San Diego 48 Hour Film Project

🏆 Award Winners Announced!

Congratulations to all the talented filmmakers who competed in the 2026 San Diego 48 Hour Film Project.

Best Films

Best Film: Shifter by Goon Squad
Best Film Runner Up: Untitled_ActionScript by blackhat media
Best Film Second Runner Up: Nice to Meat You by Carlling Productions
Best Film Third Runner Up: Before or After by Argos Productions

Major Awards

Best Directing: Jonathan Stellmach & Carlo Fiorillo for Untitled_ActionScript by blackhat media
Best Screenwriting: Jonathan Stellmach & Carlo Fiorillo for Untitled_ActionScript by blackhat media
Best Actor: Thomas Van Briggle for Nice to Meat You by Carlling Productions
Best Actress: Sarah Duntley for Before or After by Argos Productions
Best Cinematography: Grayson Joralemon for Shifter by Goon Squad
Best Editing: Chasen Dinh & Simon Lim for Nice to Meat You by Carlling Productions
Best Musical Score: Can Karacadagli for Before or After by Argos Productions

More…

Full Competition Summary

What is the 48 Hour Film Project?

The 48 Hour Film Project is a creative competition fueled by a love of filmmaking. Teams are challenged to make a movie in a weekend, exercising mental and physical endurance, and building lifelong friendships and professional connections along the way.

Sometimes casually and unofficially shortened as "The 48", it is the world's longest running and most popular timed filmmaking competition. Each year teams of all skill levels, ages and demographics, in over a hundred cities across the globe, compete to make a short film in just two days. Amateur and professional teams around the world make movies over a weekend, which are later given a premier in a real theater. San Diego's 2026 films premiere Monday and Tuesday, September 21-22.

The weekend of the competition begins with each team assigned a random movie genre by chance.

Each year, all teams must also include a required character, line of dialog, and prop. In 2026, those were:

A character name and occupation
This year's was Andrea or Andre Voss, Tour Guide
A line of dialog
This year's was "I won't do that again."
...or "I will not do that again."
A prop
This year's was a towel

...and they only found out when the competition started!

Completed movies are given a Hollywood-style premiere in a real movie theater packed with attendees. The audience selects an Audience Choice winner by voting. Then, all qualifying on-time films are considered for film festival judging.

The best films are honored at the 48's own "Best Of San Diego" screening and Academy Awards inspired ceremony, with many categories for recognition. The jury-awarded best film in San Diego goes on to compete in the 48 Hour Film Project's Filmapalooza, an international celebration and competition between city winners. Later, select winners are shown at the Cannes Film Festival (yes, that Cannes) Short Film Corner.

Get Connected, Stay In The Loop!

Join our newsletter to get the latest news and updates about the 48! We announce all coming events, special promotions, and anything else 48-related via email.

The most active online community for the San Diego 48 is our Facebook group. If you're on Facebook, you should join it, and you should also follow our Facebook page!

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Prefer Discord? Join our server to chat with other San Diego 48 filmmakers in real time.

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