The early-registration deadline for the 48 Hour Film Project is this Monday.

The Project, a global institution since 2002, comes to Pittsburgh for its eighth consecutive year, July 11-13.

The worldwide competition challenges filmmakers to write, shoot and produce an entire short film over the course of a single weekend, given a genre, a character, a prop and a single line of dialogue. The films must be from four to seven minutes long.

Each year, local winners are selected to compete globally. And this year, that means screenings at the 48 Hour Film Project's Filmapalooza festival in Hollywood and even the 2015 Cannes Film Festival Short Film Corner. In addition, the grand prize winner receives a cash prize, a trophy, and some brand-new film gear.

This year, the Pittsburgh judges include La-Aja Wiggins, an in-house editor for CBS, and Nicholas Brendon, whom you may know as Xander from the TV show Buffy the Vampire Slayer. In addition to the coveted Best Film award, awards are also given out to the audience’s favorites, as well as for acting, writing, music and much more.

The kickoff event will be held at 6 p.m. on July 11 at Chatham University's Eddy Theater (Woodland Rd., Squirrel Hill), and the screenings/award ceremonies will be held on the weekend of July 18 at the Hollywood Theater, in Dormont. Sponsors include Sony, the Pittsburgh Film Office, and ‘Burgh Vivant.

Registration is currently open here. Teams that register on or before this Monday will pay a discounted fee of $140. Otherwise, the deadline and fee are July 1, and $160. For more information, click here or email [email protected]