New Zealand’s biggest and boldest guerrilla filmmaking competition’s Bay of Plenty heats are being held today.

This year, the numbers tell an incredible story of their own as 542 teams across NZ took on the Vista Foundation 48Hours Film challenge, with over 4000 filmmakers putting their creativity to the test.

Around the country, a staggering number of short films were created in just one weekend, pushing the boundaries of what’s possible with a tight deadline and a brilliant idea.

In the Bay of Plenty the 48Hours shoot weekend on August 15-17 was a whirlwind of creativity, chaos, and collaboration for local filmmakers as 16 teams came together to create 1–5-minute films under extreme time pressure.

Ōtūmoetai College team camera person Jayden Dent, director of 'Janky But Decent' with actors Sasha Gill, Isabella Fitt, and Madden Jamieson.  Photo / Supplied.

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.

The stories shared by Bay of Plenty participants highlight the incredible teamwork, creative problem-solving, and unforgettable moments that made the weekend a resounding success.

Ōtūmoetai College

Ōtūmoetai College had three student teams enter the competition.

“They stayed the night at school on Saturday night so they could access editing equipment, and all three groups submitted a film,” said English teacher Joshua Buxton.

Ōtūmoetai College Year 13s students Chelsea Fitt and Shaylah Kurth editing 'Wagon Wheels'. Photo / Supplied.

Buxton said a group of more experienced Year 13 filmmakers made ‘Wagon Wheels’, while one of the Year 10 groups who entered for the first time made ‘Conglamugation’.

Team Anatidaephobia

Film previsualisation artist and Ōmokoroa resident Kyle Ashley known for his work in Mortal Engines (2018), Ghost in the Shell (2017) and Superman Returns (2006) once again joined forces with Dirk van Hek with their team Anatidaephobia making a film titled ‘Lou’ with Hek’s family.

“I have been helping Hek with his 48Hours Daughters Trilogy three times with my animation experience from film and TV work,” Ashley said.

“This time it was Lou, age 10 and his adventures in the world of Heronomous Bosch.”

Hek van Hek, Isobel van Hek, Lou van Hek and Puq Bijnen holding microphone, using a green screen. Photo / Supplied.

Ashley said competing in 48Hours “is like VFX boot camp”.

“You have to get things working quickly to an acceptable level of quality with no excuses as to why things aren’t working. My experience with the stress and excitement of deadlines means I expect something major to go wrong and continuous minor things as the job has always been 50% trouble shooting and with 48Hours its higher.

“It forces you to think laterally on no sleep, but healthy food and snacks provided by Kim Van Hek have always fuelled our creativity.

“A rookie mistake is to drink coffee and have high sugar snacks, you WILL crash and burn. Hek’s visions are always unique and weird; his daughters and friends bringing creative ideas, inspired chaos, great fun!”

TEAM GOODAS

Gary Benner who led TEAM GOODAS at his lower Kaimai range property said they have entered seven 48Hour film competitions so far, reaching the finals in 2023.

“Every year we try to involve new people alongside a base team of myself, Maree Bieleski, and musician Peter Hodge,” Benner said.

“We try to use our own original music, and Peter has done a great job this year and in the past.”

Mark Vevers and Treyvan Farmer from TEAM GOODAS practising a choreographed fight scene from the film. Photo / Supplied.

Their film ‘The Quest 2000’ is based around a race competition to win prizes.

“We had Jaine Kirtley lead the script writing, as she has plenty of experience with the local scriptwriters’ group,” Benner said.

“As our genre was Action/Adventure, this meant that the story was told as much by action as by dialogue. Treyvan Farmer joined us again from last year, and new to the team was Mark Vevers who has recently been in Shortland Street.”

 TEAM GOODAS on set making their film for the Vista Foundation 48Hours Film competition.  Photo / Supplied.

Richie Allo assisted with audio, and Benner’s wife Julie Benner helped with catering.

