The Confluence

OriginalMind Productions today announced the world premiere of “Secret Life,” a new comedy-drama written, directed, and produced by Steve Perkins, on Friday, August 21, 2026, at the recently renovated Whitsell Auditorium in
the Portland Art Museum.

Doors open at 6:00p.m. for an opening reception featuring live music from composer Jay Ringer, with the film
screening from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., followed by a Q&A with the cast and crew from 8:30 to 9:00p.m. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com.

“Secret Life” filming took place entirely within a house in Southwest Portland designed by architect Frank Shell.

The 2026 Vision Grant provides financial support ($10,000) to one woman, trans and/or non-binary media creator in Oregon or SW Washington (Clark County). This project-based grant aids in production of a documentary while fostering the artist’s professional and personal development.

This grant is offered annually through Women in Film Portland (WIF-PDX), a nonprofit, 501(c)3 organization dedicated to elevating women in film, communications, and media through education, outreach, and professional development.

Only WIF-PDX members are eligible to apply. Join or renew your Membership with Women in Film-Portland now at www.wifpdx.org

Space: A Meditation on the Meaning of Art, the feature documentary about NW Marine Art Works that sold out it’s Portland Premiere last month, is having an encore screening on Friday, July 31st.

Tickets are selling fast. See the film at the very warehouse where its final scenes were shot — and enjoy Food & Drink, a Tim Stapleton Art Exhibit, Live Music w/ Big Vibe & Samie Joan, and the Filmmakers’ Art Talk. Get your tickets now and tell all your friends!

The Cottage Grove Historical Society are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Buster Keaton’s “The General” in Cottage Grove on August 28th and 29th. There will be speakers and films and a dinner at the same place Buster and his crew stayed during the filming in 1926.

You can find out more on the CGHS Facebook page.

Filmed by Bike is a touring film festival that features the world’s best bike movies. Hosted at the Clinton Theater in Portland, Oregon on August 7 and 8.

Two-day passes to see the full film festival available!

Find out more here.

PFCAT (Portland Festival of Cinema, Animation & Technology) today announced the full lineup for its 2026 festival, now expanded to six days, running August 18-23 at OMSI. The festival will screen more than 170 films from 31 countries across four venues, including the Oregon premiere of psychological thriller SENDER starring Jamie Lee Curtis, Britt Marling (Severance), and Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul) following its SXSW world premiere, Paul Reubens’ final on-screen performance in The Crown with a Shadow and the Search for Self, and a panel featuring LAIKA artists.

The OMPA presents CINE|SEEN 2026. A night of short films showcasing the talents of filmmakers based in Oregon. Highlighting the unique perspective and films of underrepresented and underserved artists. Join them in creating a space for creative expression. Projects must have been shot in Oregon.

Submit your films, web series, docs, music vid etc. through August 24.

Submit here.

CINE|SEEN on September 30 at the Hollywood Theatre. Doors at 630p, event starts at 730p.

Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein are headed back to Portland, the Hollywood Reporter announced last week.

The duo will host a Portlandia rewatch podcast, The Hollywood Reporter has learned. Podlandia: A-O Rewatch, produced by Will Ferrell’s Big Money Players (BMP), launches on all podcast platforms on July 16. The Big Money Players Network, a joint venture between Ferrell and iHeartMedia, would probably prefer you listen on the iHeartRadio app.

With new episodes weekly, Podlandia: A-O Rewatch will see (on YouTube; hear elsewhere) Armisen and Brownstein revisiting their cult-classic TV series, which “documented the hipster fad of birds as decor, unique bicycles and intense mustache care that defined the capital of Oregon for an entire generation,” as BMP remembers it.

Oregon is a popular destination for shooting movies, TV shows and commercials. Tim Williams, Executive Director of Oregon Film, joined AMNW on KATU in Portland to share how they work to attract production companies to the state. He also shared a few recent and upcoming movies and TV shows that feature Oregon shooting locations.

Watch the whole interview here.

Here’s the thing: You’re Going to Pay Your Oregon Taxes Anyway.

So here’s how to get up to 10% back and fund something worth funding.

Every year, the Oregon Department of Revenue runs a five-day online auction. Oregon residents and businesses bid on state income tax credits at a discount. The minimum bid is 90 cents on the dollar.

That means a $50,000 Oregon tax credit costs you $45,000.

The $5,000 difference? That’s not a rounding error. That’s yours.

And the $45,000 you spent?