'Lights, camera, action' - and all in one week

Monica Ricketts is back in Carson City after playing Snow White and Cinderella for the Disney Cruise Line. She may be moving Tokyo soon to work for the Disney Resort there, but in the meantime, she's been looking for some acting gigs closer to home.

This week, she landed the starring role in a movie.

But there's a catch: The entire thing has to be written, filmed and edited in one week.

"It's fun," she said. "I've never done film before. I've always done theater. I'm so thankful they chose me."

Ricketts is part of Wired Wednesday, a film group through Carson City's Brewery Arts Center that meets every Wednesday to learn and improve filmmaking skills.

About a dozen of the 176 members are taking part in the No Film Film Festival, in which teams create a 7- to 15-minute movie in one week.

Teams received their assignments on April 6 and must submit the finished work by Friday. Wired Wednesday is creating an adventure spoof of "The Wizard of Oz." In this adaptation, Dorothy is transported from her Virginia City hometown to a cartoon world of her own design.

Members of the group take turns directing, acting and running the cameras.

Ric Frost, who plays the town drunk, has had to balance his own filming business and his job managing irrigation for the Paiute tribe with the making of the movie.

"It's definitely worth it," he said. "It keeps your mind alert and out of any kind of rut your normal life puts you in. It's good for personal growth."

The group will be competing against 35 others in the competition, found at nofilmfestival.org.

"We don't really expect to win," said Darla Bayer. "The most important thing is we're doing it and having fun."

Although all the people involved are volunteering their time, Ricketts has found it as satisfying as a professional job.

"It's just as fun because the people here really love it," she said. "They're not doing it for the money; they're doing it because it's their passion."