The Confluence

#OregonMade “Outdoor School” to Premiere at American Black FF

The #OregonMade feature film “Outdoor School” will premiere at the American Black Film Festival in Miami on June 11. Portland’ Ime Etuk’s feature loosely based on Vin Shambery’s experiences features local cast, crew and locations.

A tree can be a home and a forest can be a school, but raised in the wilds of 90’s Portland, Vin must first learn to be a child. A transformative true story about the search for shelter and the power of being seen.

Find out more here.

New Podcast: Oregon Indie Film

Oregon is the Indie Film Capital

Oregon Indie Film is a video podcast shining the light on Oregon’s independent film industry.

Interviews with filmmakers, producers, directors, actors, film crew, festival coordinators, and the many other industry professionals, offering insights into the creative process, challenges, and triumphs of making independent movies in Oregon.

Hosted by Dawn Sellers and produced by Broken Toe Productions.

Find it on YouTube and wherever you get your podcasts.

Interested in being a featured filmmaker or filmmaking organization?

Rights & Clearances for Creative Projects – Free Session

This is a free virtual session from Oregon Volunteer Lawyers for the Arts on June 5.

Join OVLA volunteer attorneys Ryan Mauck and Chris Weathers for an engaging exploration into the realm of Rights and Clearances for creative projects across various mediums, including fine art, photography, media, film, television, video games, etc. This workshop delves into the essentials for creatives looking to use anything belonging to someone else in their projects. We’ll cover key considerations for licensing and using third-party artworks, using individuals’ names, images, and likenesses, working with trademarks and logos, the use of generative artificial intelligence, and avoiding defamation in your work.

Portland Post Production Grant Awardees

The Portland Events and Film Office, in partnership with Travel Portland, is proud to announce the recipients of the 2025 Post Production Grant to four feature films.  The funding is designed to encourage the completion of a local feature-length film and position local producers to build toward larger, more resourced productions. Past recipients of the Post-Production Grant include Trash Baby, directed by Jacy Mairs (which premiered at the 2025 SXSW Film Festival), and G. Chesler’s documentary Connection Isolation (which will be hosting several upcoming screenings with interactive programming nationwide).

EOFF Filmmaker Field Trips Program with “Bad Day for Bigfoot”

Eastern Oregon Film Festival (EOFF) is thrilled to announce the first ‘Trippers’ of its new Filmmaker Field Trips program’, a unique initiative designed to support independent filmmakers by providing them with direct access to the stunning landscapes and vibrant communities of Eastern Oregon.

The inaugural Field Trip, taking place from June 23-30, 2025, will welcome director Zach Green and writer Devin O’Rourke, the creative duo behind the feature film project “Bad Day for Bigfoot.” The two filmmakers, who previously wowed audiences with their sci-fi buddy comedy “FOIL” at #EOFF2023, are returning to Eastern Oregon to scout locations, connect with the local community, and immerse themselves in the region’s unique atmosphere as they prepare to bring their latest project to life.

“Make it Here” – Bring Your Next Creative Production to Oregon

There’s something very special about the creative community here in Oregon. You can see it in everything we do. Because of that, we recently partnered with CineRent West and director Devin Boss to create “Make it Here,” a short film that shows the talent, landscapes, passion and joy that creating work in our state entails.

You can see it in the people, you can see it in the places and you can see it in the product – Oregon is a special place and if you come here to make your next creative project, you’ll want to come back.

Miller Foundation Launches Spark Awards for Artists

The application for the 2025 Spark Award for Oregon Artists is now available to individual midcareer artists creating original work in the disciplines of literary and media art. Launched in 2024, the Spark Award is a three-year pilot program during which the Miller Foundation expects to support 60 individual Oregon artists in total (20 per year) across artistic disciplines by awarding a grant of $25,000 to each selected artist. Last year, 20 performing artists received the award. In this second year, we are accepting applications from literary and media artists and in 2026 the Foundation will support 20 visual artists.

#OregonMade “Why Dig…” Nominated by NewFilmmakers LA

NewFilmmakers Los Angeles has released the nominees and jury for its 14th annual awards that recognize the top rising talent in independent film globally. Oregon filmmaker Cambria Matlow’s “Why Dig When You Can Pluck” was nominated.

The awards will recognize 130 nominees spanning 16 award categories, encompassing directors, writers, producers, performers, cinematographers, editors, sound designers, and composers. These outstanding nominees were chosen from NFMLA’s most recent programming year, which took place in 2024 and reflect some of the most promising emerging independent filmmakers globally.

Destination Oregon Hightlights “Cuckoo’s Nest” 50th Anniversary

Central Oregon Daily News’ “Destination Oregon” recently traveled to Salem to highlight the 50th anniversary of “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.” The film that won five Academy Awards was set at Oregon State Hospital in Salem.

Author Ken Kesey’s book about the institutional overreach and the dehumanization of the mentally ill was kryptonite to many mental institutions who did not want to be associated with this controversial cultural issue. So when Hollywood came looking for a place to make the movie, there were no takers.

Motion Picture Association Highlights the OFT

The Motion Picture Association highlighted the Oregon Film Trail with a well rounded interview with SetJetters. Appearing in The Credits section of their website and MPA and SJ highlight the power of Film Tourism and just some of the ways that Oregon Fil has led the way in qualifying that power into economic spending.

If you haven’t seen it yet, please check out the animated graphic we’ve done with our partners at SJ illustrating how Film Tourism impacts the Oregon economy.

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