Two years ago the Great Lake Film Society had regional success with their film, Extra Time, after getting the "time travel" genre and Kerence said they couldn't seem to progress this year's genre "race against time".
"We seemed to be stuck with this blimmin' time travel theme. By 11pm we didn't really know what we were going to do so we got up to do some exercises to get our brains cranking."
In the months leading up to the competition the film society had organised an alternative venue in case it was raining and they couldn't film outside.
"The story for R.A.W.W. - short for Raetihi Amateur Women's Wrestling - came out once we had the location," said Kerence.
The brief said that within the film they had to include an invisible object, a reaction shot, a reluctant accidental anti-hero, and there had to be a heartbeat.
Kerence says the short film is a fight film about a women's wrestling competition.
"And two of our women [members] are fighting cancer at the moment. They are the most inspirational people."
Crew member Katherine Ansley is receiving chemotherapy treatment for stage four metastatic lung tumours and Mandy Thomas, who is playing a lead role, is being treated for multiple myeloma.
Making use of video conferencing app Zoom allowed member Angela Alexander to be part of the scriptwriting and pre-production process, even though she now lives in Australia. Kerence said the actors were drawn from the film society and also some of the girls from Taupō Roller Derby League.
Other cast and crew are Roy Bowers, Denise Edmonds, Lindsey Seaton, Sarah Waller and Joel Corbett.
It is set in Raetihi and Kerence said the location represents quintessential small-town New Zealand.
Billed as being a "bangs, slams and thank you ma'ams" type of film, R.A.W.W. is a silent film set to music. There is a twist at the end, so viewers have to watch, think and try to work out what has happened.
The Great Lake Film Society is hoping to win the Bay of Plenty competition's audience favourite award, and Kerence says they are asking local people to go online, watch the films as they are live-streamed and vote for R.A.W.W.
In the past, the films entered in the Bay of Plenty competition have been shown in the cinema, but due to Covid-19, this year the nine films in the heats will screen as live premieres on Facebook and YouTube.
Voting for the audience favourite award is after the last film has screened and voting is open for 15 minutes only.
Kerence says the audience favourite makes up a component of the judges' final decision on who wins the Bay of Plenty regional competition, and they really want to win.
The Details
Who: 48hours Film Festival - Bay of Plenty heats are live-streamed.
What: Audience Favourite Award vote for Great Lake Film Society entry R.A.W.W.
When: Thursday, March 18, starting at 8.15pm, with voting at the end for 15 minutes only.
Where: Facebook @48Hours and Youtube @Vista Foundation 48Hours.
