72 Hour Challenge 2008

Recap
The first annual 72 Hour Short Film Challenge took the indie-film community by storm with over 50 teams of filmmakers from Arizona and Southern California creating 1-7 minute films in just 3 days. Featured in the Arizona Republic, the 72 Hour Challenge attracted a diverse selection of participants. "The films were just sensational," said Jae Staats, Director and Founder of the A3F. "The level of creativity and especially the entertainment value reached unprecedented levels this year."

Teams had to create films based on the theme, Extraordinary Ability, a line of dialogue, "I don't know what's real anymore?" and a prop where a character had to open an envelop. Most teams met the 72 hour deadline and coasted in with their films safely on DVD's or thumb drives. Team Black Sheep, however, added some style as they arrived with their laptop attached to a car battery as they had run out of power but still needed to render their film on the way to the drop-off location!

A week later, the Top 20 films premiered in Phoenix's largest auditorium at the AMC Arizona Center 24 Theatres. The sold-out crowd cheered on the mixture of comedies and dramas and the talented filmmakers who provided the evening's entertainment. An awards ceremony followed where the Top 3 Drama and Comedies were announced with a long list of other achievements. A3F sponsor CineRAID handed out two RAID towers to the winning teams! But the night's most memorable moment belonged to the guys from Head on a Post Productions as they received a a big surprise in the form of 30 cases of Sierra Mist! We hope this made Lewis happy!

But the night wasn't quite over ... the evening's celebrations continued into the late-night hours at the A3F After-Party at 1130 The Restaurant. Filmmakers, cast and crew members and the public continued the remarkable evening over food and drinks and congratulations all around!

Results
Please download these pdf files to see the 72 Hour Results and Official Teams.

Top 20 Public Screening & After Party

72 Hour Kick-off Party