What is a 48hr film competition?

Working with a team of people, you write, shoot, edit, and upload a short film in 48hrs, and you could win a prize!

Key dates

Weds 23 July 2025 - Hobart and Online Info Session and Speed Networking - 7pm at Lumina, 269 Elizabeth St, North Hobart

Thurs 24 July 2025 - Launceston Info Session (in collaboration with Launceston Screenmakers) - 6.30pm at Du Cane Brewery, 60/64 Elizabeth St, Launceston

Friday 1 Aug 2025 - Team names to be registered by 6pm today.

Friday 8 Aug 2025 - The 48 hours starts at 6pm today, in person at the Back Studio, 6 Washington St, South Hobart, and online.

Sun 10 Aug 2025 - The 48 hours finishes at 6pm today. Teams must have their films and accompanying documentation uploaded by 6pm to be eligible to win prizes.

TBC - Awards night. Location and date TBC. This will be an opportunity to dress up, join us for a drink, some nibbles, watch the films, and maybe win a prize! Bring your friends and family for a fun night out!!

How does it work?

We are running two INFO SESSIONS in person, in Hobart and Launceston. The Hobart one will be streamed via zoom and recorded for anyone who misses it. These should give you the information you need. The Hobart session will also include SPEED NETWORKING so you can find teammates.

From there, you need to register as a PARTICIPANT on the website and pay the $10 entry fee.

Next, participants will need to form TEAMS. These teams need to be made up of a core of writer, director and producer (can be 1, 2 or 3 people) At least one of the core team must be an Apple Box Studio member.

Every participant, needs to be in a team - you can form your own team, or we can allocate you to one, just let us know if you need us to. Teams must have a minimum of 1 and a maximum of 10 people.

Actors do not need to sign up as participants, as they can work on more than one project, so they can participate for free, however, if they are going to work as crew as well, then they will need to register as such. Crew members can act in the film but must be registered as crew.

Teams need to choose a TEAM NAME and submit this, and their list of team members, by email to Emma at emma@appleboxstudiotas.com.au by 6pm, Friday 1 August. This can be added to afterwards, so just email what you do have by the deadline.

On Friday 8 August, teams will gather in person or online, at 6pm, for the START of the competition. They will be told the theme, and the THREE ELEMENTS they need to incorporate into their films. They then have 48 HOURS to write, shoot, edit, and upload the film, and complete all accompanying documentation. Information on the documentation required can be found further down this page.

On Sunday 10 August, the competition will END. Teams must upload their film and documents by 6pm to be eligible to win a prize. Late submissions will still be screened, but will not be eligible to win a prize.

The AWARDS NIGHT will be a red carpet event, with drinks and nibbles. Tickets will cost $35 for non-members, and $10 for members. Further details will be shared about this as soon as they are locked in.

What help is available?

BACK STUDIO
We have access to the Back Studio for the entirety of the 48 hours, so teams can leave if they wish, or stick around and immediately get to work brainstorming. Teams are welcome to use the space to write, plan, rehearse, film in, edit in, and even sleep in if required. There will be tables & chairs, beanbags, whiteboards, power and wifi. There is a small kitchen with cooking facilities and a fridge. There is also a bathroom with two toilets, a sink, and a washing machine. There are no shower facilities though and the bathroom cannot be locked, but the toilet cubicles can. There are two accessible toilets on the street outside, and if anyone requires it, there is a moveable ramp for the back door - please let Emma know if you need to use this. There is free parking on the streets around the Back Studio for the whole weekend. The only potential issue might be if there is a football game on the South Hobart oval next door, which could cause noise and parking issues.

DISCORD
We will have a Discord server, so teams can jump onto a voice call or text channel, and brainstorm with each other that way - particularly useful for those outside of Hobart, or team members working remotely, and for anyone looking for help, looking to join a team prior to the weekend, or looking for gear, locations, props, costumes or anything else. Emma and potentially other Apple Box Studio staff, board members, and volunteers will be online throughout the weekend to help. Emma isn’t the most tech savvy person, however there will be a tech support text channel so if you do need help, post in there, and either other teams can help out, or Emma will find an answer for you.

RELEASES
For the documentation required, there is a page of forms ready for you to complete, including a volunteer cast release, stills release, music release and locations release.

What should we do and when?

Here is a very rough guide for how your weekend could look, remember this is a guide, it’s entirely up to you, just make sure your team don’t work all the way through the weekend - they should take breaks to eat and sleep:

FRIDAY
6-6.30pm - receive info.
6.30-8pm - start brainstorming. Once the idea is agreed upon, let the writer write while everyone else plans.
8pm-12am - have at least a first draft locked down, a location and actor(s) locked in, and a rough schedule for your shoot day. It is a good idea for you all go to bed - unless your writer wants to stay up and finalise the script, ready for the rest of the team to work on the next day.

SATURDAY
9am-1pm - finalise script, gather props and costumes, gather gear, lock in location and actor(s) and then you can shoot! If you can, have your editor start to edit as soon as you have any footage for them to work with. The sooner they start on that, the better. They can work on the titles and credits if nothing else. This is also a good time for the composer/sound designer (if you have either) to be working on the music and/or sound effects.
1pm-1.30pm - lunch. Make sure you all eat. And drink water. And pee.
1.30-7pm - continue shooting. One take is ok for most shots. Remember progress over perfection. The film doesn’t need to win an Oscar, but it does need to be submitted by this time tomorrow. You are HALF WAY THROUGH. Make sure you stop for dinner - hot food is good to keep people going. Everyone needs a decent break once shooting is over for the day. Send home everyone at some point and get them back in the morning. You don’t get great work out of people when they are too tired. Sleep is way underrated.

