Back in May 2001, Mark Ruppert came up with a crazy idea: to try to make a film in 48 hours. He quickly enlisted his filmmaking partner, Liz Langston, and several other DC filmmakers to form their own teams and join him in this experiment. The big question back then was: "Would films made in only 48 hours even be watchable?"

The answer was a resounding yes, and now eight years later and with more than 150 competitions having taken place around the world, it is amazing to consider the success of the Project. 2009 marks the 8th time we've visited Atlanta, Los Angeles, New York and Austin, and the 10th time for DC.

Our smallest team has consisted of one person who sets up the camera then runs around to be "on-camera". Our largest team to date was a team from Albuquerque with 116 people and 30 horses! We've had about 9,000 teams in the Project over the years, and at 15 people per team, that translates to roughly 130,000 people who have answered the call to come on out and make a movie.

Mark and Liz started the National Film Challenge in 2004 for all of the filmmakers across the world that don't live in a city with a 48 Hour Film Project event. It is the exact same concept as the 48HFP, but conducted through a website so location is not a barrier. KDHX Community Media (who produces the St. Louis 48HFP) now produces the event in close partnership with 48HFP Inc.