Award | The Confluence

Congrats To LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” On Three Annie Award Wins

Congratulations to LAIKA on their three Annie Award wins for “Kubo And The Two Strings“:

Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Nelson Lowry, Trevor Dalmer, August Hall, Ean McNamara
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
Character Animation in an Animated Feature Production
Jan Maas
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS
Laika
Editorial in an Animated Feature Production
Christopher Murrie
KUBO AND THE TWO STRINGS

We will all be watching the 2017 Academy Awards later this month as “Kubo” garnered two nominations for, Animated Feature, and Visual Effects. Continue reading... “Congrats To LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” On Three Annie Award Wins”

“I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore” Takes Grand Jury Award At Sundance

“I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore“, Macon Blair‘s directorial debut and produced by Oregonian, Neil Kopp, were honored with Sundance‘s top award, the Grand Jury prize in the US Dramatic Competition over the week end.

Macon Blair has a history in Oregon, as he starred-in, and co-produced, also with, Neil Kopp, another #OregonMade project, “Green Room“. “I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore”, shot in Oregon last spring.

Kopp has produced many other features here in the state, such as “Green Room“, “Meek’s Cutoff“, “Wendy and Lucy“, “Night Moves” and “Paranoid Park” amongst others. Continue reading... ““I Don’t Feel At Home In This World Anymore” Takes Grand Jury Award At Sundance”

LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” Receives Two Oscar Nominations!

The 2017 Academy Award nominations are out! Among them are two nominations for LAIKA‘s #OregonMade “Kubo And The Two Strings” – Animated Feature, and Visual Effects!

“Kubo” joined; “Moana”, “My Life as a Zucchini”, “The Red Turtle”, “Zootopia” in the Animated Feature category, and “Deepwater Horizon”, “Doctor Strange”, “Jungle Book” and “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story” in the Visual Effects category. Should “Kubo” win each category, Travis Knight and Arianne Sutner would accept for Best Animated Feature, and Steve Emerson ,Oliver Jones, Brian McLean,Brad Schiff would accept for Best Visual Effects. Continue reading... “LAIKA’s “Kubo And The Two Strings” Receives Two Oscar Nominations!”

Nominations For “Kubo” (Annie Awards) and “Certain Women” (Spirit Awards)

44th Annie Awards have nominated “Kubo and the Two Strings” for ten nominations this year:

Best Animated Feature
Outstanding Achievement, Animated Effects in an Animated Production
Outstanding Achievement, Character Animation in a Feature Production
Outstanding Achievement, Character Design in an Animated Feature Production
Outstanding Achievement, Directing in an Animated Feature Production
Outstanding Achievement, Production Design in an Animated Feature Production
Outstanding Achievement, Storyboarding in an Animated Feature Production
Outstanding Achievement, Voice Acting in an Animated Feature Production
Outstanding Achievement, Writing in an Animated Feature Production
Outstanding Achievement, Editorial in an Animated Feature Production

The winners will be announced February 4, 2017. Continue reading... “Nominations For “Kubo” (Annie Awards) and “Certain Women” (Spirit Awards)”

HouseSpecial’s Stop-Motion Short Takes ‘Best Animated Film’ At Oregon Independent Film Festival

Aaron Sorenson, a Director at Portland animation studio HouseSpecial, received the award for Best Animated Film for the stop-motion short Jailbreak during the award ceremony at The Oregon Independent Film Festival (OIFF) held on September 24, 2016 in Portland’s Clinton Street Theater.

Jailbreak, shot in black and white, follows the daring escape of a desperate prisoner fleeing his nightmarish cell in pursuit of sweet punishment. Written and directed by Sorenson, this short is a German Expressionist-inspired design mash-up of stop motion with a 2D design sensibility … and a decidedly adult twist. Continue reading... “HouseSpecial’s Stop-Motion Short Takes ‘Best Animated Film’ At Oregon Independent Film Festival”

Emmy Win For “Portlandia” Production Design: Schuyler Telleen + Katherine Isom!

Many congrats to Schuyler Telleen, Production Designer, and Katherine Isom, Set Decorator, (“Portlandia”) for winning the Creative Arts Emmy for Production Design For A Variety, Nonfiction, Reality Or Reality-Competition Series – Reality Or Reality-Competition Series…..job well done!

“Portlandia” was nominated Outstanding Comedy Sketch Series, and Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series category, with Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel, Graham Wagner and Karey Dornetto. Continue reading... “Emmy Win For “Portlandia” Production Design: Schuyler Telleen + Katherine Isom!”

AIFF- One Of MovieMaker’s “Coolest Film Festivals In The World, 2016”!

MovieMaker Magazine, has, once again, the Ashland Independent Film Festival on their latest list of “25 Coolest Film Festivals in the World“. They admire that AIFF isn’t “mired in tradition…the 15-year-old fest has recently taken steps to broaden its range, with dives into live cinema, art installations and interactive media offerings, plus a new category called BEYOND…” and one panelist that MM interviewed describe AIFF as a “down-to-earth exhibition of talented filmmaking,” that “treats filmmakers with so much respect.” Continue reading... “AIFF- One Of MovieMaker’s “Coolest Film Festivals In The World, 2016”!”

Thomas Del Ruth, ASC, Honored and Celebrated For His Work On “Stand By Me”

Thomas Del Ruth, ASC, was honored and celebrated at the Tower Theatre, Bend, last week, for his outstanding cinematography and contribution to “Stand By Me”, and was presented with a plaque by Tim Williams, Executive Director of Oregon Film. “Stand By Me” was based on a novella by Stephen King (“The Body”), and written by Raynold Gideon and Bruce A. Evans, and directed by Rob Reiner. The film shot in Brownsville, and this summer celebrated its 30th anniversary. Continue reading... “Thomas Del Ruth, ASC, Honored and Celebrated For His Work On “Stand By Me””

Congrats to “Portlandia” – Three Emmy Nominations

“Portlandia” was nominated again for Outstanding Comedy Sketch Series, and also nominated in the Outstanding Writing for a Variety Series category, with Fred Armisen, Carrie Brownstein, Jonathan Krisel, Graham Wagner and Karey Dornetto , and for Outstanding Production Design for a Variety, Nonfiction, Reality or Real-competition Series – with production designer Schuyler Telleen and set decorator Katherine Isom.

Also, of note, Oregon-native, Ty Burrell, received a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in a Comedy for “Modern Family”. Continue reading... “Congrats to “Portlandia” – Three Emmy Nominations”

Historic UO Alumni Filmmakers Receive Grant To Preserve Their Work

https://youtu.be/hKvcApo2tzs

The National Film Preservation Foundation announced their latest group of historic films that will receive funding to preserve them for record. Among them are; the “Luther Cressman Field Work Films” (1938 – 1954), an important documentation of work done by the UO archaeologist, Luther Cressman; and a feature (1953) by UO alumnus, James Blue, that won a Critic’s prize at Cannes (1962).