SUNDAY
8am-12pm - this is your last chance for filming. To give you the best chance of getting the film submitted, we recommend that all filming needs to be completely done by midday at the latest. Any gear borrowed from others can be returned now. The edit should be in full swing, along with the graphics, and music.
12pm - is a good time to start uploading your documentation. Get the Producer onto this. The sooner it is all finished and uploaded, the less you need to worry about it. Don’t leave the paperwork until last or you will kick yourself if that is the reason you fail to submit on time. Remember to give your cast and crew a lunch break. Make sure everyone eats, drinks, and stops working for this time. Get fresh air and sunshine (if there is any!)
4pm - It’s time to finish off your post production and start thinking about uploading your completed film. This may take some time, so don’t leave it too long to get started. Remember, it must be uploaded and received by Apple Box Studio by 6pm at the latest.
6pm - Time to celebrate! You did it!

Rules

TIMES
1. Films must be completed during the period of 6pm Friday 8 August 2025 and 6pm Sunday 10 August 2025, and all creative work must take place within this time frame. This includes, but is not limited to:
- writing the script
- casting of specific roles
- rehearsing
- costume/set design
- shooting
- sound design
- rendering
The only exceptions to this are:
(Prior to the official start of the competition)
- organising cast and crew
- securing equipment
- securing locations
- using previously created, widely available, copyright free music or sound effects. Teams are encouraged to work with a composer, musicians and/or sound designer to create music and sounds for the films, however widely available copyright free music and sounds are permissible, as long as they are credited as such.

2. Films must be submitted by 6pm on Sunday 10 August 2025 to be considered for competition. Films submitted after this time will be screened at the awards night, but will not be eligible for consideration of prizes.

ORIGINALITY & CONTENT
3. Films submitted must be the original work of the team listed as registered.

4. Films submitted must not contain obscene or pornographic material, and should be no higher than an M15+ rating.

REQUIRED ELEMENTS
5. Each team will be assigned three required elements that must appear in their film. Any film found not to contain all three of these will not be eligible for consideration of prizes. These are a prop, a line of dialogue, and a constraint.
- PROP must be seen on screen, however a picture of the prop is allowed.
- DIALOGUE their allocated line of dialogue must be included verbatim, either spoken, sung, or written.
- CONSTRAINT must be adhered to.

VOLUNTEERS
6. All cast & crew must be volunteers - no-one is to be paid for their time.

SAFETY
7. Safety of the cast and crew is paramount and should be considered the main priority in every situation. This includes in relation to any animals used during filming.

8. If there are any safety incidents, filming is to be suspended, and the Producer must tell the CEO of Apple Box Studio.

EQUIPMENT
9. Teams can use any cameras or equipment available to them - there are no specific requirements for cameras for this initiative. The use of smartphones is not only acceptable, but encouraged.

RUNNING TIME & CREDITS
10. All films must be a minimum of 3 minutes and a maximum of 7 minutes in length, including all titles & credits, and must include a slide with the Apple Box Studio logo and the 48hr short film competition logo, both of which will be provided to you, along with the following text:

“This film was made for the Apple Box Studio 48hr short film competition 2025”

REQUIRED MEDIA FORMATS
11. TBC

FILM & DOCUMENT SUBMISSIONS
12. All documents must be completed and submitted by 6pm on Sunday 10 August 2025, these include volunteer cast releases, stills release, music release, locations releases, completed cast & crew lists, tech specifications, and at least 3 production stills and 3 behind-the-scenes stills for promotional use.

13. All films must be completed and submitted by 6pm on Sunday 10 August 2025. When you upload your film, you must agree to the Certification Statement, that certifies that your team and film have complied with all the rules set out above. More information about how and where to upload the films will be given closer to the time.

DISQUALIFICATION
14. Films must not be discriminatory towards any person, race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, political ideology, or culture. Any films deemed to be discriminatory will be disqualified, will not be screened at the awards night, and will not be eligible for consideration of prizes.

15. Any film found to break any of the rules listed here, will immediately be disqualified, will not be screened at the awards night, and will not be eligible for consideration of prizes.

16. Disqualification is at the discretion of the CEO of Apple Box Studio, who has final say.

THE USE OF AI (Artificial Intelligence)
17. The use of AI in your film is NOT permitted, and you will be required to state in the Certification Statement that you did not use AI in any part of your film. This includes, but is not limited to writing, filming, editing, graphics, sound, music, acting including voice-only, or images. If a film is found to have used AI, it will be disqualified. This is a decision made by Apple Box Studio for the 48hr short film competition 2025, and it will be reassessed ongoing for future competitions.

Who is running the event?

The 48hr short film competition is being run by Apple Box Studio. If you have any questions or concerns, please direct them to Emma Wilson at emma@appleboxstudiotas.com.au

Awards Night

The awards night will be a red carpet event, taking place approximately two weeks after the completion of the 48hr event. This will be on a date and at a location both TBC. Further details will be available soon.

Judging of the films will be done by industry professionals, who will be announced closer to the awards night.

There will be various prizes up for grabs, including an Audience Choice award. These will be announced soon.

Tickets for the event will be $35 for non-members, and $10 for members. The link to purchase tickets will be live as soon as the date and venue are announced.

The judges decision is final when it comes to the prizes. The award for Best Film will be handed to the producer of the winning team, and certificates will be handed to each member of that team.

All winning teams who are present will be expected to have photos taken at the awards night, which will be used for future promotion of the event. If teams are unable to attend in person, Apple Box Studio will arrange a time to deliver the award/prize and certificate and take photos.

We hope you enjoy taking part in Apple Box Studio’s 48hr short film competition 2025!!