One link, or a QR code.
Pass it around on Friday night. Everyone who opens it joins as an editor.
48-hour film challenge kit
48 hours. One script.
Every element in.
Friday night you draw a genre, a character, a prop, and a line. By Sunday they all have to be in the film. A Film Room checks your script for them as you write, and counts down to drop-off.
New members try it free for 14 days. Then US $9.99 a month, or US $79.99 a year.
Your crew joins free.
▣ Film challenge · 3/431h 12m
Genre: Road movie
- Character nameDale MossScene 1
- OccupationLighthouse keeperScene 2
- PropRubber duckScene 2
- Line of dialogue“I’ve never seen it this quiet.”Not in the script yet
How the weekend goes
Friday’s draw to Sunday’s drop-off.
Scene by scene.
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Friday night
Draw, then log it.
Type in your genre, character name and occupation, prop, line of dialogue, and how many hours you have. It takes a minute, and the countdown starts.
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Friday, late
Write it together.
Send the crew one join link and write in the same script. Each element ticks the moment it lands, with the scene it landed in. A prop that’s only on screen? Tick it by hand.
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Saturday
Read it, then shoot it.
Hand actors a Table Read link (no account needed), export PDF sides, and run long speeches on the prompter.
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Sunday
That’s a wrap.
At drop-off, everyone who wrote gets a note that their work is saved. The script and its versions stay in the Room for whatever the film becomes next.
Set up your challenge Room →
14 days free covers the weekend and then some · Your crew joins free
How to make a film in 48 hours
Forty-eight hours sounds like a lot until you subtract sleep, travel, a dead battery, and the hour everyone spends looking for the car keys. Teams that finish on time aren't faster. They decide more before the clock starts, and they protect the end of the weekend.
Build a small team with clear jobs
You can make a film with three people, and teams of 15 or more aren't unusual. What matters more than size is that every job has exactly one owner. At minimum, decide before the weekend who is:
- Director: has the final say on set, so arguments end quickly
- Writer: owns the script Friday night (others pitch, one person types)
- Camera: owns the look and the gear
- Sound: owns every word of dialogue being usable (bad sound sinks more challenge films than bad pictures)
- Editor: starts cutting as soon as the first footage exists
One person can wear two hats, but the editor shouldn't also be shooting on Saturday. Somebody has to be fresh on Sunday.
Plan around what you already have
You can't build sets or scout new places in a weekend. Before the draw, make a list of:
- Locations you can actually use, with permission, and when
- Actors who can show up on Saturday and roughly what ages and types they can play
- Props and costumes someone already owns
On Friday night, choose the story that fits that list, not the other way around. The best challenge films usually look like they were written for exactly the places and people in them. Usually they were.
Write to a page count
A properly formatted page is about one minute on screen. If your event's running-time limit is short, your script should be shorter still. Credits and title cards eat into the limit, and scenes always run longer than you think. A few pages fewer than the maximum is a good target. Write Friday night, hold a quick table read, and cut anything that won't shoot in one day.
Schedule the shoot day around light and travel
- Group scenes by location, not script order. Every move costs an hour.
- Shoot exteriors while you have daylight, and save interiors for after dark.
- Get the required elements on camera early. If you run out of time, they're the shots you can't lose.
- Call a hard wrap time and stick to it. The edit needs the footage more than the film needs one more take.
Protect the last six hours
Most teams that miss the deadline don't miss it because of the shoot. They miss it on Sunday afternoon: exporting, rendering, uploading. Lock picture with hours to spare, give sound and color their own time, and export a test file early. Watch it all the way through, then deliver early.
How to prepare for any genre
You won't know your genre until the draw, and you can't write the script before it. But you can prepare story shapes that bend toward almost anything.
Prep two or three flexible premises before the weekend. A good challenge premise is a simple situation with an open question:
- a stranger arrives with something
- someone has to deliver something before a deadline
- a group is stuck in one place
On Friday night, ask how your genre would tell that story. A courier racing a deadline is a thriller, a romance, a comedy, or a horror film, depending on what's in the package and who's waiting for it.
