Movie lovers and filmmakers on importance of ‘connection’ at 10th Annual OC Film Festival

Ocean City, Md. – This year’s Ocean City Film Festival saw folks from all over Delmarva come to see over 100 independent films, ranging from ones locally made to ones internationally produced.

Though there was plenty to see at the festival, filmmakers say the festival offers them the opportunity to make important connections.

“You have to get in front of people’s faces,” Film Brothers Productions Owner Gordon DelGiorno said. “So to have a film festival like this, whether it’s four people or 400 people, it brings the energy out. It gets ideas that come out.”

He also said that those connections are essential when it comes to networking for funding options. In addition to being a filmmaker and the owner of the local production company, DelGiorno is the director of the Film Brothers Festival of Shorts in Wilmington, Del.

“So the film community, that’s where money starts to flow in and everybody struggles for money, right?” he said. “So, it’s really about activity and getting people in the room together.”

In the age of streaming, movie goers and filmmakers alike agreed that one of the most important parts of the festival is being able to be in a room with others and bond over a film.

“There’s nothing like being in a room with great sound,” DelGiorno said.

Film enthusiast Ryan Dobbs says he connects the stories in movies to his day to day life, making art not just a reflection of life, but essential to it.

“I grew up on movies, I’ve just always been a fan of connecting that craft to what I do during the day,” Dobbs said. “Art is life, right? Everything is art. So I think that’s why it’s important. It’s just, I can’t imagine life without art.”

Dobbs said that it’s important to support artists and was glad to have been be able to help support local filmmakers make new art to showcase at the festival.