48Hours is New Zealand’s biggest filmmaking competition, pitting professionals and amateurs alike against one another to create a short film within a weekend. Given a genre and some technical elements, the teams are then let loose to make a masterpiece.
As the competition gets bigger, the quality gets higher. 2018 saw 558 teams enter with roughly a third of them led by a female director. There were also 163 school teams, 86 out-of-town teams, 63 disqualified/MIA teams, 32 solo or duo teams, and 35 ULTRA teams forced to make their main characters either an animal or a child.
We are closely approching this year’s city finals. It’s always a great night out, no matter where you live. You can find tickets for your local finals here.
It’s more than a competition though; it’s a community and an institution that fosters talent and brings them to the surface. Here are 10 veterans of 48Hours who have gone on to make big things…
Taika Waititi
Wellington winner, national runner-up & Peter Jackson wildcard
In the early years of the competition (back when you had to submit your film on DV tape), Waititi proved viciously entertaining with little more than the wit in his head and the occassional wig on top of it. The ever-lovable DIY filmmaking approach to his shorts Heinous Crime and Slade In Full act as stirring reminders that massive production values are not necessary to entertain.
Now he helms massive productions like Thor: Ragnarok and the upcoming Jojo Rabbit starring Scarlett Johansson while holding the title for Biggest Kiwi Film at the NZ Box Office Ever with Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
thedownlowconcept
Two-time national winner
As the only team to have taken the national gold twice (Brown Peril in 2006 and Only Son in 2010), it’s unsurprising to see thedownlowconcept churning out big projects – both on television and in cinema. Their 48hours entries reflect what this collective does well outside of the competition: tell stories, slam jokes, and show off the limitless power of Josh Thomson.
Their feature debut, Gary of the Pacific, hit cinemas last year and can now be found on Netflix. Also on the smaller screen, they’ve been behind the wheel of 7 Days, Hounds, and Coverband.
A Fairly Good Tale from 48HOURS on Vimeo.
Gerard Johnstone
National winner
In 2005, team Crash Zoom scooped up the national award with a very good tale called A Fairly Good Tale. Produced and co-written by Luke Sharpe, Johnstone’s direction showed a confidence that felt very rare for the competition at the time.
Johnstone would go on to helm TV series The Jaquie Brown Diaries, Terry Teo, and the recent The New Legends of Monkey. To film-heads though, he’s best known for his fairly great feature debut Housebound. Oh yeah, he’s also helping out on a little film called Justice League Dark.
Mukpuddy
Two-time Auckland winner & two-time Peter Jackson wildcard
I’m not sure anyone knew how animation could have been possible in 48Hours before Mukpuddy came along. Ever since they slayed the Auckland finals in 2007 with Camp Fear, they’ve been constant favourites with both audiences and Sir PJ.
Their animated show, Barefoot Bandits, just released its second season and was recently voted THE BEST local TV show of 2017.
Stallone Vaiaoga-Ioasa
Auckland finalist
Under the name SQS, Vaiaoga-Ioasa let his comedy chops known ten years ago with his Auckland finals-worthy entry No Change for Change. That humour would carry over to his successful independent efforts.
His feature debut, Three Wise Cousins, proved how hungry local audiences were for more Poly-centric stories. He capitalised on this demand with this year’s Hibiscus & Ruthless, even crediting his experience with 48Hours in the making of that film during this interview with Flicks.
Joseph Moore & Nic Sampson
Auckland winner, national runner-up & trans-city finalists
Moore and Sampson, both Billy T nominees, have seemingly never not been hilarious. Having participated for numerous years since they were teenagers, including a city winner / national runner-up with Ghostfish, their 48 filmography is mighty. It’s somewhat poetic, then, that the pair’s film last year was a sequel to a film they did all the way back in 2007.
Their fingerprints are all over NZ TV, both in front of the camera (The Brokenwood Mysteries) and behind it (Funny Girls).
Matasila Freshwater
National finalist & three-time Wellington finalist
The director behind Lovely Bongo Drums loves to tell animated stories that are both charming and grim. This has never been truer than with the team’s 2016 national finalist Wellingtopia.
Freshwater amplified this lovely brand of happy-go-unlucky storytelling with her funded short film Shmeat, which was selected by Lee Tamahori to play as part of NZ’s Best at the 2016 New Zealand International Film Festival. She is also one of the eight filmmakers behind Vai, a Pacific Island follow-up to Waru.
Hybrid Motion Pictures
Three-time Auckland finalist & Peter Jackson wildcard
Hybrid impresses with its sleek production, whether they’re telling a demonic possession tale or a polyamorous musical.
The team went on to make their independent feature debut Jake, a surrealist dark comedy which shines with even more quality than their already-punching-above-their-weight 48Hours entries.
Hweiling Ow & Peter Haynes
Three-time national finalist & two-time Peter Jackson wildcard
Taking on several names throughout the many years they’ve entered, Ow and Haynes have stepped up and knocked out numerous genres from the competition. A time travel horror, a ballet rockumentary, a puppet apocalypse – their range is impressive.
The pair has gone on to mastermind two of NZ’s more successful webseries: AFK and AO-TERROR-OA.
Hayden J Weal
Wellington winner, ULTRA winner & three-time Peter Jackson wildcard
Much like Ow and Haynes, Weal’s collective has gone through more than one team name. And, like Moore and Sampson, they charmingly rounded out their filmography with last year’s Wellington- and ULTRA-winning sequel Jack & Joni. They have a charm that’s completely their own, though, with all their films keeping to a frenetic pace that refreshingly journeys to multiple locations.
Weal took his filmmaking desire a step further by writing and directing the self-funded feature Chronesthesia, which got the American retitling Love & Time Travel.
All this talent begs the question: who’s next?
Well, I can imagine last year’s winning director Lauren Porteous heading to Cannes with a feature drama about a family kicked out of their house because of suspected P contamination.
Thomas Sainsbury, who co-starred in the recent Pork Pie, and Chillybox could make another 13 sequels to their 2016 winner (Time) Travel Centre to make one whole feature.
As for 2015 champs Chess Club, hell, you can never predict what they’ll make. My best guess is that it’ll star a robot of some kind, 82 musical numbers, and end with a Wilhelm Scream.
This story is part of our month-long celebration of 40 years of NZ film. Follow all our daily coverage here
