The 48 Hour Film Project

48ers Tackle a FeatureWednesday, July 14, 2021

Jacksonville 48HFP producers, Adam and Monique Madrid have just wrapped up shooting their first feature film. They sat down with us to talk about their experience.

48: How did you get your start in filmmaking?

Monique: Adam has been making films with his sister and best friends since he was a kid.  Fast forward to adulthood, in 2007 when the 48HFP came to Jacksonville, one of his best friend's suggested they enter the contest and they quickly recruited friends and family to be a part of the crew.  Everyone was very green making that first  film, but we were most excited we did it on time in 48 hours on the first try.  Seeing the other films inspired us to try hard and push the envelope each year.  The team did not take home any awards but what we took home was a genuine spark of wanting to be a part of the film community.

48: How many times did you do the 48 and what success did you have?  

 Adam and Monique: We did the 48 every year from 2007-2018.  The team has won awards here and there throughout the years but we finally won Best Film 2014 and swept the awards that year.  Winning opened so many doors locally for our team.  Adam was able to get a professional gig working for his favorite football team Jacksonville Jaguars as a cameraman and he got a job working for a number one production company in Jacksonville (PRI Productions).  Winning the 48 helped jump start his career.  Monique was able to co-create a local comedy festival that has proven to be a film community networking playground.  Then in 2018 the filmmakers pushed us to apply to be the CPs.  Full circle moment when we were selected.  So much pride in helping continue the legacy of a contest that helped launch us. Everything we do we do it for the love of community.

48: Tell us about the feature you just shot.  I understand it is a collaboration of several Jacksonville 48 teams.  Who is involved and how did that come together?

Adam and Monique: When coming up with putting together my first independent feature film, there couldn't be any other way to do it than with the mindset of filming it as a 48 Hour Film Project. From all the knowledge used making our short films to the limited amount of days we had to shoot, we had to get it right.

We decided to collaborate with a number of previous city winners.  Our team won in 2014 for Argyle Forest Films, Eric and Ian Dooley's team won in 2017 with Haddington Road, then we had winning crews from the past two years "Mann Shorts" with Justen Mann, Thomas Siedle, Jaron Wallace, and their team. 

We were able to shoot this film in only 11 days.  They were long days, but everyone was on board and excited to be involved.

The talented local film crews stepped up and made amazing things happen.  Matt Oistacher came on board as Director of Photography and wehad executive producers Monique Madrid and Karen Cherney step up in a huge way.

The film community is like a family and always willing to support and help one another. 

48: Getting a script is often the most challenging aspect of making a film.  What was your process?

Adam and Monique: Adam's childhood friends, Josh and Jeremiah, wrote the script. It went through 8-9 drafts with a few trusted people reviewing and providing their opinions along the way until it finally turned into a script we were very happy with.  It is important that you love your script because you are investing time, money, blood, sweat and tears into the shoot.

48: What's the title and premise for your film?

Adam and Monique: It’s a romantic comedy but with a twist.  Think Farrelly brothers, Judd Apatow, Kevin Smith type of films (There's Something About Mary, Knocked Up, This is 40, Shallow Hal, Chasing Amy, etc.).  It's a little raunchy, with humor and romance.

The name of the film is Let Me Be Corey and it's about a man named Corey who is forced to figure out how to ditch his man-child ways after a sudden tragedy.  He meets Ally who has a turbulent past and offers to help him on his journey of adulthood and starts dating him in the process.  But that's only the beginning of the story.

48: Tell us about the shoot--how many days?  High points and low points?

Adam and Monique: It was a 11-day shoot with a micro-budget.  The high points were: great locations working with us to show cool parts of Jacksonville, the actors and crew showing up and bringing their best, the laughter on set, and an epic close out concert and speech. 

The low point was the long production nights.  They were rough, but everyone hung in there, encouraged each other and came back next day ready for more.

48: How did the 48 prepare you for your feature?

Adam and Monique: The experience we gained as a 48 Hour Film Project crew all those years set us up to take on any challenge. We knew with the limited days we had, we had to be prepared.  The 48 really taught us problem solving skills.  Actually, everyday felt like the 48.  The crew and cast worked really hard and it was a great feeling to be surrounded by passionate people.

48: What are the plans for post-production?

 Adam and Monique: The editing has begun.  The goal is to hopefully finish before the end of the year.  That's a whole new beast to tackle but the footage is great and we are excited to see the final product.  This project was a long time coming and it's a blessing to have the community help a dream come true. We’re looking forward to premiering it on the big screen and having something to show that everyone will be proud of.  Jacksonville filmmakers are the best!!