Calgary’s Indie Filmmakers Thrive Under Pressure During the 48 Hour movie making Challenge
Photo courtesy of the Calgary Underground Film Festival.
The film industry in Calgary is gaining serious momentum. Ranked fifth best place to live and work as a filmmaker in North America, the city has attracted major productions like The Last of Us, My Life with Walter Boys, and Fargo. Yet its independent scene has long been and remains a defining part of its creativity identity, sustained through grassroots projects, underground festivals and a continued drive to bring original unique stories to audiences beyond the mainstream.
As the Calgary Underground Film Festival (CUFF) marks its 23rd year, one of its most beloved special events continues to challenge filmmakers to create under pressure. The 48 Hour Movie Making Challenge gives 25 teams just two days to write, shoot, edit and score a short film from start to finish.
For lead programmer Cameron Macgowan, the challenge is less about restriction and more about activation.
“There’s a lot of people who want to make movies in Calgary who don’t always give themselves permission to put aside the resources or the time. Something like the 48 Hour Movie Making Challenge really forces people to double down their aspirations to make movies.”
Rather than limiting creativity, he argues the tight timeframe actually encourages it by removing the pressure of perfection and having people simply create for the purpose of creating.
“Creative limitations can be liberating for filmmakers because there’s so many variables for making a film that it can be daunting to plan a production. But when you sign up for the challenge, you’re going to make that movie.It might not be as polished as it would have been if you’d have taken four months to make it, but you’re going to get that experience, and you’re going to collaborate, and you’re going to get a half finished film at the end of that weekend. It’s a great motivating factor for a lot of people that maybe haven’t made a short film in a while, a lot of trained filmmakers to really just get to work.”
As part of the challenge, teams are randomly assigned a genre, prop and a line of dialogue to be included in their two to five minute film: unpredictability that pushes filmmakers toward new creative and adaptive limits.
“Filmmaking, even professionally, is a game of compromise. You can’t always control the environment you’re in: the weather, the light, a special effect might go wrong. The challenge really reinforces the filming’s game of compromise in a fun way: about taking what happens and rolling with it. The creative power of chaos can be really inspiring.”
Demand for the challenge has never been higher. Registration filled up in two hours this year, and the waitlist list was longer than the participant list itself. While the format isn’t changing, Macgowan acknowledges the registration process may need to evolve.
“We want it to be inclusive and we want people who desire to get into the event to be able to get in.”
Lead programmer Cameron Macgowan at the 48 Hour Movie Making Challenge in 2025. Photo courtesy of the Calgary Underground Film Festival.
For emerging filmmakers, the challenge is also a gateway into the broader Calgary film community. A public screening at your hometown festival, alongside filmmakers brought in from across the country carries a weight that’s hard to replicate.
“It can be really inspiring for people and really help them know the realities of making movies. You should be trying to make movies to entertain other people, and that seems to be the main goal of the challenge, because the audience choice award is one of the best prizes.”
The event is also backed up by sponsors who share its investment in Calgary’s filmmaking future. Sunbelt Rentals provides a generous donation of free equipment to the winners, a prize Macgowan hopes will have a life well beyond the challenge itself.
“Our hope is that if you win the 48 hour film challenge, you’re going to use the free equipment to make a short film outside of the challenge.” It’s a deliberate push to keep momentum going.
For audiences, the screening experience is something entirely its own. Unlike the polished features filling the rest of the festival’s lineup, the 48 Hour Movie Making Challenge showcase trades on energy over polish, spontaneity over spectacle.
“You’re not coming in expecting the best movies. You’re coming in expecting the most exciting or energizing movies, because what you can do in 48 hours, if you got the right passion, is really get an energy across.”
What is so exciting each year is that the genres assigned to teams are kept secret right up until the screening itself, adding another layer of surprise for audiences, and occasionally throwing filmmakers into deeply unfamiliar territory. Musical, biopic, and romantic comedy have all made appearances in recent years.
But perhaps what makes the challenge most resonant for participants and audiences alike is what it reveals about creativity at any level of experience. Teams that participate in the challenge come from all backgrounds, ranging from industry professionals and experienced crews to first-time filmmakers and film students. Last year, the Audience Choice Award went to a junior high team: students with no professional training, who beat our crews made up largely of film school graduates or those who are seasoned and have been in the field for years.
“It gives me such great excitement. It’s just good to be reminded that everybody’s got an artist within them, and you really just need the excuse to do it.”
For Macgowan, now 15 years into his time with CUFF, the challenge is a recurring reminder of something he applies to his own creative life. Each year, watching teams deliver their films, he finds himself rethinking whatever project he’s been quietly putting off.
“‘I’m always reminded that I was the only one getting in my way. By not making the time to just do it.”