As New Zealand’s largest film competition gears up for another weekend of manic filmmaking - acclaimed thespian and star of blockbusters Indiana Jones and The Lord of The Rings, John Rhys-Davies has an important announcement for filmmakers of New Zealand.

The V48HOURS Furious Filmmaking competition gives filmmakers 48 hours to write, shoot, and edit a short film.

Starting in 2003 with just 44 teams, the competition has grown into an iconic event for budding and professional filmmakers.

2011 saw over 10,000 participants from 780 teams get amongst the action.

Founder of V48HOURS Ant Timpson is justifiably proud of what’s been achieved since the event began.

“The relationships that have formed amongst competitors and the impact those relationships have had on the New Zealand film and television industry is huge. A weekend of insane fun can create the foundations for future TV series and feature films to be built from.”

The shoot weekend starts Friday 18th May – Sunday 20th May and this year’s regions include Auckland, Hamilton, Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin.

Long-time supporter Sir Peter Jackson will do the honours as Wildcard judge, seeing his favourites into the Grand Final.

And ten years of hard work hasn’t gone unnoticed by the famous movie maker.

“Congratulations to every one of the thousands of kiwis who picked up a camera, wrote a script, crewed a set or played a role in ten years of furious filmmaking” says Sir Peter "You helped create something unique and Wingnut Films is proud to be a part of it."