ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN WITH THE GRAND'S FILM CONTEST >>>

Can you feel it? The suspense is mounting, crackling over the city like electricity. This sensation, communally shared and transmitted by local moviemakers, will only grow as The Grand Cinema's 72-Hour Film Competition dawns at dusk this Thursday. A few vets will toss their cameras into the ring once again, determined to snag a prize or two, while first-timers like Volcano newshound Steph DeRosa want nothing more than to ride this rollercoaster of a weekend without losing consciousness.

Jordan Rhone once considered winning a 72-Hour Film Competition award a near-hopeless prospect. Content with dreaming up videos for an invisible Youtube audience with his cousin C.J., Rhone finally signed up for competition last year, his first film contest ever. He didn't even attend the subsequent viewing party, nervous about sharing a room with several hundred pairs of eyes quietly critiquing his work.

But Rhone's action-drama, Stolen, nabbed the award for Best Film. He remembers standing in his kitchen when the call came in from his mom, raving about the victory. "It was a really, really good feeling," Rhone says, adding with a laugh, "But of course it made me feel pretty dumb for not going in the first place."

Rhone now has a smarter attitude and more confidence for this year's contest. With only a 72-hour window, he plans to "manage (his) time better," he says, noting he's "willing to possibly stay up overnight" to make the best work he can.

The story you hatch for the 72-Hour Film Competition ultimately determines the course your weekend takes, and in this regard Rhone shares some invaluable advice:

"The most important thing for me, and probably for other people, is (to) like the project you're working on, because if you're having fun doing it, that's probably when you're going to get the best work done. If you're passionate about your project, then you're going to do whatever it takes to succeed."

Good luck to all the teams discovering their own stories this weekend.

Watch Stolen and other works by Rhone here.