Lee University recently hosted its first annual “48-Hour Film Friendsy.” Lee’s Matthew Fisher, associate professor of communication, and Beecher Reuning, assistant professor of cinema, organized the event, which brought in 33 students from six different majors and all years.

After a weekend of work, the teams each successfully completed a 4-6 minute film. The screening and awards party brought in over 70 attendees. Each film was judged by a panel consisting of Chris Golden, director of IT operations; Erin Looney, university registrar; and Dr. Jared Wielfaert, associate professor of humanities. The judges celebrated each team’s work and gave out two awards to the highest-achieving films.

“We assigned each team a genre, a required prop (a lantern), and a line of dialogue: ‘My interest in Nancy is more than academic,’” said Reuning. “All the films were creative and very well put together for only having two days.”

Lee’s cinema faculty assembled five teams of student filmmakers and assigned each a coach. The volunteer coaches included Dan Buck, associate professor of theatre; Clark Campbell, Lee alum and communication coach; April Reuning, adjunct professor at Lee; Jeff Salyer, director of media services and assistant professor of communication; and Stephanie Valadez, adjunct lecture at Lee.

Buck’s team won the top prize with its film “Oliver’s Project,” which was under the time-travel genre. The team consisted of Lee students Jon Bouvier, Kellen Gifford, Colleen Hutchinson, Nate Richardson, Noah Rodden, and Olivia Webb.

“This was a really great experience to put what I have been learning about film into action,” said Gifford. “It was even better because I got to go through this experience with my friends and peers.”

For more information on Lee’s Department of Communications, call 423-614-8341.