It’s like American Idol for filmmakers, said Sean Thomas, founder of the Two-Day Film Challenge.

With no Simon Cowell to hassle them, a group of regional filmmakers were given the challenge of making a five-minute film in two days for the chance to win $1,000 worth of prizes.

The filmmakers were given a list of required variables to have in their film on Friday. Every film had a particular genre, character, prop, line of dialogue and location. By Sunday night, each filmmaker had to be finished filming and editing.

Thomas said making a film in two days is a challenge.

“A lot of students spend weeks working on their projects,” he said. “They work like crazy on this for two days. They usually make a good product.”

Broadcasting professor Steve White said he started the festival last year to peak interest in the broadcasting program.

This year, more prize money and better advertising brought more attention to the challenge, White said.

Reach Stephanie Toone at features@wkuherald.com.