Two Bay of Plenty teams have reached the Across Aotearoa regional finals for the Vista Foundation 48Hours film competition which will take place online on September 27.

Taupō’s Great Lake Film Society and Tauranga’s animation team The Immortal Think Tank are two of the 14 finalists from a shortlist of 25 which had included four BoP teams.

Great Lake Film Society with their film The Hat Trick are also nominated for Outstanding Female /Gender Diverse Filmmaker, Best Editing, Best Production Design, Best Script, Best Performer and Best Director. The Immortal Think Tank are also nominated for Outstanding Female /Gender Diverse Filmmaker, Best Animation, and Best Production Design for their animated film The Bad Tasting Hero.

This year 542 teams took on the 48Hours film challenge across NZ, with over 4000 filmmakers putting their creativity to the test. The country was divided into four regions comprising Auckland with 161 teams, Wellington with 173 teams, and Christchurch with 79 teams, while the remainder of the country being ‘Across Aotearoa’ had 129 teams.

Facebook trailer for Across Aotearoa regional final:

Around the country, a staggering number of 1-5-minute films were created in just one weekend on August 15-17, with over 4000 filmmakers in 542 teams pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with a tight deadline and a brilliant idea.

Each team was given a specific genre, and expected to include an accident, something precious, a miniature and slow motion as four required elements in their film.

Great Lake Film Society

Joel Corbie from Taupō’s Great Lake Film Society which won the Bay of Plenty Regional Finals in 2024 with their film Loose End, said this year they had their largest writer’s room yet ranging from high school students to more experienced groups members.

“After juggling many different ideas, which is what happens when your given genre is action/adventure, we took all the ideas and stirred them around until the strongest ideas started to emerge - around 10pm.

“We amalgamated them into a story we really wanted to make - landing on our final idea at roughly 11.30pm and then morphing and molding it until 4am Saturday… still without an ending for the film."

Curtis Painter as a security guard in the Great Lake Film Society Vista Foundation 48Hour Film entry 'The Hat Trick'. Photo / Supplied.

He said after four hours of sleep they were back into it, bleary eyed but full of anticipation, jumping into filming Act Two.

“The team pulled together as a seamless machine to provide brilliant performances, hilarious hi-jynx and more than a few bloopers. As always, we pushed ourselves into doing something new, something that challenged us creatively, but also something with layers - the more you watch it, the more you notice.”

Great Lakes Film Society actors on set for their 48Hours film ‘The Hat Trick’. Photo / Supplied.

Corbie said Saturday evening kicked off back at their AirBNB hub to film Act One, while still hunting for the ending.

“While filming Act One, an offhand comment Cameron Walton said sparked the idea for the ending. Whether it was a stroke of genius or 2am delirium that got us to that point, we had an ending and that gave us the final boost to push into Sunday and towards the finish line,” Corbie said.

“As per tradition for our team, editing till the very last minute and not having a chance to watch the film before export and uploading it, we got it delivered at 6.57pm with three minutes to spare.

“Our team thrives on creative chaos, and everyone pitches in wherever needed. We’re proud of what we pulled off together over one intense, sleep-deprived, and totally exhilarating weekend.

Great Lakes Film Society writer’s meeting on Friday night of the 48Hours film competition. Photo / Supplied.

In 2019, Great Lake Film Society’s first collaboration Extra Time a time travel mix-up involving craft beer made it all the way into the Grand National Final.

In 2024, their film Loose End was selected by Sir Peter Jackson as one of the three wildcards, ending up placing third at the Grand National Final.

The Immortal Think Tank

Ché Crawford, who was writer, illustrator, animator and director for The Immortal Think Tank ‘s entry said they were given ‘Man v Nature’ as their genre.

“Our film The Bad Tasting Hero is set in a mining town, about humans who dig too deep and unlock fantastical monsters that plague their progress and put the lives of the miners and townspeople at risk,” Crawford said.

“The film explores themes of self-sacrifice, empathy, and not judging others at face value.”

Crawford said the story is told in a puppet storybook format, “like a fairytale read to children”.

Husband Ford Saunders took on the editor role, and Matt Hennessy composer the music and designed the sound effects. Matthew Wills, who is the creator of the award winning webcomic ‘Swordscomic’ worked on the illustrations with Che. Che and Ford’s children Moss, 7, and Dottie, 6, provided additional voices.

“We’re a small team with one animator, so we had to be wise about how we would tell our story, making sure the animation was accomplishable in one weekend,” Crawford said.

She said they went into the weekend with a plan to animate their film like a pop-up book, although they couldn’t finalise a story until they received their genre and elements on the Friday night.

“Once we did, and we had written our script, Matthew Wills and I split the illustration assets between us and blasted through them,” Crawford said.

“Then, starting about 8am Saturday, I spent 30 hours animating each scene/book page and sending them off to Ford to edit together.”

