The prop was a roll of paper towels. The character: either Trey or Tina Gallup. And the line of dialogue: “Tell her to give me a call.”
That’s all participants in this year’s 48 Hour Film Project in San Antonio had to go on—that, and 48 crazy hours during which they were expected to write, shoot, and edit a short film using the prop, character, genre, and line they’d been dealt. In other words, they were challenged to make something engaging and entertaining out of almost nothing, and to do it with lightning speed.
A group of Texas Lutheran University alums not only managed to meet the challenge, but won numerous awards for their efforts.
The 48 Hour Film Project, born in Washington, D.C. back in 2001, now takes place in cities around the globe—this year, in over a hundred different locations, including San Antonio.
Since 2011, the group of TLU alums—in the form of SM/PK Films—has been among the competitors. And although they were all involved in TLU’s Dramatic Media program during their college years, their graduation dates vary by well over a decade. “We span a lot of years of the Dramatic Media program!” says Ryan Anderson, who directed the film. Anderson is now an award-winning editor and videographer and owner of Paper Ketchup Productions.
He says it was Jonathan Zitelman—a 2005 grad who now serves as Director of University Events at TLU—who first heard about the competition and suggested putting a team together. “Our team that first year included friends of his from around his graduation year, recent 2010 grads like myself, and a few current dramatic media students at the time. We were able to film completely on campus, and we’ve been thankful to the school for allowing us to carry on that tradition most years since.”
And this year, the group hit paydirt, winning awards in eight out of 13 categories. Their film, a hilarious saga called The Tearable Tale of Trey and Louise, earned honors for Best Film, Best Director, Best Editing, Best Cinematography, Best Score, Best Sound Design, Best Actor, and Best Use of Prop.
“I really value that above all else, we have so much fun each year,” says Anderson, “from the writing on Friday night to filming all day on Saturday and editing together via Zoom on Sunday.”
This year’s film, produced by Anderson and Zitelman, features Bryan Hodges, Ora Cevallos, and Alysyn Andrews as its cast. The script was written by Matt Klaser, Joshua Scott, and Adrick Tolliver. Zitelman handled sound, Jessica Anderson served as production assistant, and songs were written and performed by David Haug.
Anderson says the members of the team lift one another up creatively and work together beautifully. Despite that, there were, naturally, moments during the 48 hours when the end goal seemed out of reach. “You can ask the team—at midnight on Saturday, I really didn’t think everything was going to come together. But it was such a relief to not only get something turned in, but something that all of us were really proud of.”
The resulting film might just be the ultimate testament to the power of teamwork year after year—whether the team brings home an award or not. “We have such a variety of creative strengths,” says Anderson, “and though there are always moments where we aren’t sure if we're going to pull it off, it somehow gets done.”