48 hours enough to make a winning film

1.00pm - By AMANDA CAMERON

Auckland comedian Te Radar was applauded by a jubilant crowd last night when he and Classic Comedy and Bar manager Scott Blanks accepted top honours in Auckland's second 48 hours filmmaking competition.

The contestants had two days to write, shoot and edit a short film lasting no more than eight minutes. And they didn't find out their assigned genre until the clock started ticking.

The Classic team randomly drew the 'religious/educational/family fare' genre at 7pm on Friday June 11.

Forty-seven and a half hours later, the team handed in their 5-minute long entry "Jessie McCloud: The Journey", a hilarious video-within-a-short-film about two burglers who break into a home and stumble on a 'how-to' video for families wishing to commit suicide.

Lead writer and director Te Radar, who is also a Herald columnist, said the key to the team's success was "keeping it simple".

The winners were announced at the Civic Theatre last night, after a screening of the finalist entries. Eighty-three teams entered the Auckland competition this year.

The winners of the inaugural Wellington competition will be announced next Saturday night at Wellington's Paramount Theatre.