The Confluence

“Inspirational! Why waste 4 years at a film school? I took Dov’s class and launched my career.” – Quentin Tarantino

For decades, Dov Simens has taught the secrets of the film business to aspiring filmmakers through his “2-Day Film School,” and the results speak for themselves. Dov’s students include Quentin Tarantino, Guy Ritchie, Will Smith and Baz Luhrmann, who have gone on to write, direct and produce critically and commercially successful films. His 75,000 students have gone on to gross over $14 billion at the box office, combined.

MovieMaker Magazine is proud to present Mr. Simens in a one-time-only engagement at the historic Clinton Street Theater in Portland. We’re excited to be partnering with the Clinton Street Theater, and space in the venue is limited – visit www.moviemaker.com/moviemaker-institute to register. If you register before January 26th, you’ll also receive a free 1-year subscription to MovieMaker Magazine – 5 full issues, over $35 newsstand value.

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Join us for a screening of select works from the decade+ catalog of Orland Nutt, including his latest “Bear of Heaven,”  followed by in depth behind the scenes that showcase Orland’s mastery of Adobe After Effects that is regularly on display as one of the front line artists at Bent Image Lab.

Opening the show will be Ben Luce, an extremely talented illustrator and animator who’s art blurs the lines between traditional and digital.  Ben will be demo’ing his techniques with Photoshop and After Effects.

More information:  www.vfxpdx.com

Free tickets:  https://vfxpdxwinter2015.eventbrite.com

Thursday, February 12 @ the Ebay Community Lounge
1400 SW 5th Avenue, 3rd Floor
6:30pm-8:30pm

Thanks to co-presenting help from AEPDX and sponsorship from Ebay (venue) and software gurus 3DV for use of their projector.

Andy Mingo is a Portland-based director/producer. He gained recognition as several of his films were included at national and international film festivals and screenings. His most recent film, ‘Romance’ was adapted from a story by ‘Fight Club’ author, Chuck Palahniuk. ‘Romance’ made its world premiere at the 2012 Raindance Film Festival and went on to screen at Cinequest, the Seattle True Independent Film Festival, and the 2013 Portland Film Festival. In 2012 Andy was invited to the Paris-Sorbonne University where he lectured on the process of adapting Chuck Palahniuk’s fiction to the screen.

Andy is also the director of the Digital Media Program at Clackamas Community College in Oregon, where he teaches digital filmmaking. For his efforts in workforce training Andy was awarded the 2015 Oregon Governor’s Award for Innovation in Education by Governor John Kitzhaber.

Why did you become a director? Instructor?
My move into directing film was primarily due to my failure as a Hollywood screenwriter. While I was still living in San Diego I was in regular contact with an LA Producer, Tony Bill.  Read More »

Check out this great (and helpful) article from Media Inc. magazine on some of the upcoming efforts of Oregon Film.

http://media-inc.com/2015/01/meet-tim-williams/

Check out the trailer for Michael Johnson’s Portland-based film “All the Wilderness” which will be released on Feb. 20.

Portland based feature film to premier at the Slamdance Film Festival in Park City, Utah,  January 23rd and 26th.

Birds of Neptune, a feature film by Steven Richter which was shot in Portland in 2013 will make its World Premier in Park City, Utah at the Slamdance Film Festival.  With an all local Portland based cast and crew and a soundtrack from primarily PNW bands this is truly a local production.

We hope that those who are in Park City this year for Sundance/Slamdance can take the opportunity to go the screening.  There will be a Q and A with the director and cast and crew members afterwards.  Thank you and hope to see you there!

Screening dates and times are as follows:

January 23rd at 1:05 PM

January 26 at 8:30 PM

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Gordon Sondland, Governor Kitzhaber, Cheryl Strayed, Russell Hornsby (photo: Kim Oanh Nguyen)

There was a big turnout at the Eastside Exchange Ballroom last night for the Oregon Film’s Annual Governor’s Awards. Kicking off the event was Gordon Sondland (Oregon Film Board Chair, founder and chairman of Provenance Hotels, and co-founder of the merchant bank Aspen Capital) who introduced the evening and then actor Russell Hornsby (“Grimm“), who then declared himself now a Portland local! (“Grimm” is now shooting season 4 in the Portland Metro area).   Hornsby introduced Governor Kitzhaber, who has been a stalwart  supporter and advocate for film and production work in Oregon since 2011.  He went on to present the “Achievement in Film Service Award” to Sondland,  for integral behind-the-scenes work done over the past decade that has greatly furthered production in Oregon.

