Visa USA and 48 Hour Film Project Announce Winning Amateur Filmmakers in ``Life Takes'' Invitational

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Visa USA and the 48 Hour Film Project (48HFP), the oldest and largest international timed filmmaking competition, have named three winning teams in the “Life Takes” Invitational. The winners were selected from a pool of 30 finalist teams composed of the top 10 filmmaking teams from the 48HFP 2007 Tour stops in Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco. All 30 finalists were challenged to make a short film that demonstrated their interpretation of what “Life Takes,” bringing Visa’s latest advertising campaign to life.

“We’re pleased to be able to provide these winning teams with tools to help them continue to pursue their dreams, and we’re inspired by their interpretation of the ‘Life Takes Visa’ campaign.”

The 30 teams were each equipped with a $500 Visa gift card for production expenses and were given 48 hours to shoot and edit their films. Visa and a panel of advertising industry experts judged the entries based on creativity, technical merit and adherence to the overall assignment. The three winners were announced at a special screening and awards gala in San Francisco on September 29, 2007.

Team BP from San Francisco took home the grand prize, a Visa prepaid card worth $10,000 to help fund future projects, with their film “Terms of Use.” The second place winner, Team Midas (New York), and third place winner, It Donned On Me (San Francisco), will take home $5,000 and $2,500, respectively, for their films “Two Coins” and “EXIT.” The winning and top 10 finalist films are available for viewing at www.48.tv.

“The invitational brings our empowerment message to life and provides amateur filmmakers with a once-in-a-lifetime chance to showcase their work in front of top industry influencers,” said Kevin Burke, Head of Marketing, Visa USA. “We’re pleased to be able to provide these winning teams with tools to help them continue to pursue their dreams, and we’re inspired by their interpretation of the ‘Life Takes Visa’ campaign.”

The “Life Takes” Invitational is the latest example of how Visa is extending its brand campaign to new consumer channels. Since the campaign launched in 2006, Visa has been featured in a “live art” billboard execution in New York City, in popular video games such as CSI 4 and Madden NFL 08 and in the latest refresh of Hasbro’s iconic The Game of Life.

“This is a great opportunity for our filmmakers to show their creativity,” said Mark Ruppert, Co-Executive Producer of the 48 Hour Film Project. “It is a remarkable chance for filmmakers of all levels to get exposure in an industry that is so hard to break into.”

In the 48 Hour Film Project, teams of filmmakers create a film from start to finish—casting, writing, producing, directing, editing and adding music—in just 48 hours. Filmmaking teams begin at 7 p.m. on a Friday and deliver a finished seven-minute film by 7:30 p.m. Sunday. Each team receives a genre, character, prop and line of dialogue that they must work into their piece. They are responsible for putting together a cast and crew and getting equipment and anything else needed to make a film/video in just a weekend. Any team, regardless of skill level, is eligible to participate in this competition.

For further information and dates for your city, please visit www.48hourfilm.com. To see selected 48 Hour Films, go to www.48.tv.

About Visa

Visa operates the world's largest retail electronic payments network providing processing services and payment product platforms. This includes consumer credit, debit, prepaid and commercial payments, which are offered under the Visa, Visa Electron, Interlink and PLUS brands. Visa enjoys unsurpassed acceptance around the world and Visa/PLUS is one of the world's largest global ATM networks, offering cash access in local currency in more than 170 countries.

About the 48 Hour Film Project

The 48 Hour Film Project, sponsored by Visa and Panasonic, is the oldest and largest timed film competition in the world. In 2007, more than 55 cities will participate, with more than 22,000 filmmakers expected. The 48 Hour Film Project’s mission is to advance filmmaking and promote filmmakers. The tight deadline of 48 hours puts the focus squarely on the filmmakers—emphasizing creativity and teamwork. While the time limit places an unusual restriction on the filmmakers, it is also liberating by putting an emphasis on “doing” instead of “talking.” The emphasis is also on building communities of local creative people—facilitating new connections, showcasing skills and celebrating what creativity and teamwork can accomplish in just one weekend. The 2007 tour began in March in Philadelphia and ends in Portland, Ore., in August. For more information, go to www.48hourfilm.com.

The 48 Hour Film Project provides exposure for the filmmakers and their films—premieres are held in each city just days after the competition. The winning teams go on to screen at the 48HFP annual awards weekend, held in the past at SXSW and Cinequest. At this year’s awards ceremony the keynote speaker was Alexander Payne, an independent filmmaker who went on to achieve box-office success as the director of “Sideways.” A selection of the 2006 48 Hour films were screened in May at the Cannes Film Festival.