The Confluence
Oregon Film's Official Blog: Bringing together the creative streams of film, television, and media in Oregon.
“Bird, Louise & Somebody Else.” | An award winning high school student film | In association with Portland Oregon’s Benjamin Franklin HS film program
Two kids entangled in the pursuit of young love find themselves colliding with the life of a woman experiencing a crisis in a new short film.
Written & Directed by: Quintana Jones and Harrison Hathaway
This is my first time, Quintana’s as well, just making something. I could write pages and pages about how much went in to this, and how much we failed to do. I had just graduated Senior year at High School, and Quintana was moving into Sophomore year. Pretty much zero experience with anything we were doing, but we shot for the stars. There are so many people I want to thank, but the credits couldn’t handle it. Here’s to many more… We made this with about $800, but the big 500 went into a sound designer to help wrap up loose ends. He gave us a fantastic discount since we are so young, honestly shout out to Jebari Dean for humoring all my curiosities with it as well. The remaining 300 was an estimate from the production and set costs.
Behind The Scenes:
Fall Is Almost Here – St. Helens’ Spirit Of Halloweentown Fest Returns – Now A Featured Stop On The Oregon Film Trail!
The lighting of the giant pumpkins is a must-see during the Spirit of Halloweentown Festival. (Photo: City of St. Helens)
This fall the annual St. Helen’s Spirit of Halloweentown festival will transform this small Oregon town into a spooky, family-friendly destination for six weekends beginning September 18 and running through October 31. This year celebrity guest appearances from Ashley Greene, (Alice Cullen) “Twilight” and movie actors J. Paul Zimmerman and Phillip Van Dyke from“Halloweentown” have been added to its abundant offering of family-friendly events. As well as the magical transformation of the historic Riverfront District to all things Halloween, and an homage to Disney’s “Halloweentown” and the vampire movie “Twilight,” you can now find two commemorative Oregon Film Trail signs in the downtown area.
While general admission to the festival includes a variety of activities such as a haunted house, costume contest, live performances, vendors, and photo ops, each weekend features unique activities which are only available for a limited number of days.
Oregon Film Trail – St. Helens
St. Helens, Oregon was the filming location for several scenes in the first “Twilight” movie, including the house of Bella Swan’s father, the Petite Jolie dress shop, the Thunderbird and Whale bookstore, the Bloated Toad Italian restaurant, and the location where Edward saved Bella from her would-be attackers in an alleyway. St. Helens also starred in Disney’s popular TV movie, with Debbie Reynolds, “Halloweentown.” (To find and navigate to scene locations download the Film Tourism app from SetJetters.)
On Saturday, October 23, Ashley Greene will be available for exclusive photo ops, autographs, and a VIP meet and greet. Actors J. Paul Zimmerman and Phillip Van Dyke will be at Spirit of Halloweentown on October 23 and 24. Zimmerman co-starred as Marnie’s brother Dylan and Van Dyke played the braggadocious love interest in the made-for-tv movie. Both actors will be available for a VIP lunch and a question and answer session.
The most popular event of Spirit of Halloweentown is the lighting of the giant pumpkins. Help kick off the start of the holiday season with your family by counting down the seconds until two giant pumpkins are lit in the city’s historic town square. In 2021, the Pumpkin Lighting Ceremony takes place on Saturday, October 2. One pumpkin is a replica of the giant pumpkin featured in “Halloweentown” and the other is an enormous work of steampunk metal art. The pumpkins, which both stand over six feet tall, are available for photo opportunities every day until the end of October.
The Spirit of Halloweentown ends the season with a special parade for children. Parents, guardians, and children are encouraged to dress in their best Halloween costumes and join in the Little Trick or Treaters Costume Parade on October 30. The event is free and includes prize opportunities and a chance for kids to parade along the city’s main downtown street in full costume.
General admission tickets to Spirit of Halloweentown, along with special celebrity engagement tickets and a full list of events, are available on the festival’s website. The festival will observe the latest COVID-19 restrictions as changes occur. Masks are currently required to be worn at the festival and we strongly encourage you to check the event website for any COVID-19 changes prior to your arrival.
For media inquiries regarding the 2021 Spirit of Halloweentown festival, please contact City of St. Helens Communications Officer Crystal King at [email protected]
About Spirit of Halloweentown:
In 1998, the riverfront city of St. Helens, Oregon served as the filming location of Disney Channel’s Halloween television classic “Halloweentown.” Each year thereafter, the city has transformed its Riverfront District into the Spirit of Halloweentown, a festival that celebrates all things spooky. This month-long event attracts tens of thousands of visitors each year and is geared toward anyone who loves Halloween. The Spirit of Halloweentown festival is regularly listed as a national destination spot for Halloween celebrations and has been featured on ABC News, MTV, Vogue, Entertainment Weekly, BuzzFeed, Country Living, Huffington Post, and many other recognized news outlets.
About the Community:
St. Helens is a Columbia River community rich in history and culture. On their expedition to the Pacific Ocean in 1805, Lewis and Clark made a stop in what is now St. Helens. In 1850, Captain H.M. Knighton of New England founded the town, which was first named Plymouth before being rechristened within a year to St. Helens for the town’s magnificent view of Mount St. Helens. Originally established as a river port, St. Helens is located 30 miles northwest of Portland. As the county seat, it is the largest community in Columbia County with a population of about 13,000. Many of the city’s community events are held in the Riverfront District where visitors and residents enjoy an expansive view of the Columbia River, Mount Hood, and Mount St. Helens.
Originally settled by New England loggers, St. Helens’ basalt rock quarry was a major industry in the early 1900s. Because of the industrial operations occurring in St. Helens and its location on the Columbia River, it rivaled Portland as a competing port city. After an unfortunate fire burned the docks of Pacific Mail, a team of Portland businessmen persuaded Pacific Mail to locate in the new port town of Portland, establishing the port of Portland as the dominant port in the region.
The Riverfront District of St. Helens features a Nationally Registered Historic District encompassing 10 blocks, which includes residences and civic buildings dating back nearly a century. The town has also served as the backdrop to many popular films, most notably the Disney Channel television film “Halloweentown,” and the film adaptation of Stephanie Meyer’s novel “Twilight.”
Outside the Frame: Riders in the Storm
Outside the Frame hosts a screening of new films from their members – good films about a bad year by homeless and marginalized youth – at the Hollywood Theatre on September 30.
This screening features a variety of short films: music videos about the Movement for Black Lives featuring Mic Crenshaw and the Oregon Symphony, documentaries about grassroots, government, and healthcare efforts during COVID, and more.
Outside the Frame trains homeless and marginalized youth to be directors of their own films and lives.
Book your tickets here: All funds go to support our filmmaking programs.
#OregonMade Film Series – Double Feature: “The Ring” and “The Ring Two”
The next installment in our #OregonMade Film Series at the Hollywood Theatre is the first double-feature we’ve programmed, so get comfy and dig in. There’s no denying the impact and legacy of THE RING (directed by Gore Verbinski) – only part of which was shot in Oregon (but it’s the really good part featuring Yaquina Head lighthouse outside of Newport) – and the somewhat different legacy of the mostly Oregon shot THE RING TWO (directed by RINGU director Hideo Nakata). TWO features Astoria as so many of our great #OregonMade films do. We love them both and that’s why we’re celebrating both. Naomi Watts stars alongside a super creepy water well and an even creepier VHS tape and a highly flexible evil spirit entity in this dynamic duo of turn-of-the-millennium thrillers based on Japanese horror films.
Book your tickets now: https://hollywoodtheatre.org/events/the-ring-and-the-ring-two/
Proof of vaccination or negative COVID test will be required to attend this screening. Learn more here. Most screenings are currently at 75% capacity. Some screenings will be at 100% and, if so, the page for that event will note that. Masks are required while in all common areas, including in your seat when not actively eating or drinking.
Film Tourism & The Oregon Film Trail – Why The Connection Works For Communities
The fast-growing sector of Film Tourism has been on Oregon Film’s radar for multiple years and was one of the many compelling reasons that motivated and helped develop the Oregon Film Trail. The Trail is now totalling 33 stops (and growing) and stitches together communities, locations, small businesses and notable film sites at iconic filming locations and strategic points across Oregon. The markers create a presence and a point of interest for visitors to gather, take pictures, retell stories, and celebrate Oregon’s rich contribution to filmmaking since the early 1900’s. Many Oregonians worked on, or were part of these productions that have highlighted Oregon on the screen for scores of years, and the exposure has meant that Oregon receives an increasing volume of tourists every year. We are starting to more fully understand what it means to accommodate movie lovers who seek to visit the real-life locations of their favorite favorite films, TV shows, and video games.
This is why the Oregon Film Trail is partnering with SetJetters to elevate what they call “the Reel to Real” experience! As Film Tourism (also known as SetJetting) is becoming more popular and the demand for visiting filming locations is growing, it is becoming clear that building a physical Trail infrastructure and partnering with our communities to accommodate visitors (both local and more far-flung) is worthwhile. Our partnership with SetJetters extends the Oregon Film Trail initiative so that visitors from anywhere in the world can easily find actual scene locations around Oregon via an interactive experience on the Setjetters mobile app. The app not only allows the user to find locations but also to connect to special deals and experiences within our local communites, as well as the ability to caputure on-site location photos “exactly the way you remember them from your favorite films.” (SetJetters.)
The Oregon Film Trail and SetJetters recently had an opportunity to help support a community event – the annual Stand By Me Day celebration in Brownsville. This charming small town was the main filming location for Stand By Me and many visitors from all over the world travel to Brownsville every year to experience the magic for themselves. It is also home to three stops on the Oregon Film Trail, and close by in Eugene and Cottage Grove are multiple locations from other well-known films. As well as enjoying the events of the annual Stand By Me Day we collectively invited the public to immerse themselves in finding as many scene sites as they could from movies filmed in the region by downloading the SetJetters app and playing what we dubbed as the “Tri-City” Scavenger Hunt. Many players visited Brownsville, Eugene and Co
Mike Schwab and Rex Moody on the Oregon Film Trail in Brownsville
We caught up with Mike and asked him a few questions about this community experience:
Oregon Film (OF): How did you hear about the Tri-City Movie Locations Scavenger Hunt?
Schwab: I’m involved with the filmmaking community in Eugene, so I’m in the “Lane County Filmmakers” (LCF) Facebook group. Oregon Film posted about the scavenger hunt in the LCF FB group.
OF:Can you tell us a bit about why you wanted to participate in this Scavenger Hunt?
Schwab: I like to do fun adventurous activities, and I like movies. Considering the scavenger hunt was right around where I live, I had to do it. In Brownsville, it was really fun checking out the cool Linn County Historical Museum. We got some great photos of us dressed up as Oregon Trail pioneers (as men and women). Also, Brownsville was the location of my favorite SetJetters pics, such as the spot where the penny was picked up.
OF:Would you participate in another movie location scavenger hunt, and did you learn anything you didn’t already know about Oregon film history, etc?
Schwab: Yeah, I’d do another one, especially if it was in a different part of Oregon. I didn’t know there was a movie called “Five Easy Pieces” filmed in a Denny’s in Eugene. That was one of the best scenes in the movie, and it was fun to recreate the look. It would have been cool to have some sort of meetup social opportunity for other participants to meet each other. Also, while I gladly accepted the hotel stay prizes, it’s funny to receive free nights in hotels around where I live. This would make more sense if people were coming from far distances to do the scavenger hunt. Maybe some did, but realistically it’s hard to get many people to travel far to do a scavenger hunt like this. Maybe in the future, the prizes would be hotel stays in another part of Oregon where movies were filmed, like Astoria. Finally, an idea for a future scavenger hunt is one where you have to solve clues to know what movie scene locations you need to go take pictures of. I’ve done similar clue based scavenger hunts, and they are a lot of fun.
In a very close second place, was Carlos Hererra and his son, both from Corvallis.
Carlos Herrera and son, on the Oregon Film Trail and SetJetters Tri-City Scavenger Hunt.
This is why the Oregon Film Trail is partnering with 
ttage Grove and through the SetJetters app they were able to see themselves in their favorite scenes by using the fun “ShotSync” feature to recreate a unique split-screen image. We asked players to post their images and selfies with the Trail signs and use the #OregonFilmTrail and #StandByMeDay tags. The winner was Mike Schwab (from Eugene) who visitied and posted the most scene sites by the deadline. He received a fantastic prize package that was sponsored by local businesses who saw value in the contest; 
Carlos said, “My son and I enjoy the outdoors and finding movies scenes and I enjoyed seeing the smile on my son’s face posing for the movie scenes. The whole thing was a very good experience for both of us. I didn’t know there were that many movies scenes and movies shot in Oregon.“
More about the Oregon Film Trail: The Governor’s Office of Film & Television (A.K.A.Oregon Film) and the Oregon Made Creation Foundation partnered to create the Oregon Film Trail. To date, 33 markers have been installed, from Astoria to Klamath Falls, Warrenton to Wallowa Lake State Park, and including the Portland International Airport mural and exhibit. All seven of Oregon’s tourism regions are represented on the Trail. Each Oregon Film Trail marker is funded in collaboration with many local community partners and, with matching fund grants (to date) from Travel Oregon, the Oregon Visitors Coastal Association, and Willamette Valley Visitors Association, and with help from Oregon Made Creative Foundation.
More about SetJetters: aims to reinvent film tourism through a location-based app experience. They strive to not only empower existing SetJetters with great new capabilities but also introduce the joy of film tourism to travelers around the world. The mobile app provides travelers with a single point of engagement for their interest and passion in film tourism. Designed for everyone from the most devoted SetJetters to the most casual tourists, the system will empower travelers with a variety of tools and features, such as:
- Browse through and conduct research with our robust film/TV/game location database that covers the entire globe
- Plan your film location travel and gain access to special deals and experiences through our travel partners
- Capture on-site location photos exactly the way you remember them from your favorite films
- Organize, report, and share your SetJetters travels with friends, family, and colleagues
POW Film Fest – Sept 3-6, 2021
POW Film Fest is Portland’s premiere film festival showcasing the work of women and non-binary directors. Now in its 14th year, the festival features some of today’s top directors, while honoring the true pioneers and recognizing the next generation of leading filmmakers. Over the years POW has striven to encourage thoughtful and engaged discourse of the fem perspective while heralding the need for greater parity in the film industry through the keen and discerning eyes of women and non-binary film and media makers. POW was created, in part, to celebrate women in their quest to thrive and grow in the film industry.
The fest also provides a space to strengthen the Portland community of women and non-binary people in film by offering year-found film workshops for youth ages 15-19 with their POWGirls program.
Find out more here.
BendFilm Announces Short Films Curated for 18th Annual BendFilm Festival
BendFilm announced today the 75 short films selected to screen during the 18th annual BendFilm Festival running October 7 – 17, 2021.
New this year, BendFilm Festival is now recognized by The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® as one of 64 film festivals in the world (27 festivals in the USA) that is Oscar® qualifying for short films. Following the festival, BendFilm will submit the winning shorts in the following categories to be considered for Oscar® nominations: Best Narrative Short, Best Animated Short, and Best Indigenous Short.
Passes are on sale now for the in-person festival events October 7 – 11 and the streaming events October 11- 17. The film schedule is live with more movie, panel and honoree announcements planned for the coming weeks.
Selin Sevinc, BendFilm Head Programmer, said, ”We are thrilled to be part of a pipeline to The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences® that champions the short form as an increasingly relevant and important genre of filmmaking. Don’t miss seeing a shorts program that will likely include films that just may show up on Academy® short lists and official nominations. A film festival is the perfect and sometimes only place to showcase the short form genre in theaters and online and we are thrilled to present the largest short film program in BendFilm’s history.”
Audiences will be treated to a special presentation and discussion of the short film Hunger Ward directed by two-time Academy nominated Skye Fitzgerald and produced by Academy nominated Michael Scheuerman. Filmed with unprecedented access within a sensitive conflict-zone in Yemen, Hunger Ward documents two women health care workers fighting to thwart the spread of starvation against the backdrop of a forgotten war. Skye Fitzgerald, Michael Scheuerman, the film’s lead translator Silvia Fadel, and Middle East foreign policy expert Hassan El-Tayyab will host a discussion following the film at the festival which will also be made available to audiences streaming the film online.
EOFF Announces 2021 Festival Line-up
Eastern Oregon Film Festival will be celebrating its twelfth year of independent film and music programming in and from La Grande, Oregon on October 21-23, 2021.
This year’s submission process saw a record number of submissions, of which 52 films were selected for exhibition. Filmmakers whose work was selected are invited to La Grande to celebrate with the EOFF community, connect with other artists, and represent their work in-person. The festival combines three days of film exhibition, live music events, and special community-minded conversations.
The full program, schedule, trailers and ticket options for #EOFF2021 will be available September 17, following a special ‘Sneak Peek’ and Fundraising event in the evening.
EOFF programming champions authentic voices, experimentation with cinematic form, and hilarious, heartfelt, or otherwise curious genre experiments. The program this year brings together a range of genres, formats, thoughts and imaginations, emotions and contemplations into a weekend packed with a life’s worth of storytelling.
#OregonMade “Lorelei” Opens Today!
The production filmed for 21 days on location in Portland, Clackamas County, Marion County, Multnomah County, and Washington County.
“Lorelei” opens today – find a theatre here.
Union & Guilds Update the “Return to Work” Agreement
While it’s true that new COVID cases are increasing in all 50 states and a focus on caution and safety must still be at the forefront of all productions’ planning, SAG-AFTRA, the Directors Guild of America, International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the Basic Crafts, together with the Alliance of Motion Pictures and Television Producers updated their return-to-work safety protocols.
Last Monday, they reached and released an updated agreement. Relying on facts and data, and guided by science, the agreement extends the protocols until Sept. 30 and makes modifications on workplace practices, taking into account regional transmission rates and employee vaccination status.
We encourage you to read the full agreement here and the summary here.
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