(Thank you Andy Mingo and the Clackamas Community College student team for the above video.)

After an impassioned speech, noting the important work done by Oregonians to assist in bringing “Wild”, and Oregon, to the screen, Cheryl Strayed presented two “Film Advocate Awards” to the Zigzag Ranger District, and Crater Lake National Park staff alike.   There to accept for Zigzag were, Bill Westbrook (Zigzag District Ranger), Mary Ellen Fitzgerald, Leanne Veldhuis, Kathleen Walker; and Craig Ackerman (Superintendent – Crater Lake National Park) and Carolyn Hill (Director of the Crater Lake Trust), for the Crater Lake staff.  Ms. Strayed read a letter from Senator Wyden’s office, that remarked upon the extraordinarily helpful lengths  taken by the Crater Lake National Park staff during the “Wild” production.  Wyden said, ” Their fantastic service to the producers of the movie “Wild” means the entire world can now share in witnessing the matchless beauty of one of Oregon’s “seven wonders”–the treasure we proudly call Crater Lake”…”They ensured the movie crew had the access — and the assistance they needed — to film in the national park…”.  Read More »

The Oregon Governor’s Office of Film & Television (AKA The Oregon Film Office) has been nominated for consideration for a Location Managers Guild of America  Award for “exemplary work on WILD“.  Winners will be chosen after a vote from active and retired members of the LMGA and balloting begins January 9th, 2015.  Finalists will be announced January 27th, with final balloting of the nominees taking place February 6th.  The second Annual Awards Show will be help in Los Angeles on March 7th.

More Oregon locations were used on “Wild” than any other production shot in Oregon to date.  Last night at the Oregon Film Office’s Governor’s Awards, Gordon Sondland, (Oregon Film Board Chair) noted about the nomination, “because this award comes via the location managers, it is even more humbling and impressive. The work that is done every day by this group of individuals throughout the state cannot be over stated. Our office relies on their input and hard work not only for the scouting, researching and securing of locations throughout the state, but also as the friendly front line of interaction with the producers and directors who work here and the local communities which are gracious enough to allow us to feature their neighborhoods in our shoots. Thank you for this honor and it really is more than enough to even be considered in the nomination process.”  Read More »

Oregon Story Board , (a collaboration of community storytelling innovators) is presenting their first group of projects from the inaugural accelerator program.  The initial group of five Oregon companies (Chroma, A Fourth Act, Studio Kate, Built Oregon, Mountain Machine Studios, ) will be showcasing their work on Friday 9th, 2pm at Hollywood Theater.  Free to the public but you must RSVP.

Randall Jahnson

Randall Jahnson has been a professional screenwriter for 30 years. He has delivered scripts for both large and small screens; in both studio and independent realms; in genres ranging from horror to historical.

He has worked closely with such film-making talent as Steven Spielberg, Jonathan Demme, Alec Baldwin, Penelope Spheeris, and Spike Lee. Among his produced credits are The Doors, The Mask of Zorro, Sunset Strip, Dudes, and episodes of the HBO cable series, Tales from the Crypt.

He also wrote the epic Western video game, Gun, which was voted Best Story at the 2005 IGN Video Game Awards. Back in the 1980s he directed videos for punk rock and independent musicians including Henry Rollins, Black Flag, Stan Ridgway, and the Minutemen. Jahnson grew up in Carlsbad, California. He attended film school at the University of California, Los Angeles, graduating with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Motion Pictures and Television. He lives with his wife and son in the Portland, Oregon area.

What made you become a screenwriter?
I was aiming for a career in journalism (I wanted to write for Rolling Stone) when I took a playwriting class at my community college.  That opened my eyes to the world of drama.  But very few playwrights make a living practicing their craft so I started to investigate alternatives.  Art and photography, too, were interests of mine so film just seemed to be the medium where I could put all those elements to good use.  Plus, I loved the word “screenwriter” – it sounded very avant-garde to me!

Why Oregon?
Several factors:  I was feeling burned-out and uninspired in LA; the film business was changing in such a way that you could conduct it from almost anywhere; and my wife and I had a son whom we wanted to raise in a different environment.  So after considering Austin, Texas and Ashville, North Carolina for about five minutes we settled on Oregon.  And I had an instinct that Portland – with its nexus of music, graphic novels, art, food, film, and DIY culture – was going to be a very active locale in the coming post-Hollywood-new-digital-media landscape.  Portland also struck me as a city with a sense of whimsy – it doesn’t take itself too seriously.  After decades of living in LA I found that incredibly refreshing.

Read more at portlandfilm.com