Sebiya Charukh waits anxiously for others on her filmmaking team to return as she’s trying to transfer materials. It’s late August and it’s the second day of Reno’s 48 hour film project competition, with minutes counting down towards the final deadline.

What was supposed to be a refueling pizza run is now a catastrophic time cost. “When they scanned the card, they saw it was a different person, and held him there,” Sebiya said of an ill-planned Costco run, and its tighter than hoped for membership security.

The 48 Hour Film Project is an annual competition, held in cities across the world, where teams are tasked with creating films from concept to finished production within two days.

The competition, which debuted in Reno in 2022, offers opportunities for aspiring artists, with the ultimate prize being a film screening at the Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. Sebiya has competed the past couple years locally, but this year took it a step further, creating her own production company Bluebird Films Production, and assembling a team of 30 talented team members before the big production event.

In her first year in the competition, Sebiya served as just a writer and actress. This year, she added producer and director to her film roles. Not only did she juggle several responsibilities, but she felt the odds were stacked against her. “We were going up against professional teams that produce big movies,” she said of the competition.

However, she discovered some professional talent of her own. “It was amazing I got Tomm Dauenhauer… he was working on famous TV shows like American Idol.” Sebiya praised his dedication, sharing how Dauenhauer stayed until two in the morning the first competition night, even though he had a two hour commute home.

Although she successfully assembled her team of 30, this wasn’t a guarantee until a week before the competition began. “One week away I was missing people and without them I couldn’t complete it… it’s a small town,” she explained. Furthermore, there aren’t any incentives to offer, just camaraderie and trying to create the best possible film as a team.

“You have to make a movie on 0 budget,” Sebiya explained.

At the start of the competition, teams draw a random genre amongst other story elements. Sebiya drew her team’s genre over zoom, as her team anxiously waited for the direction they would need to go.

“We drew comedy… then [we] were on the way to the writing desk,” she said.

To manage her large team, Sebiya delegated responsibilities to different groups, and this also allowed for more creative freedom. “I wanted to not only bring people together but give them creative freedom so they can use all their potential… I think that worked perfectly,” Sebiya said.

However, in the final hours of editing, problems escalated, with the sound suddenly being messed up. “We submitted it five minutes before [the] deadline. It was very intense,” she shared.

Other challenges included having to change the shooting location last minute due to an UNR tailgate, and the need to call on the help of her friend, Galina Ohanian, the director of the Golden Domes dance ensemble. Not only did Galina provide her house as an alternate location after the tailgate snafu, she came to the rescue with another important element- costumes.

“During our brainstorm at 11 p.m. I called and asked if we could use clown costumes [she had]. Her husband was a clown in Reno for 40 years and I had to confirm, as he’s passed,” Sebiya said. Galina didn’t hesitate- “She was wonderful and said of course, of course!”

Sebiya is confident in their finished production titled, “Next Clown Up” ahead of the awards ceremony in a few days.

“I think we should do well, we created a very good movie, and I feel like it could get some awards but as a team we already won,” she said.

All in all, the friends she made along the way and the creative release during the decisive two days made the month and a half she spent planning for the competition all worth it.

“Networking is a big part of the experience. You learn from each other, it’s a lot of fun. It’s an amazing experience to let all this creativity out… you just kind of like go on autopilot, [and] some kind of switch flips in your head…maybe it’s like a connection with the gods,” Sebiya shared with a laugh.

“I Know What You See” is a longer term film she’s finishing up where again she’s wearing many hats as director, actress, and producer. Filmed in Reno, Sebiya said “it’s a drama with a very sensitive story about a mother and daughter’s relationship… [about] how far a parent is willing to go for their child out of love. It’s a deeply emotional story, and I think it will resonate with the audience in a very different way.”

Local businesses supported the project, such as Reno Rescue, and locations such as the UNR Medical School provided a set. The film is currently in post-production and will be featured in film festivals both domestic and abroad soon.

When Sebiya first moved to Reno close to nine years ago from Uzbekistan, she says the film opportunities weren’t as abundant.

“Recently everything started to change… Hollywood [has] started to come to Reno,” she joked. For aspiring filmmakers, Sebiya named the High Sierra Writers Group as a good community film resource in Reno, in addition to competitions like the 48 Hour Film Project.

To get into filmmaking, Sebiya recommends to “learn from anywhere and anyone” and to “never stop” in the pursuit of learning and production opportunities, and you never know what might happen.

A short film she made last year “Rudy Where Are You”(poster above) ended up getting an honorable mention at the Influx Film Awards, and was played at festivals in California. Sebiya used this as an example of why you should be relentless in pursuit of opportunity.

“It was just an experiment… but you see you never know,” she said of its success.

Final awards for the 48 Hour Film Project will be given at the Galaxy Theaters Legends in Sparks on September 14th.

“I’m so grateful for my team… I really want to highlight everyone… It’s amazing how people with all this passion under this time pressure can produce so much,” Sebiya concluded, considering the experience was already a win whatever the result.

Our Town Reno reporting by Dan Mariani, September 2024