“Crash Pad” feature film written by PDX screenwriter

The Oregon film community's official blog.

We’re headed Back to School again this week and tackling that most interesting and uncomfortable of classroom topics: Sex Ed. Raider/Contributor Phil Oppenheim takes a look at the late 40’s and early 60’s in-classroom, let’s-watch-a-film-on-that approach to this topic from the University of Oregon and it is quite curious (frustrating? enlightening? stereotype-izing?) to see the differences between the two and, even more so, between then and now. On top of that, in a state with such a (forgive us) well developed animation industry, it’s also great to see such early roots for that particular art form even if it is at the expense of poor Aunt Sarah (who might have have a few questions to answer about her hateful niece’s origins).

The biggest little indie feature doc in Oregon, 24 Hour Comic, screened at the San Diego Comic-Con International Independent Film Festival this July. Director Milan Erceg, whose film documents a marathon of comic book creation, says the recognition from Comic-Con film festival “is about the biggest honor we could have.”
Raiders continues its Back to School theme this week with some much needed Music Appreciation. Whether you launched your appreciation of a certain genre of Energy Music through Heavy Metal Parking Lot, or just hours of stereo volumes pegged to 11 followed by blurry road trips to see Ozzy or Mötley Crüe, or maybe you just liked the wardrobe and appreciate Mark Wahlberg in “Rock Star” – we all have been touched in some way by our own rock n’ roll journey and Raider Contributor Phil Oppenheim takes us down one particular path that starts at Oregon City High School (and, coincidentally or ironically enough, the shooting location for Netflix’s “Everything Sucks” this past summer).
“Lean On Pete” has been collecting some great reviews, and has already premiered internationally in the Venice International Film Festival and Toronto International Film Festival, and also screened in the US at Telluride. Writer-Director, Andrew Haigh (“45 Years”) adapted Willy Vlautin’s 2010 novel of the same name, that shot in Oregon last summer. The #OregonMade feature made great use of locations, shooting in NE , and SE Portland, at the Portland Meadows race track, a family ranch in Molalla, and out in eastern Oregon in Burns, Hines, and at the Harney County fairgrounds.

WORLD PREMIERE OF “North Of Blue” BY INDIE ANIMATION QUEEN – JOANNA PRIESTLEY
Acclaimed Indie animation queen Joanna Priestley has jumped off the deep end of the image pool into a luscious, mind bending, abstract animated feature film that will premiere at the Hollywood Theatre (Portland, OR) on September 21, 2017 at 7 PM. North of Blue (60 min.) began in the mysterious winter landscape of the far north where Priestley was filmmaker-in-residence at the Klondike Institute of Art and Culture in Dawson City, Canada.

“Literary Arts is honored to host Francis Ford Coppola, one of the most iconic filmmakers of our time, on Monday, October 2 to discuss his latest book Live Cinema and Its Techniques. Coppola will appear in conversation with The New York Times reporter Melena Ryzik.
Francis Ford Coppola is an award-winning director, producer, and writer whose films include The Godfather Trilogy, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation, among others. With more than five decades of experience in the film industry, Coppola has produced more than 50 motion pictures and earned six Oscars, including Best Director, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Picture.
Another #OregonMade Series debuts next week. YouTube Red announced an all-new original series known as Lace Up: The Ultimate Sneaker Challenge.
Billed as the very first “unscripted sneaker design competition series,” Lace Up: The Ultimate Sneaker Challenge comes from the minds of sneaker designer and Portland-based
Pensole Academy founder D’Wayne Edwards and executive producer Ken Mok, who is best known for his work on America’s Next Top
Model. Hosted by Adande “sWoozie” Thorne, YouTube Red’s new “sneaker design competition” program will feature special guest appearances by Fetty Wap, Anthony Anderson,
Ashley Graham, Macklemore, Stan Smith, Eddie Huang, James Harden and other high-profile, fan-favorite celebrities.
The Ashland Independent Film Festival has assembled an intriguing and illuminating array of international independent films for the 28th annual Varsity World Film Week running October 6 through October 13 at the Varsity Theatre in downtown Ashland. The 13 films selected represent 23 countries, including Canada, Colombia, Lebanon, France, Thailand, Russia, Nepal, and the United States.
In addition to the week of screenings, this year will also feature opening and closing night festivities, including Q&A’s with film directors and after-screening parties.
POWGirls depends on partnerships and donations to meet the costs of running our workshops. Since some POWGirls participants are unable to pay tuition, we rely heavily on scholarships to make our workshops available to all young women. NO APPLICANT IS TURNED AWAY DUE TO LACK OF FUNDS.
POWGirls offers workshops in video production, cinematography, audio recording, set lighting, digital editing and media literacy for girls ages 15-19.