“We filmed some of the actors in front of the green screen and then combined that with real world footage and other actors. This required a couple of attempts to synchronise the two sets of footage.”

Team LOVEBYRDS

Tanya Horo from Bay of Plenty Actors Studio said a group of her acting students who wanted to make a film saw the 48Hours competition coming up, signing up for it as team LOVEBYRDS.

“They said that it felt a bit scary at first, but they all love acting and filmmaking and ended up having a great time,” Horo said.

Team Lovebyrds from Tauranga acting school BOPAS made a film called ‘The Most Precious’ for the 2025 48Hours film competition. Photo / Supplied.

Horo said there were no arguments, lots of junk food, and the group told her it was so much fun to be creative without limits - apart from the required elements.

“They said they were exhausted, but they’d 100% do it again — and plan to next year.”

Horo said the team’s film-maker Ruby Emery filmed it on her iphone, and they edited on Capcut, creating the film ‘The Most Precious’.

“Honestly there were no dramas at all, they were amazing these teens,” Horo said.

Guavablue Productions

Guavablue Productions were given The Holiday Movie genre, creating their short film “Christmiss”.

The team said with “scaffolding” in place before the weekend — story ideas, locations, and team roles sorted — they hit the ground running with the team on set for a Saturday dawn start.

Filming a scene from Guavablue Productions’ film ‘Christmiss’ with actor Rose Webb.  Photo / Supplied.

Their seven-person crew included seasoned 48Hours veterans, first-timers, three on-screen actors, a child, a dog, and remote voice actors.

Rotorua Girls’ High School

Rotorua Girls’ High School’s team RGHS Reel Society made a film called Auto Intelligence.

Teacher Mead Norton said the group of four students from Year 9 and 10 hadn’t done any filmmaking before.

“I worked hard to make sure they were having fun and staying on track so that it wasn’t too overwhelming meeting the 48 hours criteria,” Norton said.

Year 9 and 10 students from Rotorua Girls’ High School are Kiera Shand (Yr 9), Alyza Coleman (Yr 9), Lillie Powell (Yr 10), and Chloe Francis (Yr 9). Photo / Supplied.

The team had the ‘Man versus Machine’ genre.

“They came up with a very creative idea about a schoolgirl looking for answers on why her dad was killed by an automated AI-driven car, hence why they called the film ‘Auto Intelligence’.

“One of them fell asleep while editing on Saturday night after filming all day from 7.30am to 9.30pm but her friend took on the editing and finished the rough edit. They wrapped Sunday afternoon about 4pm.”

This term Mead started a film club at the school with the aim of getting involved in the 48Hours competition and to promote the new filmmaking courses.

Taupō’s 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."

Great Lakes Film Society actors on set for their 48Hours film ‘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.”

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.

Heats and finals

This year 542 teams took on the challenge across NZ, with over 4000 filmmakers putting their creativity to the test. This year 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. Following the heats, the regional finals will be held with the Across Aotearoa regional finals taking place on September 27.

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.

The two Bay of Plenty heats of the 2025 Vista Foundation 48Hours Film competition will be held on Sunday, September 7 at 2.30pm and 3.45pm. Sixteen BOP teams will have their films screened in the heats.

Filmmakers will be viewing the heats at a Tauranga venue with limited seating available, while the public will be able to watch and vote for their favourite by following live online.

Bay of Plenty 2.30pm, Sunday, September 7 heat (family friendly): https://youtu.be/Lnjv7Sc0yU4

Bay of Plenty 3.45pm, Sunday, September 7, heat (PG rating): https://youtu.be/ma3juXWjJK0

Many participants cited the sense of camaraderie as the best part of their 48Hours weekend. As one participant put it, “The friends we made along the way” was the best part of the entire experience.

“The competition isn’t just about making films; it’s about building communities and celebrating the shared passion for storytelling,” said 48Hours organisers.