OpenLens Film Festival Calls for Entries

Eugene, Oregon. The Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts (DIVA Center) announces its Seventh Annual OpenLens Short Film/Video Competition call for entries.  The deadline for submissions is 5PM December 1st. Screening and awards will take place during the three-day OpenLens Festival event – January 28th, 29th, and 30th, 2011. Continue reading... “OpenLens Film Festival Calls for Entries”

Filmmaker Michael Bartlett Begins Shooting "House of Last Things" in Portland, OR

Starring Actors from “True Blood” and “Breaking Bad” and Portland Area Actors

Portland, OR—September 9, 2010—On September 13th, award-winning Portland-based filmmaker Michael Bartlett commences principle photography on HOUSE OF LAST THINGS the supernatural thriller screenplay he wrote.  The film stars actors from “True Blood” and “Breaking Bad” as well as  Portland Area Actors.

The film, which will be lensed by veteran cinematographer Ken Kelsch, ASC (known for “Big Night” and his collaborations with Abel Ferrara including “Bad Lieutenant” and “The Funeral”) and shot entirely on location in Portland for five weeks, stars LINDSEY HAUN (“True Blood”), RJ MITTE (“Breaking Bad”), and BLAKE BERRIS (“Days of Our Lives”), as well as local actors Randy Schulman, and Diane Dalton in lead roles. Continue reading... “Filmmaker Michael Bartlett Begins Shooting "House of Last Things" in Portland, OR”

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”

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”

"Coraline" among the top grossing indie films of the decade

NY Film producer Ted Hope is one of the most prolific “tweeters” I know.  All of his tweets focus on either NYC or indie film.  Most of the indie film stuff is pretty insightful as Ted is well known as one of the top indie film producers in the U.S..  Anyway he posted the list of the top grossing indie films with the question – “What Do the Top Grossing Indie Films of the 2000s Reveal?”  I’m not sure I know the answer but I did notice LAIKA’s Oregon made “Coraline” made it in at #11. Continue reading... “"Coraline" among the top grossing indie films of the decade”

Meek’s Cutoff Selected For Toronto Film Festival

Meek's Cutoff was shot entirely on location in the high desert in Burns, Oregon

The Toronto Film Festival has announced its 2010 lineup.  Among them is Kelly Reichardt’s “Meek’s Cutoff” as part of the Comtemporary World Cinema  Programme.

Kelly Reichardt directed the short films Ode (99), Then a Year (01) and Travis (04). Her feature films include River of Grass (94), Old Joy (06), which won a Tiger Award at the 2006 Rotterdam International Film Festival, Wendy and Lucy (08), which was named best film of 2008 by the Toronto Film Critics Association. Continue reading... “Meek’s Cutoff Selected For Toronto Film Festival”

OPB's Think Out Loud, Fri. Aug. 13th:Oregon on Screen

What is Oregon’s on-screen image… and how are the TV and film industries faring here?

We’ve been reading lots of TV show news recently. The TNT show Leverage, which will wrap up shooting its third season on Friday, just announced it would be back in Oregon for a fourth season. Fans of the online series Thunderant will be happy to hear that it’s being turned into a new show all about Portland, debuting next year on the Independent Film Channel. Continue reading... “OPB's Think Out Loud, Fri. Aug. 13th:Oregon on Screen”

DP Thomas Del Ruth's latest

Oregon resident, Thomas Del Ruth, gets a shout out for his wonderful work on Rob Reiner’s latest film.  View Mr. Del Ruth’s extensive filmography at: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0215878/

‘Flipped’ and charmed

August 06, 2010|By Betsy Sharkey, Los Angeles Times Film Critic
As he proved so winningly in “Stand by Me,” Rob Reiner is a filmmaker who has a way of telling stories about kids, suffusing them with ambivalence and insecurity about their still-evolving selves that feels both heartfelt and authentic.
Continue reading... “DP Thomas Del Ruth's latest”

Interesting Trend in Box Office Receipts

I was reading this post from Deadline Hollywood today that predicts that the U.S. box office receipts will only account for 30% of the total worldwide box office receipts by 2014.  That’s an amazing number.  Why?  Because it will most likely change the way films are developed.  If you’ve already noticed that there are more and more films out there that require less dialogue (think all of the comic book films and “Transformers”) it’s probably because the studios are looking to appeal to the world wide market more than before. Continue reading... “Interesting Trend in Box Office Receipts”

"Meeks Cutoff" in Competition at the Venice Intl. Film Festival

The Venice International Film Festival announced that Kelly Reichardt’s feature “Meeks Cutoff” which was shot in Burns, OR, will be in competition at this year’s festival in September. The film was produced by Oregon native Neil Kopp and it is his third film with Kelly (“Old Joy” and “Wendy and Lucy“).  The film stars Michelle Williams, Bruce Greenwood, and Paul Dano.  Recently Paul Dano talked about filming “Meeks” in this interview.    For those who don’t know the story behind the making of the film, it’s pretty remarkable that they were even able to complete the film. Continue reading... “"Meeks Cutoff" in Competition at the Venice Intl. Film Festival”