The Confluence

The Bandon, OR-shot feature film, “The Rental,” is the upcoming horror-thriller directorial debut of Dave Franco. And it looks to be as chilling as expected. The atmospheric and secluded aesthetic of “The Rental” may surprise people.

The film stars Alison Brie (“Mad Men,” “Glow”), and Dan Stevens (“Downton Abbey”), as a couple looking to get away for a weekend of fun and relaxation. With another couple — Sheila Vand (“A Girl Walks Home Alone at Night”) and Jeremy Allen White (“Shameless”) — they retreat to a house seemingly ideal for their vacation…but maybe it isn’t after all.

Watch the clip here.

Do you have content that you have been thinking entering into festivals?

Film Festivals’ Deadlines is a comprehensive database of worldwide film festivals updated in real-time. “Nowadays the offer of festivals on the internet is so dispersed that we understand that you go nuts looking for the perfect festivals for your films. That’s why we are here, to bring you the biggest list of festivals worldwide. If you don’t have enough money for a distribution company nor time for surfing through all the submission platforms, Film Festivals’ Deadlines is your best tool.  Here you’ll find the essential information of any festival around the world. Besides, you’ll always be on time to submit your film because the list is organized by deadlines. Consult detailed information about each festival such as; celebration dates, deadlines, fees, genres, contacts etc.  Distribute your films using “Film Festivals’ Deadlines” and find all you need to know about festivals you’ve never heard of before.”

Here is a (long) list of upcoming international and national festival entry deadlines (updated 5/20/20):

BEST FAMILY CHILDREN SOCIAL FILM FESTIVAL – 21/05/2020
BRUNCH & FILM MUESTRA DE CINE CULINARIO – 21/05/2020
MILANO FILM FESTIVAL – 22/05/2020
CINEODYSSEY FILM FESTIVAL – 22/05/2020
EDINBURGH SHORT FILM FESTIVAL – 22/05/2020
AUSTIN FILM FESTIVAL – 22/05/2020
ALBUQUERQUE FILM & MUSIC EXPERIENCE – 22/05/2020
RAINDANCE FILM FESTIVAL – 22/05/2020
FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINEMA DE CERDANYA – 22/05/2020
SEMANA DE CINE DE LUGO – 22/05/2020
BRAINWASH MOVIE FESTIVAL – 22/05/2020
(IN)JUSTICE FOR ALL FILM FESTIVAL – 22/05/2020
EL DORADO FILM FESTIVAL – 22/05/2020
SENE FILM, MUSIC AND ARTS FESTIVAL – 22/05/2020
OAKLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 22/05/2020
TIFF – TIRANA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 23/05/2020
INTERNATIONAL SOCIAL SHORTS ANTWERP – 23/05/2020
OVER THE FENCE COMEDY FILM FESTIVAL – 23/05/2020
VITÓRIA CINE VÍDEO – MOSTRA COMPETITIVA NACIONAL – 23/05/2020
MUNIC – MUESTRA NACIONAL DE IMÁGENES CIENTÍFICAS MÉXICO – 23/05/2020
THE INDIE FOR YOU FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
MELBOURNE DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
FESTIVAL DU COURT METRAGE DE NICE – UN FESTIVAL C’EST TROP COURT – 24/05/2020
TORONTO PALESTINE FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
SLASH FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
ARFF PARIS – AROUND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
MASTER DOC FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
PLACE DES COURTS – 24/05/2020
RAZOR REEL FLANDERS FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
ARFF BERLIN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
BLOODY HORROR INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
TRUJILLO INTERNATIONAL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
DOCS WITHOUT BORDERS FILM FESTIVAL – 24/05/2020
MARGARET MEAD FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
DEFY FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
BAHIA INDEPENDENT CINEMA FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
BEST MINI FILM (15′) ON MOVIESCREENPRO FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
CATALINA FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
ATHENS MARATHON INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL UNDERGROUND FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
RIDGEFIELD INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
BAYAMÓN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
ST. JOHN’S INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
BANGKOK 9FILMFEST – 25/05/2020
DRAGON*CON INDEPENDENT SHORT FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
DETROIT SHETOWN WOMEN´S FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
SOCHI FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
SOUTHEASTERN FILM FESTIVAL – 25/05/2020
MONSTERFLIX AWARDS – 26/05/2020
ATLANTIC INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 26/05/2020
CONCEPCIÓN INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS – 26/05/2020
NORTHEAST FILM FESTIVAL – 27/05/2020
TEHRAN INTERNATIONAL CINEFEST – 27/05/2020
SHORT FILM BREAKS – 27/05/2020
LOCARNO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 27/05/2020
SLIFF ONLINE – PRESENTED BY ST. LAWRENCE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 27/05/2020
SEMAINE DE LA CRITIQUE DU FESTIVAL DE LOCARNO – 27/05/2020
BRISTOL INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL – 27/05/2020
DRAMÁTIQUE: FESTIVAL DE CINE HECHO POR MUJERES Y DISIDENCIAS – 27/05/2020
OSLO INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL – 27/05/2020
PORTOVIEJO FILM FESTIVAL – 28/05/2020
NEAR NAZARETH FESTIVAL – 28/05/2020
INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL OF PATMOS – 28/05/2020
QFEST – THE HOUSTON INTERNATIONAL LGBTQ FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
GRIERSON: THE BRITISH DOCUMENTARY AWARDS – 29/05/2020
FESTIVAL INTERNACIONAL DE CINE DE COMEDIA FUNCINEMA – 29/05/2020
OLDENBURG INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
ADELAIDE KIDS FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
ADELAIDE FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
REELWORLD FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
FIRST-TIME FILMMAKERS SHOWCASE – 29/05/2020
OTTAWA INTERNATIONAL ANIMATION FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
VANCOUVER INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
GIFFONI FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
TORONTO INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
OUTSOUTH QUEER FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
IMAGINENATIVE FILM + MEDIA ARTS FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
PREMIOS CLAQUETA FIDEC – 29/05/2020
TALLGRASS FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
CALGARY INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
BROOKLYN SHORTY FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
MARKHOR INTERNATIONAL CHILDREN’S FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
QUEER LISBOA – INTERNATIONAL QUEER FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
FEMINISTA FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020
LA JOLLA INTERNATIONAL FASHION FILM FESTIVAL – 29/05/2020

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Film festivals are not alone in having to innovate the way they are doing business these days and going forward the on-line festival format is making a lot of sense.   MovieMaker Magazine highlighted a handful of festivals that seem to be doing it well, including the Ashland Independent Film Festival.

The virtual festival begins May 22nd and runs through June 14th.  Learn how it works here.

The OMPA has posted production protocols and guidelines to help insure the health and safety of production crews starting to come back to work here in Oregon.

Gov. Brown has laid out a Three Phase Reopening plan for Oregon. As of May 23, 34 of the state’s 36 counties are open under Phase 1. All productions will need to adhere to the applicable elements of those general guidelines. In addition, we are requesting that all productions here in Oregon have a written Health & Safety Plan that lays out specific procedures and protocols that will not only allow the production to adhere to Gov. Brown’s guidelines but also help the production keep their cast and crew safe from the COVID-19 virus. The OMPA has published a set of Production Protocols that has been developed in conjunction with the local production community that can be used by each project, with budgets and crews of all sizes, for guidance on developing a written H&S policy that all project specific cast, crew and production companies should agree to prior to commencement of production.

Getting back to work. 

It goes unsaid that these are trying times for everyone, including all of us in the Oregon media production industry. Yet, we are a strong and vibrant community of professionals, skilled at solving problems and highly capable of meeting the challenges presented by COVID-19. We are also a community of caring individuals known to support each other and work together with respect and grace. These guidelines will help us protect each other while also helping to reduce the spread of the virus as we get back to work.

See them here.

Over the years, Portland local, Greg McMickle, has expanded his skill-set to include many  talents; Propmaster, Production Designer, trumpet player, writer, and Proprietor of The Prop House.  We recently caught up with him to ask more about his time working on #OregonMade projects, specifically, “Mr. Holland’s Opus” that shot here in 1994.

Oregon Film: How did you get your start as a Prop Master?
Greg McMickle: I received my degree in Film & TV Production from Mt. Hood in ’77 and worked in various forms of media in Portland before moving to L.A. in 1979. Part of the move was prompted by music as well. My band, TuTu BAND (we’ve been together for 50 years now!), had outgrown Portland and it was time for us to move into a bigger market so the move south was two-fold for me. Initially, I was working on film then but subsequent strikes by SAG and WGA shut the business down for a while so I worked in music management for about 4 1/2 years at Kragen & Co. and along the way during my employ with them helped put together USA For Africa and Hands Across America and received a Platinum Album for “We Are The World”. After leaving the music biz a friend who had been managing Ry Cooder, Wendy Waldman, Michael Franks and Captain Beefheart had switched over to props on big-budget commercials and needed an extra hand one day and it turned out that props were a perfect fit for me; varied skills, familiarity with tools and materials, detailed mind, etc. and so that’s mostly what I’ve done ever since with forays into Production Design, FX and acting, etc.

OF: Was “Opus” one of your first features?
GM: No, my first feature was The Onion Field in 1979. Opus was shot in 1994.

OF: How hard was it to find some of the props from the era the film was shot in?
GM: Most of it was pretty straight forward for me as the key script elements were my personal fields of interest; band & orchestra, still photography, and vintage cars. Much of it mirrored my life as I was involved with the Portland Public Schools music program from 1964 to 1973, like the main character, Glen Holland.

OF: Any anecdotes around finding props?
GM: One of the more involved prop aspects was creating mimeographed paperwork for all of the school and homework scenes with its native purple text color. After some searching, I found a mimeo machine that needed some work and lo and behold the A.B. Dick Co. still had an office in Portland and their head of repair had been with them for decades and was able to refurbish the machine and get us supplies and gelatin masters. Then I had the late Jim Cuomo create both the music tests and math quizzes and so on. Jim was also the Marching Band Consultant for the film.

OF: Did you have a go-to store for some of the period pieces you needed to source?
GM: Much of it I had already in my prop rental business which is aptly named The Prop House. The rest of it was like a treasure hunt in a pre-Craigslist world so I was going anywhere and everywhere in the metro region.

OF: Did you have to manufacture any props for this film?
GM: Some odds and ends like cabinetry for some of the vintage classroom stereo equipment, programs for the different events at the school, the artwork for the marching bass drum head, and then decorating all of the notebooks and Pee-Chees for ALL of the students. The film is set in four disparate fashion eras and we endeavored to be as accurate as possible even down to the license plates on every vehicle. During the course of shooting, we had to prop, in addition to a large number of the cast with dialogue, over 5,000 extras with the period accoutrement!

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There have been many iconic Ford’s featured in films over the years, from the pioneering Ford Deuce Coupe in the 1973 classic American Graffiti to the high-performance Ford GT40 in the contemporary docu-film Ford v Ferrari. Ford’s Coupes and the idea of what a coupe is has transformed over the years but regardless of the nomenclatures implication, Ford’s cars have always been favorites with car and film aficionados alike. With the significant presence of both the automobile and film-making industries in the USA and considering Ford’s American origins, there’s no wonder to the numerous appearances of cool-looking Ford Coupes on the big screen.

Ford Deuce Coupe 

Film – American Graffiti

1932 DeLuxe Coupe Three-Window Configuration

In the classic coming-of-age film by George Lucas, American Graffiti, the 1932 Ford Deuce Coupe is seen taking on the 1955 Chevrolet Bel Air in an illegal drag race on “Paradise Road”. In the short-lived scene, the Deuce is the first of the classics off-the-line but is quickly caught neck-and-neck with the Bel Air at the mid-range. As the Bel Air is about to overtake the Deuce, one of its tires blow out and it begins to careen into a ditch, it overturns and then ignites into a flaming wreck. For a car built 23 years earlier than the Chevrolet Bel Air, the Ford Deuce Coupe proved rather impressive, and for more than just straight-line performance. 

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Sean McCarty hitches a ride.

