Glowing review of "Meeks Cutoff" from Variety

Meeks Cutoff

Variety film critic Justin Chang gave a rave review of Kelly Reichardt’s film “Meeks Cutoff” last week in Variety.  He saw the film at the Venice film festival.  Among the things he praised were the locations credited to location scout Roger Faires.  How often does a location person get credit in a review? Here’s an excerpt from the review.

“Reichardt’s decision to shoot in the 1.33 aspect ratio enhances the docu-like feel and yields one majestic composition after another, the nearly square frame capturing the wide-openness of these harshly beautiful desert vistas (Roger Faires is credited for the film’s Oregon locations, which look utterly of the period). Continue reading... “Glowing review of "Meeks Cutoff" from Variety”

Update from Oregon Film trip to Los Angeles

OK so you can't see anything but I had this photo to share
Fireworks!

On Friday we were able to take advantage of a unique marketing opportunity thanks to the support of the Portland Based band Pink Martini, a few donated bottles of Oregon Pinot from the Willamette Valley Winery Association and the coordination efforts of Jennifer Yocom from Portland Mayor Sam Adams’ office.  Thanks to Jennifer’s relationship with the band and the band’s willingness to help market Oregon, we were able to obtain twelve tickets to the Pink Martini concert friday night which was the first of three performances this weekend at the bowl.  Continue reading... “Update from Oregon Film trip to Los Angeles”

Portlandia Appearing at Musicfest NW?

Photo from ThunderAnt Website - Carrie Brownstein and Fred Armisen

Just picked this up from Kristi Turnquit’s article in The Oregonian and  Willamette Week blog.  Sounds like the IFC show “Portlandia” will be able to use the popular Musicfest Northwest to its benefit.  According to the report in the blog, the show will be shooting part of its series at the Festival next week.  Also in the article is the mention of several guest appearances in the show – band members from the Shins and Decemberists, Gus Van Sant, Selma Blair, Kyle MacLachlan and Steve Buscemi.  Continue reading... “Portlandia Appearing at Musicfest NW?”

Fluid Images Honored by OSU

Fluid Images' (Central Oregon) Strada Crane facilitating TV coverage at the 2008 Beijing Olympics

Fluid Images, based in Sisters, Central Oregon, is being honored by OSU in receiving the “Orange Spotlight” award.   (The award singles out companies that, amongst other things, are innovative,  stimulate and support the local economy as well as hire skilled and talented OSU alums).

Fluid Images was founded in 1990 when Bob Johnson (OSU graduate) and his son Rick, built  the 72 foot Akela Crane in their barn.  Continue reading... “Fluid Images Honored by OSU”

“The Roads of Oregon” – a New Addition to the Oregon Film Website

by Bob Schmaling, Senior Project Manager

I was very happy to get an opportunity to work with Nathan to put together a website about Oregon roads.  With a landscape that includes deserts, mountains, forests, prairies and an ocean, there’s ample opportunity for engaging vistas.  Oregon roads have played roles in feature films, TV series, documentaries, travelogues, but most often car commercials. Continue reading... ““The Roads of Oregon” – a New Addition to the Oregon Film Website”

News of "Meeks Cutoff" premiere in Venice

Michelle Williams at Premeire courtesy of Wire Images

Shawn Levy from the Oregonian picked up on some stories about the premiere of the Oregon made film “Meeks Cutoff” at the Venice International Film Festival.  Here’s the article he wrote over the weekend.

As Shawn mentions in his article several positive reviews are already surfacing.  We were also able to find several other web stories about the premiere.  Here are a few links to more information on the film’s premiere.

Yahoo Movies

NY Times

AceShowbiz

The Guardian (England)

NPR

Huffington Post

OK so it didn’t hurt having Michelle Williams walk the red carpet with a new hair style but the general coverage of the film was very positive.  Continue reading... “News of "Meeks Cutoff" premiere in Venice”

Extreme Makeover shows up in Salem, OR to help School for the Deaf

Courtesy of the Statesman Journal
Courtesy of The Oregonian

Today in Salem the long running ABC show “Extreme Makeover Home Edition” showed up at the Oregon School for the Deaf.  This season the show is focusing on community projects and they picked the school this year for their Halloween episode as they will be remaking the school’s dorm and a new haunted house.  Construction on the project began today and the project is slated to be completed by next Sunday.  All of the students from the school are traveling to Minnesota to visit the Starkey Hearing Foundation. Continue reading... “Extreme Makeover shows up in Salem, OR to help School for the Deaf”

Travel Oregon issues RFP for Ad Agency

Hello all you creatives out there who either work in advertising or aspire to.  Travel Oregon is looking for an ad agency.  Check it out here http://industry.traveloregon.com/About-Oregon-Tourism-Commission/Job-Opportunities.aspx

Film and Video’s connection with tourism in Oreogon has always been strong.  Here’s a chance to actually profit from this connection! Continue reading... “Travel Oregon issues RFP for Ad Agency”

Portland Printing Company Creates a New England Wonderland for 'Leverage'

The Intern Report: How Oregon Businesses Profit From Local Productions

This is the final installment of the “Intern Report”, a series of 4 articles about the Oregon businesses that work with the production industry. This last segment takes us to a printing company in Southeast Portland called OBP Digital. Thanks for reading!

Michal Orczyk

Oregon Governor’s Office of Film and Television
Continue reading... “Portland Printing Company Creates a New England Wonderland for 'Leverage'”

MOPAN helps with broadcast from Oregon State Fair

When the bulk of the high profile and higher budget film and video work happens in the Portland metro area, we at the film office naturally get caught up with detailing all the good work happening in the Portland area.  But there is plenty of interesting work happening outside the Portland area and we would be remiss not to mention it.  Recently the Eugene based MOPAN redesigned their website and added a blog feature.  I’m not sure how much credit should go to new President Erik Talbert but I wanted to highlight one posting Erik put up today regarding the national broadcast shoot that happened at the Oregon State Fair.  Continue reading... “MOPAN helps with broadcast from Oregon State Fair”