The B2Z Films crew aren't professional filmmakers — they're a group of Springfield friends who set aside one weekend a year to build a short film for SATO48, the Springfield and the Ozarks 48-hour film festival. In this conversation, crew members Bill Cover and Bryan Powers sit down with Keith Putnam, a professional filmmaker who recently moved to the area from LA, and Tiffany Powers, Bryan's wife, to break down what it actually takes to write, shoot, score, and submit a complete movie in exactly 48 hours — and why they keep coming back year after year.
We get into the things that make a 48-hour film work: ruthless prioritization, building an airtight script before the camera ever rolls, and why music and sound effects are their secret weapon. They talk about running a creative team with no director and no ego, learning from every failure, and leaning hard into Southwest Missouri instead of trying to look like LA. There's honest advice for first-timers thinking about signing up, plus a heartfelt word for the spouses and loved ones who hold things down during the weekend. Their films screen locally at the Moxie in Springfield.
This episode is part of the Ozarks Experience series — long-form conversations focused on the people behind the work shaping the Ozarks.