Troon Vineyard, Applegate Valley near Grant's Pass, Oregon
Shawn Levy (The Oregonian) has been busy blogging from Sundance with the roundup of the fantastic showing of Oregon made films and documentaries that have been screening, check it out here.
They were not the only Oregon products featured at Sundance this year – Troon Vineyard (located in the beautiful Applegate Valley near Grant’s Pass) was selected to pour at the Sundance opening ceremonies. They served; Troon 2009 Viognier, 2007 River Guide White and 2009 Druid’s Fluid Red and 2007 Kubli Bench Cabernet Sauvignon. Continue reading... “Sundance Round Up And Oregon Wine”
Every year Movie Maker Magazine surveys independent filmmakers in the united states to find the best cities live and work in. They focus on a number of criteria; good cost of living, employment opportunities, quality of life, affordable home prices and of course financial incentives, availability of locations and quantity of crew and vendors.
After my three decades here with film and video, Oregon each year grows. Its not going to stop. The tools that are available now are state of the art.
Local investors keep building as more productions look at Oregon as a location. What needs to continue is the banding together of all the states workers to show outside production that we are ready. The state itself has always been a place of some of the most incredible locations anywhere. Continue reading... ““Things Look Better in Oregon””
Restless, starring Mia Wasikowska (Alice In Wonderland) and Henry Hopper (Dennis Hopper’s son), is set in Portland and shot on location in the greater metro late last year. Written by Jason Lew (The Experiment) and directed by Portland native, Gus Van Sant (Milk, Good Will Hunting, Finding Forrester) is set to be released January 2011. Continue reading... “Gus Van Sant’s "Restless" Trailer”
So I was doing the Oregon Film rounds Friday night (very rare for me). I first stopped by OMPA’s “Oregon’s Got Talent” event which was literally packed with talent. Then I headed over to a wrap party at the North Portland Chopsticks – equally fully with creative talent. At the party I heard producer Neil Kopp was at the bar celebrating the news that “Meeks Cutoff” got a distribution deal with Oscilloscope Laboratories. I went looking for Neil before my curfiew of 11:00 but could not find him to congratulate him on the news. Continue reading... “"Meeks Cutoff" gets distribution”
Southern Oregon – Shawn Adams flying an auto-gyro for the shot. Jamie Lusch / Daily Tidings
It’s always great to hear of projects choosing to shoot in Oregon and when we heard about the producers of the documentary, Half Way Home, choosing the Ashland area over their native LA for some of it’s scenes, we learned the reasons in this case were threefold; less expensive, less red tape and solid talent. Gary Kout, producer and executive director of the Southern Oregon Film and Television organization, connected the producers with talented auto-giro pilot, Shawn Adams (Rotor-Head) in southern Oregon to get their tricky arial scenes. Continue reading... “Documentary Chooses Ashland for Easy Shooting”
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”
“Unbelievable” TV Show is one of the highest rated TV shows in Japan, now in its 11th season. More than 15 million people watch every show. We’re thrilled here that they chose the Geiser Grand for a special show on the ten most interesting spots on the planet! Director and crew arrived last night, joined by a translater/producer out of LA (only one stop from Tokyo to Baker City, Oregon!)
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.
So I was doing the Oregon Film rounds Friday night (very rare for me). I first stopped by OMPA’s “Oregon’s Got Talent” event which was literally packed with talent. Then I headed over to a wrap party at the North Portland Chopsticks – equally fully with creative talent. At the party I heard producer Neil Kopp was at the bar celebrating the news that “Meeks Cutoff” got a distribution deal with 
