DeMille Part Deux - 48-Hours and Counting

My last post explained how/why my daughter became involved with the 48-Hour Film Project.  Now I'll explain what the 48-Hour FP is and how it works.

Teams sign up to participate in a weekend that begins at 6:30 pm on a Friday night and ends 6:30 pm on Sunday. During that 48-hours they must write, shoot, edit and score a short film, all within the 48-hour window.  Several teams invited Christina to join, but she could only commit to one.  She jumped at the chance to participate.

On Friday night each team receives a genre, line of dialogue, character and prop, all of which must be included in the film, to be submitted by Sunday night.  A short time later the films show at a local theater. The cream of the crop (international winners) debut at none other than the Cannes Film Festival.

To give you an idea of the scope of this, the 2009 numbers from the organization's website show that approximately 40,000 filmmakers shot 3,000 films in 76 cities all over the world.  Pretty cool, huh?

Our experience began with a phone call at 10:30 pm Friday from the director asking us to be on location by 12:30.

"I don't suppose you mean noon tomorrow, do you?" I asked, already in my PJs.

"You're a funny lady," he answered.  "See you in two hours."

So began Christina's (and our) first film experience.  Shooting lasted through the night and all day Saturday.  It was by turns exhausting, boring, exciting, fun, and crazy.  Since Christina is a minor her dad and I stayed with her throughout.  And by throughout I mean the 16 hours we remained on location. (Director, producers, varying crew members were needed for the full 48.) My young 'un saw the hard work and long hours associated with film making.  She loved it.

The 48-Hour FP was an interesting experience, one I expect to repeat next year.  It was fun to pull an all-nighter/all-dayer with a bunch of creative people who love the movie process, and way cool to see our kid on the big screen, even if she was only up there for a minute; and we are proud of her for sticking it out through the long, often boring, hours.  All for a film that ran less than 10 minutes.

Christina achieved the hard earned film acting credit she wanted, and seeing her name in the final credits (she played Darcy, a kleptomaniac) was enough to remind her about that whole "persistence is king" thing.  She learned about commitment, team work, patience, determination and a hundred other things.

Amazing what you can cram into 48-hours.

Til next time -
Lisa

Clip art credit to dreamstime.com

Over Here, Mr. DeMille!

My youngest daughter is an aspiring actress.  When she first proclaimed this as her passion, I put on the brakes.

"This is a phase," I assured my husband. "She'll get over it."

A year later when she continued to persist, I said, "Okay. Maybe we should have some professional photos taken."

Thanks to the personal recommendation of the photographer, we snagged a face-to-face meeting with one of Atlanta's top agents.  I told hubby, "I visited his website, and I've warned Christina not to have high expectations.  He doesn't represent newbies.  This is just a courtesy meeting."

At the end of said meeting she had contracts in hand.  The photo above is her most recent head shot.

Since jumping into this she has worked a fashion show, performed in a stage show, done a number of taped auditions for TV and film, and just last week participated in the 48-Hour Film Project (details of which will be in blog post part deux, later in the week).  Her agent, to whom we pay nothing (as with literary agents, he banks nary a penny until she lands a paying job), says simply, "Persistence and talent.  She has both. It will happen."

She is only 16, so if she eventually moves on to another passion I won't criticize.  It took me thirty years to start writing again---and God help me, now that I've started I can't stop---so I'm not one to talk about taking detours.  She is tenacious, though, and showing no signs of wavering. She is meeting some terrific people and acquiring first hand experience about competition and working hard for something desired; she is gaining confidence and learning that persistence and talent, in that order, are key factors in turning dreams into goals, and goals into successful accomplishments.

Coincidentally, the same is true of writing for publication.  How would my life be different, I wonder, if I had learned that lesson at 16?

Check back for part deux---the 48-Hour Film Project!

Til next time -

Lisa