“Coraline,” the first feature created by Hillsboro-based animation studio, Laika, was released in 2009 to much critical acclaim and box office success. Recently, Oregon Film reached out to the film’s screenwriter and director, Henry Selick, to find out how the movie, based on a book by NeilGaiman, came to be set in the small southern Oregon town of Ashland.
Selick said, “I began writing my screenplay for “Coraline” years ago at my home in Northern California.
Marrying game-engine technology to virtual production techniques cracks open an expansive new world of creative filmmaking and business opportunities.
Virtual production, utilizing Unreal Engine, a video game rendering technology, and immersive LED screens, will be the new driver for innovation in cinematic storytelling enabling a creative flexibility previously unimaginable.
The first production to truly take advantage of this revolution, and helped create it, was The Mandalorian, on Disney+.
And now this technology is in Portland.
This innovative workflow was used to film more than half of “The Mandalorian” Seasons 1 and 2, enabling the filmmakers to:
greatly reduce on-location shoots
capture a significant amount of complex VFX shots with accurate lighting and reflections in-camera
simultaneously integrate and manipulate live-action and computer-generated assets
actors work in an actual virtual environment–combining advantages of location shooting with CGI imagination.
Season 3 of “Shrill” will start shooting this fall in the greater Portland area. This successful Hulu comedy series is based on the book “Shrill: Notes from a Loud Woman” by Lindy West, who also co-created the show along with Aidy Bryant and Ali Rushfield. Continue reading... “S3 of “Shrill” – Underway This Fall”
We look forward to kicking off our most unconventional festival yet on October 8 and thank you for coming along on this journey to foster connection through the power of film. While the BendFilm Festival will look different from past years, we continue to believe strongly in the power of film to entertain, illuminate, build empathy and spark crucial conversations.
Over the course of the Festival, we encourage you to get lost in a film you may not otherwise see, and call a friend to discuss the themes and issues you discover.
Oregon’s open spaces and outdoor pursuits are for all Americans and visitors, yet there is a well-documented inequity in America that is deeply rooted in our shared cultural history, and as a whole, our outdoor spaces are not equally utilized for a multitude of historical, social and cultural reasons. Continue reading... “Outdoor Adventure Film Grant 2021 – Winner Announced!”
The Ashland Independent Film Festival is expanding Varsity World Film Week, its annual fall festival of new international films, into a two-week “Varsity World Film Weeks – Virtual Edition.” The festival will run online from Oct. 2 through Oct. 15 via the organization’s website:ashlandfilm.org, and is co-sponsored with Coming Attractions Theatres. Thirteen film selections can be viewed throughout the United States, while two films (The End of Love and Kuessipan) are available only to Oregon viewers.
Erica Thompson, Executive Director of AIFF, released a statement addressing the organization’s response to the recent tragic fires in Ashland and neighboring towns: “We have questioned just how relevant a film festival is in a difficult time for our community that has endured such significant loss.Continue reading... “Ashland Independent Film Festival: Varsity World Film Week”
First Assistant Camera, Jerry Turner on the set of “Chad”. (Photo: @tysonwisbrock)
Like so many other businesses, the Oregon production community has been hit hard by the havoc that Covid-19 has wreaked. Many community partners have come together to provide up-to-date information on safety procedures and new protocol guidelines that are being improved upon on all the time. (OMPA has the latest here.) As production has slowly begun to come back we wanted to check in with some of our production support businesses to ask how they have been adapting to this new normal. Continue reading... “The New Normal – How Our Production Community Is Adapting To Covid – Conversation With Koerner Camera”
During these difficult times, one of the things that has affected NW Documentary the most is feeling disconnected from their community. They miss the drop-in visitors, the edit-lab regulars, the event hosts, the podcasters, the busy working filmmakers, the curious first-timers, and everyone else.
So! They’ve tried to create a place where everyone can all come together at least a bit like they used to.
This virtual space is designed to recreate as much of the function of our in-person community space as possible, including:
Virtual Rooms: an edit lab for chatting and co-working, meeting rooms, and screening space
Virtual Events: weekly co-working time, casual film screenings every Thursday, and more to come as the space evolves and grows!
October 8-10 will bring screenings of over 100 short horror, dark sci fi, dark animation and horror comedy films at the Sunshine Mill Winery and Drive-Up Theater as part of the Oregon Scream Week.
This is a live outdoor screening you can enjoy from the comfort of your own vehicle. Masks are required if you enter the Winery building and bathrooms. Tickets are only $30 per car per session. Please bring friends and family. There are yummy food and drink options that will be available to order as well.
The popular Bravo series, “Top Chef” will be mainly based in Portland for its 18th season. They will also be making the most of Oregon’s varied culinary scene by visiting the Tillamook coast, the Columbia River Gorge, and the Tualatin and Willamette Valley wine country. The new season will feature Padma Lakshmi, Tom Colicchio, and Gail Simmons who will serve as the judging panel, as well as some former winners and finalists.