Can a man and a woman be friends? “Checking Out” is a live-action, light-hearted look at the complexities of friendship. The seven-minute movie was created by a team from Silver Oaks (nicknamed Presto Video) over the weekend of July 28-30 as part of the 2007 “48-Hour Film Project” contest.

Teams get only 48 hours to write, assemble a cast, gather props, establish sets, rehearse, shoot, edit, animate and create a soundtrack for the movie. In addition, teams are required to work with a variety of assigned parameters which are not revealed until the start of the competition weekend:

• genre (buddy movie)
• character (John or Juanita Shold, a tourist)
• line of diaglogue (“If at first you don't succeed…you know the rest.”)
• prop (business card)

Judges credited Checking Out with Best Graphics and Audience Choice at the Des Moines awards ceremony on August 16. Lead actors Adam Michael Lewis and Kimberly Furness also received a runner-up award for Best Acting.

For more information about the 48-Hour Film Project: http://www.48hourfilm.com/desmoines/

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