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“Missed Shot” production team members, from left: Abigayil Mascaro, Rachel Blackwelder, Carleigh Bailey, Gracie Kimmons, Bethany Gurley, Johnathan Padilla, Ben Word, Jeremy Sommers, Eric Bousard and Joseph Bishop.
A filmmaking team that included nine Pensacola State College employees, students and alumni earned two awards at the 2026 Pensacola 48 Hour Film Project, a fast-paced filmmaking competition that challenges participants to write, shoot and edit a short film in a single weekend.
Competing as Team Awesome, they produced “Missed Shot,” a romantic comedy that won Best Acting Ensemble and Best Use of Character among 10 films entered in the local competition. Director of Photography Ben Word was nominated for Best Cinematography, and cast member Rachel Blackwelder was nominated for Best Supporting Actress.
Word, a PSC Marketing and Information Department employee, who focuses on social media, and recent PSC photography graduate, said the award nomination is a meaningful addition to his resume.
“To be nominated honestly means a lot among so many incredibly talented people. I couldn’t have achieved it without an amazing team, though, and it’s helped me realize that you can’t always do things alone,” said Word, whose primary role at the college is producing social media content. “I saw the competition as a low-stakes opportunity to create something with friends and get real-world experience on set. I had no expectations; I just wanted to show up and do the best I could in my role and at the very least have a cool memory.”
Four other members of the “Missed Shot” production team work at PSC: Jonathon Padilla, producer and director, from the PSC Web Team; Eric Bossard, sound recordist and grip, from WSRE; Jeremy Sommers, gaffer and first assistant camera, from Academic Advising; and Sarah Rhea, screenwriter/script supervisor, from Visual Arts. Set designer and prop master Carleigh Bailey and cast member Gracie Kimmons are both PSC Theatre alumni. Hair and makeup artist Suki Rosario and assistant director and writer Bethany Gurley are PSC graphic design and photography students.
Members of Team Awesome, including Pensacola State College employees, students and alumni, earned Best Acting Ensemble and Best Use of Character honors at the 2026 Pensacola 48 Hour Film Project for their romantic comedy “Missed Shot.” Back row: Rachel Blackwelder, Gracie Kimmons, Carleigh Bailey, Bethany Gurley, Suki Rosario. Front row: Eric Bousard, Jonathan Padilla and Ben Word.
Padilla said he first learned about the competition through an Instagram reel. “I wanted to participate because it sounded so fun. James Myers,The 48 Hour Film Project city producer for Pensacola, convinced me to see if I could put together a team, so I went for it,” Padilla said. “I talked to everyone that I knew, cold-called local organizations and contacted some people I’ve worked with before. As people joined the team, they recommended others, creating a domino effect. We started with four people I knew personally, and ended up with 21 people on our team!”
Word was among the first to commit to the project.
“I never heard of The 48 Hour Film Project until this event,” he said. “I had seen a flyer in the PSC game room but forgot about it for a while until my coworker Jonathan invited me to join the team. I knew he did some great photography, had tons of production experience and would put together something good, so I took it as a sign to try and push myself, and I’m very glad I did.”
“Getting to work with so many talented people, many of whom I’d met the day we arrived on set, was incredible, and I’m confident all of them will continue to do great things. The fact that we actually made a great short film at the end of it all was a bonus.”
The 48 Hour Film Project is a global filmmaking competition in which teams are given a genre, character, prop and line of dialogue during a Friday kickoff event. They then have only the next 48 hours to complete a short film. Participants spend Saturday writing, filming and recording audio before racing to finish editing and submit the project by Sunday evening.
The films premiere at local screenings and are judged by panels of film industry professionals and screening audiences.
For the Pensacola competition, teams were required to include a photographer character named Matt or Marla Sawyer, the line “Can you keep a secret?” and a wrapped package as a prop.
Team Awesome’s seven-minute production, now available on YouTube, is about a nervous photographer who tries to reconnect with the woman he has always loved at her birthday party, only to learn that life’s best moments aren’t always those caught on camera.
The 48 Hour Film Project encourages filmmakers to think creatively, solve problems quickly and collaborate under strict deadlines. Local awards recognize excellence in various filmmaking categories, and each city’s Best Film winner advances to Filmapalooza, the competition’s annual international festival and final event, where selected productions can earn screening opportunities at the Cannes Film Festival.
“Team Awesome will definitely participate in the competition again next year, and most of the team has already expressed interest in working together again, so that’s amazing,” said Padilla. “The lesson I learned from this first attempt is that the simplest solution is often the right solution, especially when you’re pressed for time.”
“It was one of the best filmmaking experiences I’ve had, and I definitely plan on participating again,” said Word. “By next year, I’ll have grown a lot and be able to create an even better product on the cinematography side of things. I know our whole team is ready to get the win we know we’re capable of.”
To view Word’s creative work, follow Pensacola State College on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, LinkedIn and X.