Johnson City hosted its third annual 52 Film Fest from March 1-3, 2024.

Teams who participate in the 52-hour film competition have exactly 52 hours to write, shoot and edit a short film. On the last day, the films are publicly screened in the Wallace Theatre, and then awards are given to teams.

The weekend gives teams a packed schedule. On March 1, teams went to Wallace Theatre to receive the elements required for their film. From that morning to Sunday morning, March 3, they had to write, shoot and edit the film. The film had to be done by noon Sunday, March 3.

The required elements for the film include a beach ball, Gray Fossil Site and Museum and the sentence, “Well this went better than I expected.” Even though filmmakers had to follow the same three requirements, each team had a much different take when making their films.

After the films were all screened, awards were given out. Some of the awards include Best in Show, Best in Actor and Actress and Best Use of Required Elements.

(Contributed/Jake VanHuss Youtube)

The film festival was sponsored by many local businesses in Johnson City. These sponsors include The Wallace Theatre, ETSU’s Media and Communication Department, Action VFX, Plan A Films, Spark Plaza, Dos Gatos, Create Appalachia, Highlands Horrorfest, Tennessee Film Nights, Cinema at the Bud Frank Theatre, ETSU Research Corporation and Brandstorytelling+.

Team Bokeh won the 52 Film Fest’s prize for Best in Show with their short film “Departure.” They also won in Best Cinematography, Vital Voice and Vision and Best Actor. The prize awarded included $500 in store credit to Action VFX, which is the world’s largest library of premium visual effects stock footage. In addition to store credit, team Bokeh also receive a consultation with Ty Warren, former Netflix global head of production.

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