The Second Sprouting

I am just so amazed at what you accomplished in a weekend. You felt like a big-ish team, but were able to came together so cohesively to make such a brilliant, funny, well acted, well told story. You were audience fav for a reason! I also think it was the kind of story where everyone involved got to have their moment, playing all those fun characters, which is a great way to celebrate a team full of amazing creatives. Huge well done

Hey team you're probably wondering why you're not in the Across Aotearoa final and I'll do my best to put my hat on here because you've made a technically strong film with good performances and an original story.

And this is going to sound incredibly harsh because the idea of activists who claim they can talk to nature? That's actually a really solid original take for a story that could have been right up at the pointy end of the comp with a different form structure.

The problem is that everyone involved in 48 Hours is completely over mockumentaries. There were plenty done this year but the stats speak for themselves. Only 1 mockumentary made a regional final, and I'm kind of happy about it because I'm one of the people jaded by them.

And it hurts because if you're assumedly new to the comp then why not make something that works for you. I enjoy THE OFFICE as much as the next guy. But there's a few specific things here.

1. Using your genre (or one of the required elements) as the mockumentary topic
2. Talking heads then cutting to comedic gags.

Has been done literally hundreds of times in this comp. You could shoot with an Arri or a Red Python and it won't make an ounce of difference.

Congrats on the audience favourite award and making a technically solid film. But its a tough crowd for the judging in this comp when you take the mocko approach.