Orange Coast College student filmmakers will see their work displayed on the big screen as part of the Newport Beach Film Festival (NBFF) on Sunday, Oct. 19 at Triangle Cinemas in Costa Mesa.
The annual showcase, known as "OCC Shorts," features short films produced entirely by OCC film and television students. This marks the 22nd year that OCC has participated in the Newport Beach Film Festival, where it was the first college to present films. This year, six colleges and universities were represented, including OCC.
“I am very proud of the wide-ranging shorts and their diverse subjects,” says Film and TV Professor Erik Forssell. “This year’s selections seem to be ‘longer’ short films, and there was a higher completion on project rate than normal.”
To support their creative endeavors, the Film and TV Department provides students with state-of-the-art equipment, 6K cameras, studio spaces and the TV studio. Students also have access to lighting, sound gear, and editing labs and suites.
Twelve short films created by OCC student filmmakers were selected to be part of OCC Shorts. The entries were chosen by a committee of film instructors, who narrowed down the finalists among dozens of hopefuls looking to snag the highly coveted spots.
The student films range in length from 3 to 25 minutes and include titles such as “The Mentor,” “Intrepid Ink,” “Polar Minds,” “Bea’s Shell,” “No Sound but the Sea,” “Downtime,” “N.E.E.T.,” “Dark Spaces,” “Champagne Problems,” “Ch. 03,” “Imagine That,” and “Witness.” The directors of these films are Weston Swadling, Shannon Boler, Elijah Aceves, Chris Mungecho, Hugh Foster, Tanner Shelton, Alex Morper, Ellen Asquith, Avery Beck, Hannah Martin, Eddie Iniestra, and Luke Blackburn.
“For our first time this year, NBFF has allowed OCC to have two short program blocks as opposed to the standard one,” explains Forssell. “I think that is special and speaks to our long-standing relationship between OCC and NBFF.”
Learn more about OCC Shorts on the Newport Beach Film Festival website.