[O'CONNOR] This weekend, filmmaker David Messick will have five films screening at the Ocean City Film Festival and will be a part of a special block highlighting the work of his local production company, Unscene Productions. I'm Jenny O'Connor. David Messick's projects have traveled to festivals around the world, but showing them in Ocean City carries a different kind of significance. To him, the location of the festival matters just as much as the films themselves.
[MESSICK] The neat thing about the film festivals is that they're all different. You really never know until you go to them.
[O'CONNOR] Unlike larger international festivals where audiences may have little connection to the stories on screen, a regional festival brings those stories directly back to the community that helped create them. Many of Messick's films focus on local businesses, landmarks, and traditions, and that connection to the audience is part of what makes Ocean City such a powerful place for filmmaking.
[MESSICK] There's so many neat places that you can film here. I mean, you got beach, you got country, you have city-like too with Ocean City skyline right there.
[O'CONNOR] One of the films appearing at this festival uses the environment in an unexpected way. Messick's narrative short film, Hedgehog, tells the story of a young Ukrainian girl whose parents leave to fight in the ongoing conflict, forcing her to stay with her grandmother.
[MESSICK] We turned a little village locally into looking like the Ukraine, right in Berlin. So, it's all spoken Russian and Ukrainian.
[O'CONNOR] Hedgehog will be Unseen Productions' only narrative film at the Ocean City Film Festival this year, while all four others will be documentaries rooted in the Eastern Shore community. The films include Before the Settlers, about the history of the Worcester County Library, a film celebrating the 50th anniversary of Fagers Island, a documentary about the restoration of the Bank of Ocean City Museum, and the making of O.C. Rock and Ride, which follows the creation of Ocean City's Motorcycle and Music Festival. Messick says projects like these are often made possible by strong local support from businesses and organizations across the region.
[MESSICK] We have a community that's amazing. When it comes to that, like catering, the restaurants, the hotels, they helped us with everything. There could be much larger productions, to be honest with you. It's just a matter of convincing people and proving.
[O'CONNOR] Despite his familiarity with documentary creation and the Eastern Shore locations that he's using, Messick says nonfiction filmmaking always comes with its own challenges.
[MESSICK] I mean, narrative, you go into it. You have a script. You know you have 10 minutes left on that one scene. And if you nail it, you do. If not, you better move on.
[O'CONNOR] Documentaries definitely are very time-consuming and a lot of work compared to narrative. The unpredictability can make documentaries both exhausting and rewarding. But Messick says he's never set out to focus on just one type of project.
[MESSICK] Yeah, we just, I like filming.
[O'CONNOR] That passion for filmmaking started early. Messick founded Unseen Productions in 1991 when he was just 18 years old.
[MESSICK] You know, I was skateboarding since I was a little kid and filming it. And that's how it all really happened for me.
[O'CONNOR] Those early productions eventually led to television production and regional programming. His work eventually grew into larger productions, including the fishing series 'Hooked on OC'. Today, Unseen Productions continues to grow, building on that early momentum.
[MESSICK] I think I've probably produced over 2,000 regional TV shows. And 'Hooked on OC' is a very popular one. That one was on national TV on the sportsman's channel. That's been 21 years this year.
[O'CONNOR] Now the company operates out of a studio in Ocean City with editing suites, recording spaces, and production equipment used for everything from film editing to music recording. Messick says building those resources locally was important.
[MESSICK] There's no place around here that you would be able to get those assets. You'd have to go to Philadelphia, Baltimore, D.C.
[O'CONNOR] Regional festivals like Ocean City's help prove that professional filmmaking can happen here too.
[MESSICK] There's truly a lot of talented people on the Eastern Shore that get overlooked.
[O'CONNOR] The four documentaries will play Thursday afternoon and again on the evening of Saturday, March 7th during the festival's run in Ocean City. For Delmarva Public Media, I'm Jenny O'Connor.
