The Winter Film Festival 48 hr Film Challenge!

The Winter Film Awards kicked off their annual 48 Hour Film Challenge awards ceremony on Sunday, June 19 with drink and food specials at The Grayson on First Avenue. The Winter Film Awards challenged the local community to create a short film in only a weekend. Thirty teams from all over the tristate area participated and learned the importance of caffeine as they worked hard to write, assemble, act, shoot and edit their films in the short period of time.

The groups of contestants stood outside The Grayson in anticipation. As friends and family of the participants gathered together in the dark low lit room, the excitement was clear. Steffanie Finn, the event organizer, took the mic at 2:00pm to open the ceremony and pass out ballots to the audience. As each short played, the groups cheered each other on, shouting words of encouragement and appreciation. The featured movies had themes of humor, sadness, and adventure. The subjects ranged from zombies and murderers to love stories.

As everyone laughed over food and drinks, the shorts came to an end and it was time to cast ballots! The winners were declared and gift baskets distributed. For best picture, team Cat Allergy took the prize with their film "Samurai 2". They received a $7600 AJA camera Cion package as well as some other goodies. DeviantChildrenproductions also took fan favorite with their film "48z".

Over twenty thousand dollars worth of camera equipment was given away to participants. The Winter Film Awards is a volunteer run independent film festival that holds around 4-6 events a year. Congratulations to all winners and participants of the challenge! We encourage you to join their Facebook and participate in the next challenge.

Watch all the films on the YouTube playlist: