The Confluence

It’s been over a year (!) since our last job mixer, held as Grimm came to a close.  Let’s do it up again as an equally large group finishes – this time out at LAIKA on their current production, Missing Link.  This puts some serious top tier stop motion animation and CG/VFX artistic talent out on the streets and available for hire.  Our goal is connect you all with other studios/companies/productions on the rise – ladies and gentlemen, I give you Job Mixer 2 – the sequel!

Confirmed studios/companies attending:

HouseSpecial, ShadowMachine, Nike, Bent Image Lab, Hinge, Deep Sky/Giant Astronaut, Sockeye, Sprocketship, Refuge VFX, Mode Adjust, Joint Editorial, Kamp Grizzly, Funnelbox, TrapDoor Creative

and more TBA…

Update that resume and dust off the ol’ demo reel, because this event is coming fast!  The details:

Monday, July 9th
Mixer from 5-7pm, private interviews after
Art Institute of Portland
1122 NW Davis St
3rd Floor/Student Commons loft

LAIKA may be the catalyst, but this event is open to all – from student to supervisor.  *Important note:  After the public event, individual companies can opt to schedule private interviews with candidates that they’d like to go a bit more in-depth with.  These interviews will happen in offices down the hall from the main event from 7-9pm later that night, so you might want keep that time available in case you’re contacted or tagged for one (or more) private interviews.

Help us track attendance – RSVP by picking up a (free) ticket at Eventbrite now:   https://bit.ly/2xFiqQR

We’ll see you at the event!  Special thanks to the Art Institute for the space.  Let’s make Portland work!

Note – if you are a studio/agency/production company who would like to participate, get in touch here.

More details at VFX/PDX and OMPA.

Kristi Turnquist (Oregonian/Oregon Live) is looking back at our shared film history here in Oregon and will be writing about and “taking note of memorable – and notorious – moments” in coming weeks.  Firstly, Turnquist took a look at 50 actors, all of whom have worked here in the state, and who have “helped turn their Oregon-filmed projects into fan favorites.”

Read it here.  #OregonMade

This time last year we tried to give some context and background to the work of our office in a post we shared called, “Who We Are & What We Do.” This year, we’d like to add to that.

So, first things first.

In the last year we have been lucky enough to find dedicated and invested partners to tackle a whole new series of grants and workforce development opportunities through the #OregonMade Creative Foundation. Founded as a program of The Charitable Partnership Fund, a 501(C)(3) non-profit corporation, the OMCF, along with Travel Oregon, Danner Boots, the Portland Film Office at Prosper Portland and an amazing group of in-kind contributors, has now awarded the $18,500 “Outdoor Adventure Film Grant.” The OMCF also placed two talented young animators in the production studio for ShadowMachine’s upcoming Adult Swim series “The Shivering Truth” as well as worked closely with OMPA and Open Signal to place two more apprentices on the set of IFC’s third season of “Documentary Now!” And we are about to award the second “Playa Screenwriter’s Residency Award” to an Oregon based writer looking to explore and expand the Western genre. Coming next – a unique partnership with The Northwest Film Center, The Hollywood Theatre, The Clinton Street Theatre and Cinema 21 called “The Portland Circuit,” a local film distribution scheme, and a soon-to-be-announced program focused on post-production.

In addition, we’ve also launched a very special exhibit at PDX airport that shows off more than 50 years of Oregon Film production history on a 160’ long mural. It’s a wonderful exhibit and we challenge everyone not to be surprised at least one of those 21 films that  in some way called Oregon home. And there’s much more to come on this front, with new projects coming in Astoria and near Lincoln City.   Read More »

After filming the “Pretty Little Liars: The Perfectionsists” pilot in Forest Grove this spring, we can now share they will be back again to shoot in Oregon this fall.  Read more from Kristi Turnquist/Oregon Live.

June 24th at the Clinton St. Theater 6-9pm will be the first “Portland Film Community” event. We will be showing off the best of the Portland Film Community “Pick of the Month” which we have been posting every month for the last three years.

After that we will be showing a local feature independant film, that is packed full fabulous local talent.
“Little Sister”

This will be a modest affair. We are still figuring out how this time will best serve the community for future events, so your input will be graciously accepted.

