A public domain filmmaking challenge
119:00
your clock started when you arrived
Can you write a film in the time it takes to watch one?
119 Minutes is a filmmaking constraint with one rule at its heart: your film runs exactly as long as it takes to experience making it. Anyone can make a 119. No permission needed.
It's a film.
A complete feature — your world, your story, your cast.
It's a dare.
Eight constraints. Every version looks completely different.
It's free forever.
Public domain. No licence. No permission. Just make it.
The premise
A film that knows exactly how long it is — and uses every second of it.
Most films are made to fill time. A 119 is different. The runtime isn't a side-effect — it's the story architecture itself. Your audience watches a clock in every frame, synced to the story's heartbeat from second one.
There's a moment around the two-hour mark where something goes wrong with all the clocks. They don't agree anymore. And the character with the missing watch is the only one who noticed it first.
"Your 119 will look nothing like mine. That's the point."
Works in any genre
Horror. Sci-Fi. Western. Anime. Whatever you make.
Horror
Comedy
Sci-Fi
Western
Drama
Thriller
Musical
Anime
Nolan's 119 is not Tarantino's 119 is not yours. The constraints are the skeleton. The genre, voice, world — entirely yours.
See it in action
Time Soldiers
A soldier in a war fought on the tempo of time itself discovers the entire conflict was caused by his own accidental sync error. The loop closes when he stops listening to the rhythm.
Sci-Fi · War
119-Compliant
Full scene map
Read the full breakdown →
The cheat sheet
Eight things. All eight. That's a 119.
Everything else — genre, tone, budget, cast size — is creative freedom. These eight are the bones.
01
Runtime is exactly 119:00
not 119:01, not 118:59
02
Clocks visible in every frame
analog, digital, whatever fits your world
03
Marty has a missing watch
tanline on his wrist — the emotional anchor
04
Anomaly 1 at T−88:00
all clocks slow — something is wrong
05
Intermission at 59m 30s
exactly 119 seconds of audio-only absurdity
06
Anomaly 2 at T−12:00
clocks speed up — climax accelerates
07
2-minute gag before the end
the awkward overhang everyone dreads
08
Smash cut at exactly 119:00
mid-sentence if necessary
Full breakdown with math, cue sheets + examples →
Ready to start the clock?
The template is waiting. So is the story.
Grab the Foundation Template. Drop it into any script editor. The timing is pre-marked, the rules are baked in, and your first camera direction is already written for you.
Runtime doesn't lie.
119 Minutes — A Public Domain Challenge
Runtime doesn't lie.