Coast Film Festival returns to Laguna Beach and will showcase 50-plus films

After a successful first year, the Coast Film Festival returns to Laguna Beach this week on a larger and broader scale. Laguna Beach resident Ben Warner co-founded the film festival — now in its second year — along with Enich Harris, a sports brand marketer, and Ben Classen, a lifestyle brand marketer. Beyond that, Harris said that Laguna Beach can be an example because “it’s a really unique community where they have the long-term vision of protecting both lands around us and the ocean.” The festival this year will have a different look, as most events have, due to the coronavirus pandemic. “Protect Our Winters, which is a climate change organization, Surfrider Foundation, which is dedicated to protecting access and the cleanliness of our oceans, and then third is Wings For Life, which is a nonprofit that raises money for spinal cord injury.” Warner added that the film festival is starting a scholarship for Laguna Beach High School seniors to recognize emerging filmmakers.