Practice the genres you dread. Teams tend to dread the same few: musical, western, silent film. Spend ten minutes before the weekend pitching how you'd handle each one with your actual cast and locations. You'll never be caught flat-footed.
Let the required elements serve the story. A required prop works hardest when it matters to the plot, not when it's sitting on a shelf in the background. A required line lands best when a character really needs to say it.
Need starting points? Our short film ideas include a set of story shapes built to absorb whatever you draw.
24-hour, 72-hour, and other film challenges
The 48-hour weekend is the best-known format, but timed film challenges come in every size:
- 24-hour challenges: everything happens in one day and night. Plan even more before the clock starts, keep to one or two locations, and keep the cast small.
- 72-hour challenges: an extra day gives you room for a second location day or a proper sound mix, but the same rule applies: the last day is for finishing, not shooting.
- Week-long and month-long challenges: common in film schools and online communities. A longer clock lets you hold auditions, rewrite after a table read, and reshoot a scene that didn't work.
- Make your own: a club, class, or group of friends can run a challenge with a theme and a couple of required elements. It's one of the best ways to get a group making things.
Whatever the format, the countdown in a Film Room works the same way. Set any number of hours, log your required elements, and they tick off as they land in the script.
Free, no signup
The 48-hour film checklist.
What experienced teams sort out before the clock starts, and what to watch while it runs. Tick as you go, or print it for the crew.
The whole team, one Room
You pay.
Your crew doesn’t.
One join link brings up to 15 people into your Room, free. They write in the same script, see the same elements tick, and watch the same countdown.
Same script, same clock.
Nobody works from an old draft in a group chat.
The rest of the Film Room.
Scenes, Table Read, Prompter, and PDF are all there. See everything in a Film Room →
Questions teams ask
Before the draw.
Is this connected to a film competition?
No. Idea Baby Daycare isn’t affiliated with any film festival or competition. The kit works for any challenge that hands out required elements and a deadline. Always follow your event’s own rules.
Does it have to be 48 hours?
No. Set any number of hours, and the countdown runs to drop-off.
How many people do you need for a 48-hour film?
You can finish one with three or four people who each take more than one job, and many teams are much bigger. The size matters less than having one clear owner for directing, writing, camera, sound, and editing, plus actors who can commit to the shoot day.
How long should a 48-hour film be?
As long as your event’s rules allow, and usually a bit shorter. Running-time limits differ between challenges, so check yours before you write. A good target is a script a few pages shorter than the limit, because scenes, credits, and title cards all add time.
What should we prepare before the weekend?
Everything except the story. That means your crew and their roles, actors, locations with permission, release forms, music you have the rights to, charged batteries, empty cards, and a couple of flexible story premises. Our free checklist below covers it step by step.
What if the prop is only on screen, or the line is spelled differently?
Tick it by hand. The Room checks the script for each element, and you can confirm anything it can’t see, like a prop that never gets a mention.
Does my crew need to pay?
No. You start the Room on your membership, and up to 15 people join it free with one link. They can write and comment inside your Room. If your membership ends, they keep writing for 72 hours so nobody loses a scene mid-shoot.
What happens after drop-off?
The Room keeps everything: the script, its versions, and the elements. Everyone who wrote on your crew gets a note that their work is saved, and you can keep raising the film from there.
Does it work on a phone and a computer?
Yes. Film Rooms work on the web, iPhone, and Android, with one membership. Write on a laptop, run the teleprompter on a phone.
What does it cost?
New members try it free for 14 days. Then US $9.99 a month, or US $79.99 a year. Cancel anytime.
The clock starts Friday
Get the Room ready
before the draw.
Start your Film Room →
New members try it free for 14 days. Then US $9.99 a month, or US $79.99 a year. Web, iPhone, and Android.
14 days free. Your crew joins free.
Start your Film Room →