Limelight will shine on Orange Coast filmmakers
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Marisa O’Neil
Student filmmakers from Orange Coast College will get some major
exposure at the Newport Beach Film Festival this year.
The festival is devoting an afternoon on April 18 in the Lido
Theater to five films produced by OCC students. Though student work
has previously been featured at the festival, now in its fifth year,
this is the first time it has had its own section of the festival.
“It’s really exciting, especially because it’s in Newport Beach,”
said 24-year-old Hannah Stone, whose adventure film “Samurai” will be
screened. “OCC is a really great school and it’s wonderful to
showcase our films. I think it gets overlooked because it’s a junior
college, but this helps get it out there and show how good our films
are.”
OCC film instructor Scott Broberg helped organize “OCC Shorts”
with fellow teacher Lance Winkel, who is also responsible for booking
short films for the festival. The school’s film and video department
selected the best student work over the past two years and submitted
it to a selection committee.
They found enough quality films from those, Winkel said, to
justify giving Orange Coast College its own category at the festival.
“One of our mission statements is to highlight Orange County
filmmakers,” Winkel said of the festival. “OCC has one of finest film
schools and it’s sitting at a community college. The work they have
coming out of there, even though it’s a two-year school, the
technical quality at that school is outstanding.”
Film and video students at the school have access to equipment
like editing bays, a studio, computers with digital editing software
and a 35-seat screening room. It also still uses film in addition to
video formats, Winkel said.
Works screening in the festival’s OCC category range from three to
30 minutes in length and cover a variety of genres.
“There’s a wonderful cross section of projects,” OCC film
department chair William Hall said. “There’s a short comedy; an
adventure film, which is quite elaborate; a dramatic project about
immigrants crossing the border that was shot in the desert in Spanish
with English subtitles; a comedy that’s a takeoff on Hong Kong
martial arts films and another lightweight comedy.”
The festival screening will give the school exposure and let the
student filmmakers, some of whom are now seeking jobs in the
industry, meet other working filmmakers, Hall said. They also get to
see their film on a 45-foot screen.
“I have to say it will be really good to see your work shown in
front of few hundred people,” said Ryan Bensley, whose film “La Cruz”
tells the story of two men crossing the border from Mexico. “Any time
that happens is personally satisfying. That’s one of the big goals in
going to film school. And if it furthers your career, that’s great.”
* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)
574-4268 or by e-mail at [email protected].
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