The arrangements and actual work are done about 3 weeks before the festival starts. The producer, director, sound engineers, director of photography, actors, and post-production facilities are arranged and after everyone meets to go over the final details, the 3 crews are let loose to make their films as fast as they can. The music is even done on the fly by local composers and recorded by professional musicians.
This challenge is an effort to have film made without the consideration of cost and avoiding the politics that are so frequently present in filmmaking. However, the boundaries of time can be a bit of a headache, but that is the challenge. Participants are surprised by their own efforts.
This form of filmmaking has been “borrowed” by other festivals in the following years and it has always been a real crowd pleaser. It would seem that a similar plan was used with the new Fox show “On the Lot”. There may be some differences but basically it is the same model as SIFF’s Fly Filmmaking.