The Confluence

Raiders Of The Lost Archive – Back To School With “Up The Creek” (1984)

This week we take a creek less traveled to the center of the state and explore a comedy that only the 1980’s could’ve created and then the rest of history has somewhat ignored. Along the way we connect the dots between an Astoria artist, the cast of “Animal House,” “Ghostbusters,” “Hill Street Blues,” and “Porky’s” and throw in a creator of “Grimm” for good measure, all the while never taking our eye off that wet and wild…creek: the Deschutes River.

Local Short “Thou Shall Not Tailgate” Crowdfunder Receives MovieMaker Magazine / Kickstarter honors

Portland documentary short, and #OregonMade, “Thou Shall Not Tailgate” recently received accolades from MovieMaker Magazine (Crowdfunding Pick) and Kickstarter (Projects We Love) for it’s current fundraising effort. With less than TWO DAYS LEFT, the indie short raised over 60% of it’s budget, and met its $15k goal.

Eighth Annual Eastern Oregon Film Festival Releases Line-Up

#EOFF2017 Announces Film Selections

Eastern Oregon Film Festival is proud to announce its Official Selections for the 2017 Festival. Spread across five venues (including a 48hr. online program at Filmmaker Magazine), EOFF will run October 19-21, 2017 in La Grande, OR.

The festival will open and close with fiction and non-fiction offerings that explore possibilities of the near-future. Opening night will feature Pete Ohs and Andrea Sisson’s gorgeous desert fable, Everything Beautiful Is Far Away.

EOFF will close out its program with Mila Aung-Thwin and Van Royko’s essential documentary about nuclear fusion, Let There Be Light.

Raiders of the Lost Archive – “Point Break” (Kathryn Bigelow, 1991)

As summer starts to come to a close it is with great pleasure that we find a way to celebrate the awesomeness that is the Oregon Coast especially in such a grand cinematic way. The North Coast as been home to many an iconic flick – Twilight, Short Circuit, Free Willy, Kindergarden Cop and, of course, The Goonies – but it has never seen the likes of Keanu and Patrick in the pouring rain at Indian Beach.

Raider/Contributor Phil Oppenheim tells the awesome tale of “Point Break.”

HouseSpecial’s ‘Jailbreak’ Takes Best Picture at the We Like ‘Em Short Film Festival

HouseSpecial took home the award for Best Picture at the We Like ‘Em Short Film Festival held on August 17-20, 2017 in Baker City, Oregon. Aaron Sorenson wrote and directed the winning stop-motion film, Jailbreak, which was shot in black and white. The story follows the daring escape of a desperate prisoner fleeing his nightmarish cell in pursuit of sweet punishment. The design is German Expressionist-inspired, but with a decidedly adult twist.

“Everything about Jailbreak is perfect – beautifully shot, perfect timing and hilarious.

Mastering The Interview With OPB’s Steve Amen

Mastering the Interview: Real People as Documentary Story Structure
Taught by Steve Amen, Executive Producer / Host of OPB’s Oregon Field Guide
Mondays, 6:30pm-9:30pm, October 2 – November 6
Northwest Film Center, 934 SW Salmon St. $495

The stories and voices of real people are the building blocks of documentary storytelling. The challenge for the filmmaker is to adapt their style to the person being interviewed. A successful interviewer allows the subject to share their story in a way that is not only personal, but also that is focused, engaging, and provides real insight into the subject.

Raiders of the Lost Archive – “Legacy for Lucia” Route 66 (Philip Leacock, 1960)

Officially, the first Golden Age of Television spanned the late 40’s to the late 50’s. Since we’re ostensibly living through a Goldener Age of Television (which has certainly created far more hours and channels of product than the first one did) it seems only wise to remind ourselves of Oregon’s place in the first heyday of the small screen and the echoes of that past into our present. That’s were ROTLA creator and contributor Phil Oppenheim takes us this week.

Raiders of the Lost Archive “Eclipse Clips”
THE POSTMAN (1997)

This week our cinematic history starts to criss-cross itself with a film that was made 20 years ago but set only 4 years ago in a world that echoes…well, you can take from it what you will…

A great deal of post-apocalyptic beauty was found in Central Oregon for this 90’s blockbuster which winds its way from Elvis to St. Rose, Oregon, and Phil Oppenheim argues that it is worth a 3 hour re-look – especially in the (lack) of light along the Path of Totality.

“Lean on Pete” to Premiere at Venice Film Fest & TIFF

Writer-Director, Andrew Haigh (“45 Years”) adapted Willy Vlautin’s 2010 novel, “Lean on Pete” that shot in Portland and Eastern Oregon Oregon last summer.

“Lean on Pete” follows the story of “fifteen-year-old Charley Thompson (Charlie Pummer) who, “wants a home, food on the table and a high school he can attend for more than part of the year. As the son of a single father working in warehouses across the Pacific Northwest, stability is hard to find.

Eastern Oregon Film Company

My name is Steve West and I am new to “The Confluence” but not new to making film in Oregon. I am located in La Grande and for the last fourteen years we have produced episodic adventure based outdoor television for The Outdoor Channel, Sportsman Channel, and other networks. However in the last two years we have started a more well rounded media house with documentary projects, commercials, and producing television for other people and companies.

We are now set up to start shooting specialty video for other producers of television or movies.

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#EOFF2017 Announces Film Selections