A scene from The Immortal Think Tank's animated film 'The Bad Tasting Hero'.

She said she used Moho Animation 12.5, which lets animators rig and move around 2D drawings.

“Part of the process sometimes involves having arms, legs, heads etc, drawn independently of each other so they can be moved separately,” Crawford said.

“Designing our film to look like paper cut out characters meant I could make the most of animating this way and really play into the cut out feeling of the drawings and how I animated them.”

She said Wills kept himself available to draw any extra illustration assets she might need while she animated.

“[He] put together the title and credits on Sunday when I realised we’d definitely need some of those, but could barely function,” Crawford said.

Music composer Matt Hennessy, who also creates useful and informative tutorials about sound production and design on YouTube wrote an original five-minute composition.

“He was inspired by Diablo-esque style music and composed the ebbs and flow of the music to the ebbs and flow of my narration,” Crawford said.

“He created a whole bunch of sounds for me to work with, like monsters roaring and pages turning. He edited my audio, which was full of breathing and tongue clicks etc, so the audience wouldn’t have to listen to any of that.

“And he did it all while balancing weekend work and young children. I’m incredibly grateful he came on board, because if a film doesn’t sound good, people are less likely to watch it.”

Aside from being wise about what they could accomplish animation-wise in one weekend, Crawford said part of their storybook approach was for their children.

A scene from The Immortal Think Tank's animated film 'The Bad Tasting Hero' showing Che Crawford reading a story to Dottie and Moss.

“Moss and Dottie had fun recording audio for the film, seeing cartoon versions of themselves on screen, and seeing the finished film. One of my favourite parts of the whole festival was watching Dottie watch our film in the [Tauranga Historic] village theatre and light up when the audience clapped for it.

“And since then, Moss has started making plans for his own videos. If I can give anything to my children, I’d like it to be the courage to give things a go, no matter the outcome.”

Crawford said she found the experience of making a film in 48 hours less stressful that she had expected.

“Having a solid plan and being organised with which assets went on which page/in which scene, meant that I could work through it fairly steadily without too much chaos,” Crawford said.

“It’s been a few years since I went so long without sleep, though, and that part was interesting. Animating the last scenes on Sunday morning was tough going because my eyes didn’t want to focus on the screen anymore. I was fortunate that my husband, Ford, was willing to be roped in, edit the film together, make sure all the specs were correct, and fill out all the forms for me.

“I’m not sure I would have been capable of writing coherent words toward the end of the weekend.”

Crawford said it’s taken a couple weeks to process the experience.

“But ultimately, I can’t wait to do it again next year. Blasting through a film project like that, not having the time to linger on decisions, but just trusting that it’ll come together, is so much fun. No room for over thinking, just creating.”

Crawford said their team’s opportunity to enter 48Hours came about “very last minute” and largely thanks to sponsorship from Film Bay of Plenty.

“We’re incredibly grateful for the opportunity, especially as part of what they do is celebrate and promote the amazing film locations around the BOP,” Crawford said. “They were very generous to sponsor an animation team who featured none of that! But they also uplift and link together so many amazing creatives in our community and it’s an awesome community to be a part of.”

With this year being the first time that The Immortal Think Tank has entered the competition, Crawford said she was surprised but excited to get the regional finals phone call.

“I thought we might have a chance at being shortlisted for animation, but to be an overall regional finalist caught me off guard in the best way,” Crawford said.

“I know a lot of creatives feel this way, but I often have to fight that intense imposter syndrome. The other films in regionals, and many of the films from the heats that weren’t shortlisted are so brilliant and creative. They celebrate the best parts of being human - our stories, our humour, our creativity, our communities. To have our film shown alongside them and make it to regional finals is a huge honour.”

Taupō's Great Lake Film Society's film 'Loose End' was selected by Sir Peter Jackson as a 'wildcard' entry in the NZ grand national finals of the Vista 48Hours in 2024.

Film Bay of Plenty has been supporting the bay’s filmmakers since launching in 2016.

“The 48Hours Film competition has been the launchpad for countless filmmakers, and the Bay of Plenty is known for turning out large numbers of participants every year,” Film Bay of Plenty executive Jade Kent said.

“To have two teams in the finals is a fantastic achievement. We’re delighted to have supported The Immortal Think Tank on their journey, and it’s inspiring to see The Great Lake Film Society continue their run of success.”

The two Bay of Plenty heats of the 2025 Vista Foundation 48Hours Film competition were held on September 7.

The Across Aotearoa Regional Final will be screened as an online premiere on the Vista Foundation 48Hours Youtube Channel at 7pm on Saturday, September 27 at https://www.youtube.com/@48Hoursnz.

The top 14 films from around the country, plus three Sir Peter Jackson Wildcards will compete for the title of grand champion at the national finals in Wellington on October 25.