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Penticton filmmaker Ryan Curtis and his team plan to write, direct and film a short movie in just 72 hours in a competition this week.

The 5-Day Film Challenge is being held in conjunction with the upcoming Snakebite Film Festival in partnership with the Okanagan Society for Independent Filmmaking. The top film projects will be played in front of a live audience during the film festival in Penticton on Saturday, Feb, 1, with $3,000 in cash prizes up for grabs.

Curtis, a longtime writer and director, says he creates movies for the love of film and hopes to bring some recognition to local creators and have fun with up-and-coming actors.

“We're getting together to meet new friends, have a bunch of laughs and hopefully one day we have a cool movie that comes out of it. That's really what it comes down to. It’s just about people applying their trade and having fun,” Curtis says.

Competitors from around the Okanagan have signed up to compete in the film challenge. So far ten teams have signed up and some last minute registrations are expected.

Curtis and his team of 15 volunteers, including hair and makeup artists, actors, sound techs and designers, are confident as they prepare for the competition.

“I would love to win. I think we can win, but it's just going to be fun to get out there and see,” Curtis says.

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He's participated in multiple 48 hour film festivals before, and says an extra 24 hours feels luxurious.

Not only will the film be limited to 72 hours for creation, but the participants will also be given a line of dialogue, a character, a prop and a choice of genre or a theme to add into their film. The films must be five minutes in length minimum and must not exceed 10 minutes total.

The competition begins at 5 p.m. Jan. 9 when the the film society will email instructions and details to the team leaders. All film submissions must be delivered by 5 p.m. Jan.14.

“This is what I do, you know what I mean? This is my sweet spot. I'm just looking forward to it. I'm trying to get started, and have some fun and meet some new people,” Curtis says. 

The films will play on a big screen at the Snakebite Film Festival at the Cleland Theatre in Penticton on Saturday, Feb. 1. From there, one grand prize winner will be selected by a panel of judges and audience members also have the opportunity to vote on the People's Choice Award.

The films will be judged on direction, acting, story, sound design, cinematography, editing and overall enjoyability. Only the top three competing teams will place and win prizes.

The prize for first place is $1,250, along with a championship belt, and of course bragging rights. The team that places second will win $750, while the third place team wins $250. The winners of the People's Choice award will get $750.

The Snakebite Film Festival will be held in Penticton from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2. Tickets for the various events are on sale.

For more information about the Snakebite Film Festival and the 5-Day Film Challenge go here.

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