During a business retreat, an epic earthquake hits Astoria Oregon, forcing Aaron (Sean McCarty) to set out on foot to reach home, unsure if he’ll survive the 725 mile journey and what he’ll find at the end.This year I’m releasing the most controversial feature film I’ve ever made, a movie that will probably make my broad-minded friends and family cringe because it refutes everything we believe about how to help less-educated, economically-challenged rural Americans. My intention with the film isn’t to anger the audience; it’s to help people from my cultural background understand why people vote against their best interests.  Read More »

Soma Games LLC is an indie video game developer located in Newberg, Oregon. We believe video games can be far more than time-wasters. Video games hold the potential to showcase beauty, reward adventure and excellence, and challenge thinking. Our goal is to passionately and dutifully craft the games that elevate humanity rather than waste it. To learn more, check out our website.

SAMMI RIFF

Well-seasoned with sass and spunk, Sammi infuses fun and joy into whatever she does. Her current title is “level designer,” but her roles have ranged from a research intern to a puzzle wizard since she started in 2017. With her expertise, she works with most departments at Soma at nearly any given time. Sammi’s natural curiosity makes her a great fit for her responsibilities designing levels, riddles, puzzles, game testing, or whatever else is on her docket. (And yes, her curious nature is also why she even knows that peanut butter and pineapple are a winning ice cream topping combo.) Learn more about Sammi in her Q&A below.

Question: What’s your favorite part of working for Soma?
The community here is something special: One part work, one part church, and all friends dear to me as family.

Question: What’s your favorite part of your job?
Creating a 3D world and getting to explore it. It reminds me of the enumerable hours I spent as a child playing Zoo Tycoon 2 in creative mode, making landscapes and aquariums for my digital pets.

Question: What do you like to do in your free time?
After work hours I like to play more video games in the name of “research,” conduct culinary experiments in the kitchen, sail the seas in search of the OnePiece, Dungeon Dive with my fellow Intrepid Adventurers, and occasionally draw.

Question: What’s been one of your biggest accomplishments?
The month I spent in Japan. It was my first-time solo in a foreign country, and I didn’t get too lost. I got to check a ton of things off my bucket list and did a lot of growing up; [it was] like my own little coming of age adventure.

Question: How do you want people to remember you?
I’ve always wanted to help break ground in a new genre. It’d be cool to be one of the names remembered as one of the original “Pioneers” of whatever it is. It doesn’t have to be my name exactly, but some piece of work I’ve created. Now if only I could find some unsettled territory…

Question: What causes do you care about?
I feel pretty strongly about normalizing entomophagy: the practice of eating insects. I love a good steak as much as your average velociraptor, but there is a whole culinary world of easily reared, healthy, low impact calories that are being sorely squandered by Western Cuisine. I would love to see a future where BeeLT’s can be found at your average diner and Tempura Fried Mealworms is a possible salad topping.

Question: What’s your personal motto? Or, what three words best describe you?
“I am third” – God first. Others second. I am third. I stole this from a church study group, but it really reflects how I desire to live my life.

Covid-19  has stopped life as-we-know-it in its tracks and with many of Oregon’s creatives wondering what is next we took a look around and found many free learning, and continuing education resource opportunities to help fill the void until life gets back to “normal”.

Adobe
Previously reported on No Film School, Adobe is offering at home access to its Creative Cloud for students as well as K-12 programs. Access will be granted until May 31st, 2020. Details here. Adobe has also released a how-to work remotely series available here.

Affinity
Serif, the creators behind Affinity Photo, Designer and Publisher, has made the suite available for free as a 90-day trial. There is also a 50% discount if you decide to purchase the apps.  Read More »

The 19^th annual Ashland Independent Film Festival released its schedule for an interactive virtual festival that will capture the intimacy and magic of the annual Southern Oregon event popular with filmmakers and audiences.

Richard Herskowitz, AIFF Executive and Artistic Director, in a special 30-minute video available at www.ashlandfilm.org, will preview highlights of the 30 feature films and over 100 short films accepted to the annual April festival, which was cancelled by the coronavirus but which quickly moved to an expanded online event.

The virtual festival breaks ground with more than 30 post-film Q&A’s with filmmakers and other luminaries including New York Times Pulitzer Prize winning columnist Nicholas Kristof, playwright Octavio Solis, film scholar B. Ruby Rich, Oregon Shakespeare Festival Artistic Director Nataki Garrett, cinematographer Ellen Kuras, and Academy Award winning editor Walter Murch.

Tickets and memberships, which include access to special events, are available at www.ashlandfilm.org.

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