This year, Villanova Television, or VTV, held its first-ever 48-Hour Challenge. The 48-Hour Challenge is a contest in which groups of up to five people have exactly 48 hours to write, film and edit a short film.

This contest began at 4:00 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 14 and ended at 4:00 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 16. It was open to all Villanova students, not just members of VTV, and the films were allowed to be in any genre and regarding any topic. VTV equipment, like cameras, mics, and Adobe Premiere were made available to all participants. The only requirements were that each short film must include a specific line and prop revealed at the contest’s start time, and that the film must be emailed to VTV by the end time.  

The line that films had to include was, “What are you doing, step bro?” and the prop was chocolate. Five teams participated this year. The film “The Yellow Walls” was made by Audrey Agnew, Sean Evans, Taryn Twohig and Lillie Parks. It centered around a girl who experiences hallucinations of her dead stepbrother after locking herself in her room to study for a quiz. “Juke Box Zeros” featured Zach Mann, Eric Kirchner, Cullen Taylor, Henry Zinn and Robbie Sims. It followed a four-way fight to the death fueled by jealousy. “The Zany Adventures of The St Rita of Cascia Gang” (alternatively titled “Mother”) starred Grant Hougo, Hunter Dickson, Becca Finke and Liz Mullarkey.

In this film, Villanova students role-played as members of a family as practice to increase their social skills. “Spoons Out,” starring Corey Kuipers, Harry Blackall, Miguel Badía and Trevor Yandow, was a classic whodunit in which Villanova students had to find out who stabbed their friend Trevor to death with a spoon during a power outage. Finally, the film “Adrift” by Ally Weitzman, A.J. Fezza and Matthew Gaetano showed the struggle of a high-school student to find and help his depressed older brother. All of these films can be found on the Villanova Television YouTube page.  

All the filmmakers gathered at the VTV Studio in the Tolentine Hall basement to watch the short films on Sunday night. At the end of this watch party, the winner was announced: the hilarious “Spoons Out.” As a prize, the “Spoons Out” team received a gift card and the honor of painting the title of their film on a tile of the studio’s ceiling. The contest was acclaimed by everyone. It’s safe to say that this 48-Hour Challenge will happen again.