The 168 Hour Film Project (168) is a cutting-edge annual contest, in which filmmakers worldwide make short films based on selected Bible verses drawn at random. The name comes from the 168-hour (1-week) period allotted for shooting and editing the films.

“168” provides a “farm team” for artists and a pipeline for God-honoring content. Church media professionals and filmmakers are given training and tracks to run on as they improve their skills. 168 has developed and refined hundreds of filmmakers, such as Jim O’Keeffe, who’s 168 Project “Max,” won an International Cinematographer’s Guild Award in 2004.

168 has produced 226 films in 5-years and invites filmmakers everywhere to participate in 2008. Churches are encouraged to build a team to compete in the contest. All participating filmmakers are guaranteed a screening at the 168 Film Festival held in Los Angeles in March. Two thousand 168 Film Festival tickets were sold in 2007.

Behind the scenes of the 168 the staff has their own time trial in preparing for the festival. According to Founder and Director John David Ware, “With so many files and formats in the worldwide arena, we spend a great deal of time transcoding from PAL and up or down converting to the screening format, 1080i. "We are looking forward to partnering with Roland Systems Group and using some of their expertise to help in the task of preparing the films for the fest. The VC Series Multi-Format Video Converter will be a huge time saver in that regard as we prepare the films to screen in a standard HD format. We are excited to be working with the Roland Systems Group product line in the 2007-2008 season”.

In addition, Roland Systems Group offers the R-4 Pro 4-channel location recorder with time code which will greatly aid participants in capturing more audio channels and at a much improved quality - especially in this rushed production environment.

About 700 cast and crew participate every year on locations all over the world, including the US, Canada, England, Spain, Italy, Kenya, Kyrgyzstan, Siberia, New Zealand, China and Taiwan. Filmmakers outside California are accommodated by phone or by email. Their deadline is to get to the post office and to then overnight their finished film to California.

April through September, the 168 MiniFest is a popular option. This is where 168 sends representatives to churches to screen the very best “168” films and explain how to set up a local production community in 10 Easy Steps. Your church can then rally around the artists as they produce a modern day “168” parable guaranteed to screen in Hollywood and be eligible for all award categories.

Ralph Winter (X-Men) and Brian Bird (Touched by an Angel) at the 2007 Festival After Party

“Hollywood participants include Ralph Winter, Producer (X-MEN (1-3), FANTASTIC FOUR (1 & 2), Sam Haskell, former Executive Vice President and Worldwide Head of Television at the William Morris Agency, David McFadzean, Executive Producer & Co-Creator (HOME IMPROVEMENT), Actor Doug Jones (PAN’S LABYRINTH), Actor Stephen Baldwin (THE USUAL SUSPECTS), Brian Bird, Producer (TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL), and Gary Hall, VP of Post Production at 20th Century Fox TV.

“168” films have screened at dozens of festivals including Cannes Short Film Corner, Newport Film Festival, and Moondance. More than a few 168 Films are under consideration for TV and feature length development. Press coverage has come through the Hugh Hewitt show, the KNBC-TV 6:00PM News, Focus on the Family radio, Variety Magazine, the Daily News (LA), and the L.A. Times.

For more information or to signup, see www.168project.com