I hope to see you there. Cheers!
Jeff Scott Taylor

NASA is inviting college students and early career professionals to express their visual interpretation of NASA’s deep space exploration initiative from the Earth to the Moon and onto Mars!

Entries will be judged by notable film and graphics industry professionals including Gareth Edwards, the director of Rogue One; Mickey Fisher, w

riter and producer of National Geographic Mars; Joshua Grossberg, VP Creative of McCann NY, a world-renowned advertising agency; and NASA astronauts! Winning entries will be screened around the world at Opening Events at NASA visitor centers, NASA museum consortium members, and other interested venues in Fall 2018, and also during follow-on events throughout 2019.

The top film will win $10,000 and the top poster will win $1500. In addition, winning trailers and posters will be seen at 250 Cinemark Theatres across the United States with the winning film featured ahead of the First Man screening in October.

The contest website is http://projectmarscompetition.org

Good luck contestants!

Animation studio HouseSpecial has signed Mike Orsini’s No Relation for representation on the East Coast. A sales rep with Uncle Lefty since 2012, Mike created the No Relation imprint under Uncle Lefty’s banner in 2017 to expand his roster of directors, artists, designers, food specialists, digital creators and technologists.

Lourri Hammack, HouseSpecial Partner.EP: “My first conversation with Mike spanned filmmaking, sports, advertising, life-altering animated moments, the prophet Tupac, personal UFO sightings, global financial markets, potbelly-pig-channeling psychics, the underbelly of Lost in Translation’s nightlife via the clubs of Hong Kong and the imperiled state of the body politic. But it wasn’t until I furtively read on a random blog that one of his favorite movies is One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest that I knew we were a perfect fit to join sales and production forces.”

Mike grew up in Waterbury, Conn., consistently ranked in the Top 10 USA Saddest Cities over the last 10 years and garnered top honors in 2013. Escaping to Boston by way of Emerson College, he batted leadoff for their baseball team en route to a degree in Film.  After his initial white-collar profession in international finance led to assignments in Los Angeles, China, Philadelphia and Dallas, Mike’s love of filmmaking and fondness for the art of the deal pulled him to New York and into a career in commercial content representation. Mike’s adoration of the Yankees, love of the Jets (sadly), adamant belief in conspiracy theories and dedication to his rescue dog Clark (Black & Tan Coonhound originally from Alabama) landed Mike exactly where he always should’ve been.  Read More »

The Oregonion/Oregon Live’s, Kale Williams, won a Reporting Emmy over the week end for his documentary film, “Thin Ice: A Polar Bear’s Plight” and Dave Killen received the Regional Emmy for direction of the film.  The doc was part of the bigger, Project Nora, that the Oregonian and Oregon Live have been reporting on since Nora was abandoned by her mother.

Read more about Nora the polar bear’s journey, and the plans for her future and the Oregon Zoo’s polar bear enclosure here.

Last Monday, Portland-based Lower Boom unveiled the prototype for the Lower Boom Discovery app during happy hour at Dig a Pony.

Filmmakers, many of whom have been featured in the Lower Boom Presents programming exclusively showing at the Hotel Eastlund, were able to download it and do a hands-on walk through of the functionality and design.

“We appreciated the great feedback from everyone, which will help make the app an even better tool for film lovers to find great stuff, and for filmmakers to find and grow their audience” said Matt Schulte, Founder/CEO of Lower Boom. “We were also excited to see the enthusiasm the filmmakers had for the app and it’s potential.”

Lower Boom now has an online form for filmmakers to get their films in the app database, available to any filmmaker. There is no cost to any filmmaker to make their films available through the app, and the app itself will be a free download when launched.

Expected launch date is November 2018, during this year’s American Film Market. 

“The best possible launch would be to have lots of films available right away for people to discover – there are film lovers around the world starving for new, different, impassioned stories. The Discovery app not only provides a way for the films to cut through the static and noise of information overload and be found, but provides filmmakers lots of tools to engage and grow their new-found audiences” Schulte added.

The online form is here. Inquiries, here.