Manager will be online and on their phone in case you have any questions. Their contacts will be on your City Info page.
Required elements and genres - The required elements and genres will be announced at the online launch, on our Facebook page and on this website. You will need to include the elements in your film and use the genre associated with the number your team has been allocated prior to the launch. Your team's genre number will be listed on the Team Genre Number page.
Make your movie - Have fun!
Submission - The weekend ends on Sunday with you submitting your film by 7pm. All submissions this year will be via our online portal so make sure you have access to a good internet connection. You can find out how to submit your film here. Remember one second late is too late.
Wrap party - City managers will be organising locations where teams can get together to celebrate. Check out the City Info page for your city/region for more infomation.
Heats: May 25th - June 16th
All submitted films will screen in the heats, even those disqualified for being late. This year heats will be running online again. We plan to schedule these so that all the regions can watch each other's films. In some regions we will be organising community watch parties. Check out the City Info page for more infomation.
The heats schedule will be published on the Heats page. We will be streaming them on Youtube and Facebook.
Each heat will have an audience favourite decided by audience voting. You will also be able to write reviews for the films you watch on the Screening Room.
At the end of each online heat viewers will be able to vote for the three films they like the best. A code will show at the end of each heat with a web address where you can vote for the films you liked the best. The audience favourite in each heat will be announced on the Heats page.
Reviews
Feedback is an important part of making films. We encourage teams to review each other's entries on the Screening Room.
City finals: June / July
The top eligible films will be selected by the region's judges for the city finals in each region. The city finals events will be live events with the best films screened in a cinema, followed by the awards presentation. Locations and times will be published on the City Info page.
Grand Final: Saturday, July 27th, 8pm
The Embassy Theatre, Wellington
The Vista Foundation 48Hours culminates in the Grand Final event. The very best films from across the country are judged by a panel of national and international judges and screened at the Grand Final Event at the Embassy Theatre in Wellington. This event will also be live-streamed for those who can't make it along.