Aspiring filmmakers from across the Bay of Plenty will be working almost non-stop as they try to complete a short film in just two days this weekend.

They'll be part of the HP48hours filmmaking competition, a national contest in which teams write, shoot and edit a short film between 7pm Friday, August 25 and 7pm Sunday, August 27.

Among them will be Team Locke Lively, consisting principally of the Locke family plus some friends.

Mum Erin Locke says it's her first time entering the fast-paced competition.

'My children have never been old enough for me to participate but I thought this year we could take the plunge and see if it works.”

She says they're a creative family and are often doing something theatrical at their house. The challenge, of course, is working to the constraints made by the competition organisers – every team is given a genre for their short film, and usually a piece of dialogue that must be included in the script.

'There's only so much you can do to prepare. At the end of the day, whatever you get given you have to work with,” says Erin.

English teacher Annmarie Lawler is also on the team and has made several short films before.

'Generally I just do the 48-hour film competition as a way of getting to make at least one film a year,” she says.

'Usually my role has been as producer. I think you can't really direct until you know what everybody is expected to do. So I try to do a little bit of everything. I've been an actor in the past and it can be hard when you don't have clear direction.”

She's done movies in the revenge, mystery, and ‘buddy' genre, but the most important thing for success is having reliable team members.

She enjoys the challenge and thinks more amateur filmmakers should get on board.

'There's a lot of talk in the Bay of Plenty about filmmaking, but it's not always taking place. If you're a filmmaker you've got to be making films.”