Will Sir Peter Jackson’s Pick Be The Winner?

MEDIA RELEASE

18th June 2012

V48HOURS: WILL SIR PETER JACKSON’S PICK BE THE WINNER?

It’s judgement day in the lead up to the V48HOURS Grand Final. After viewing nearly 1,000 hours of short films, 50 national and international judges have selected the 2012 Grand Finalists and Sir Peter Jackson Wildcards.

770 teams from 7 regions wrote, shot and edited a short film within 48 hours competing for fame and glory, and tens of thousands in cash and prizes.

2012 marks the 10th year of New Zealand’s largest filmmaking competition. With over 4,000 short films produced since the competition’s inception in 2003, V48HOURS has become an iconic annual event and a firm fixture in the film industry calendar.

It will all come down to the wire for the Grand Finalists on 30th June - victory is so close they can almost taste it.

Grand Finalists
ADHDMi (Auckland) – “Brothers” – Fantasy Adventure
Battlesoup (Auckland) – “Briefcase of Pain” - Crime
Del Sur (Auckland) – “Glow” - Inspirational
Gin Joints (Wellington) – “Kids These Days” - Crime
Lense Flare (Auckland) – “The Girl With The Clover Tattoo” – One Shot
Noise and Pictures (Wellington) – “Brains?” – Horror
Picton Pictures (Christchurch) – “An Inconvenient Hoof” – End of World
Thedownlowconcept (Auckland) – “Seed” – End of World
Tuff Collective (Hamilton) – “Dead Lucky” - Musical
Voltron & Holograms (Auckland) – “Wiz-nap” – Found Footage

But Grand Finalists shouldn’t breathe a sigh of relief just yet – they still have to face up against Sir Peter Jackson’s personal favourites, all of whom have been chosen as Wildcards before. The Wildcard picks have been given a second shot at the competition by the man himself.

Wildcards
Goodfellas (Auckland) – “Daylight Robbery” - One Shot/Crime
Mukpuddy (Auckland) – “Love In Decay” – Romantic Comedy
The Outwits (Christchurch) – “Hannah Repus” – One Shot

“The talent in this competition blows me away every year and this year is no different,” says founder Ant Timpson. “I’m humbled to have seen this competition grow the way it has over the past 10 years. The support we’ve had from both the local and international film industry has been pivotal to its success and we hope to be around in another 10 years time!”

The panel of 30 judges include Elijah Wood (actor, The Lord of the Rings trilogy), Larry Karaszewski (writer, Ed Wood, The People vs. Larry Flynt), Scott Foundas (film critic, Variety), Jen Yamato (film critic, Movieline.com, Rotten Tomatoes), and Eric Kohn (film critic, IndieWire).

"I am honoured to take part and to help judge this fantastic competition,” says actor Elijah Wood. “I just wish I could be there for the Grand Final. Next year I'll be there!"

So who will come out on top? Make sure you are front row and centre when the Grand National Champion is crowned on Saturday 30th June at Auckland’s Civic Theatre. The lucky winner will take home a first place prize pool of $60,000 in cash and prizes - nice! Tickets are $20 and can be purchased here. The V48HOURS Grand Final will also be available for non-Aucklanders to view via live streaming courtesy of NZHeraldOnline and TVNZ U.

Check out the rest of the Grand Final nominees and their categories on www.v48hours.co.nz.

V48HOURS exists through major support from NAMING RIGHTS PARTNER: V, who are stoked to be back fuelling the ride, BROADCAST PARTNER: TVNZ U, TECH PARTNER: Canon, PAY TV PARTNER: Rialto Channel, GOLD SPONSORS: the New Zealand Film Commission and Wingnut Films, SILVER SPONSORS: Envy Studios, Images and Sound and Unitec, BRONZE SPONSORS: Park Road Post Production, Niche Cameras and Rubber Monkey, RADIO PARTNER: The Edge, ONLINE PARTNER: Flicks, MUSIC PARTNERS: Arch Hill Recordings, Loop and Big Bang & Fuzz and MOBILE PARTNER: Skinny.

ENDS

© Scoop Media