48 Hour Film Project Screening

We can’t tell you what you’ll see at the 48 Hour Film Project Screening — no one can. That’s because the films are being created right now, maybe even as you read this. On Friday, June 6, local filmmaking teams were given two days to make a seven--minute movie. There were a couple of stipulations: Each team was assigned a separate genre, and every team was given the same prop, character and line of dialogue, which had to appear in the film. Last year, every entry had to include a pink eraser, a communicable disease expert and the line “You want the truth? Well, so do I.” This year’s details won’t be released until Friday when the teams set out to beat each other and the clock.

“The hardest thing is putting the fact that you have a time limit first, because it’s very easy to get caught up in the details of everything,” says Houston’s 48 Hour Film producer Laura Schlecht, who once led a team of her own. Although it’s a hectic experience, she says it’s a good cure for procrastination.

“Most filmmakers or actors I know have a lot of projects they’ve talked about and talked about and talked about and just haven’t actually gotten around to doing,” she says. “One of the things that the deadline does is, it’s supposed to encourage people to do rather than blah blah blah blah blah.” And most of them do do. Schlecht says only one of the 28 teams didn’t turn in a film on time last year.

Today’s screening will feature the ones that made the final cut, and attendees will have a chance to vote for their favorite entries. Winners will move on to the national competition later this year. See the hopefuls at 6:30 p.m. and 9 p.m. today and tomorrow. River Oaks Theatre, 2009 West Gray. For information, call 713-524-2175 or visit www.48hourfilm.com/houston. $9.
Wed., June 11, 6:30 & 9 p.m.; Thu., June 12, 6:30 & 9 p.m., 2008