Limelight will shine on Orange Coast filmmakers

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 marisa.oneil@latimes.com.