(Holly Marie Boulind on the waterways)
Creative Producer Holly Marie Boulind leads a team of South African Creatives to enter the Johannesburg 48 hour Film project all the way from the United States of America. This all-female, all-LGBTQI+ team made a movie in 48 hours from a city on the other side of the world.
Durban girl, Holly Marie Boulind came up with the idea, figuring that it was definitely viable, considering the Covid Pandemic had forced the cities to do an on-line kick-off rather than the usual in-person one. This opened the door to enter her team from across the pond.
“I figured, why not?” Boulind said. “We are creative people, forced into isolation, which stifles our ideas. I needed to do something, anything to get those juices flowing again.” For those who don’t know, the 48 brings film-makers together for a caffeine fuelled weekend of non-stop writing, filming, editing and mixing. At the kick-off event at 18h00 (South African time) on Friday, each team is given a genre, a line of dialogue, a character and a prop and sent off into the world to create a Tarantino-esque masterpiece in 48 short hours.
(Kathi Henriksen & Holly Marie Boulind)
Although Boulind and her wife, director Kathi Henriksen, had already entered the competition in 2017 - creating an award-winning short film - they had several hurdles trying to do the same from their new home in South Florida. “In Johannesburg we had a full team of entertainment professionals in our corner. We had all the equipment we could possible want or need. On this side of the world, there was none of that” Henriksen quipped.
However, this didn’t deter our intrepid heroines, who put on their big girl panties, called up friend and audio guru Reanne de Klerk in California to get her on board and started writing a script for a “Film de Femme”, the genre they drew out of the proverbial on-line hat.
(Reanne de Klerk)
Boulind put on her Art Director, Prop Master and Wardrobe Mistress hats and set out creating props, sets and wardrobe, Henriksen wrote and created shot lists for each scene and De Klerk started composing music suitable for the genre.
The fun part? Boulind had to portray three different characters interacting with each other on screen.
“Setting up the shots and creating those invisible lines for Holly to act within was a challenge by itself” Henriksen said. “Doing it with only one camera made it even more difficult!”
Hours later - many miles had been driven, waterways paddled, cups of coffee consumed - the two girls sent the rough cut of their film to California where Reanne de Klerk started working magic with her sound editing, adding effects, audio tracks and original music to bring the whole story together.
“With about an hour to spare, the film was uploaded to the drop-off site and our three main characters all slept for a few well deserved hours,” says Boulind.
Durban’s turn to host this competition will be held the weekend of November 27. The 48 is the world’s oldest timed film competition and is in 130 cities worldwide. There are several spin-off competitions including the 4-Points online film project which happens worldwide at the same time. The 48 is also launching a 48 hour high school challenge aimed specifically at scholars to try and grow and promote the love of film in South Africa’s youth.
Durban audiences will remember Boulind performing at the Catalina Theatre, the Elizabeth Sneddon and the Playhouse before she started performing on the high seas for the cruise lines. The Maris Stella old girl is now a successful Art Director in the entertainment industry based in Florida, USA.
Capetonian Kathi Henriksen is a former journalist, editor and all-rounder in the television industry in South Africa. Prior to leaving for the US, she produced and directed the popular soccer based reality tv show The Keyona Team Search for six consecutive years. Married to Boulind, she is also living in Florida.
Musician Reanne de Klerk, also known for her performances on the Durban stages, moved to California four years ago with her wife. De Klerk is a St Mary’s DSG old girl and is growing a successful career in audio mixing, composing and engineering.
For more information contact Holly Marie Boulind on Mobile: +1-786-830-7055 or email: hmboulind@gmail.com
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