Eugene Rocco Utley is an award-winning filmmaker from Murrells Inlet, South Carolina, driven by creating low-budget films that bridges the gap between art and entertainment while also exemplifying the possibilities of storytelling within the cinematic medium.

Eugene Rocco began his film career while studying Clemson University where he studied film, journalism, and media writing. There, he made his impact both academically, as he received the World Cinema award for being within the top of his class, and socially, as he ran numerous clubs, such as the Clemson Wrestling Club and Clemson Reel Dialogue, a club he co-founded that focused on deepening a relationship with filmmaking in both reception and creation. He graduated from Clemson in May of 2021 with Magnum Cum Laude.

After graduating, Eugene has written, directed, and produced numerous award-winning short films, two most notably being A.B. (2023) and A Gift for and from the Shallows (2022). He has contributed on an array of film productions, from commercial to narrative, from remotely to traveling abroad.

Eugene Rocco prides himself on being a hard-working and passionate contributor and puts all of his heart, mind, and soul into whatever production he is a part of, whether producer or production assistant. He approaches filmmaking with an artistic vision built off of a confident understanding of visual storytelling and ability to embrace the community that the art form brings.

Eugene Rocco independently produced his first professional short film, A Gift for a from the Shallows (2022), the fall after graduating college. The production debuted at the Myrtle Beach International Film Festival where it received Honorable Mention, and from there received recognition domestically and internationally, even gathering acclaims such as Best Original Screenplay at the the Immagina Florence Film Festival. His second film, A.B. (2023), was created no more than a year later and served as a personal expression and ode to the mental health of artists everywhere of every kind. The short film premiered at the Tryon International Film Festival in October of 2023, and went on to win Best Overall Film. Since then, the film has been showcased all throughout the southeast and has been traveling throughout the east coast.

Currently, Eugene Rocco is amidst distribution of his most recent project, Behind Closed Doors, and is in development of multiple projects, commercial and narrative, short-length and feature-length. He also works with marketing and commercial development for CCNB, Coastal Carolina National Bank, and freelance editing and film producing.

Eugene Rocco aims to have a mosaic filmography that is always adapting to the direction in which his story is asking to be told. He allows concept and meaning lead the style of his work, making no two approaches to his craft the same. No matter his story, he aims for it to be character driven and feeling larger than the sum of its parts in a way that bridges the gap between the screen and the audience.