The Confluence

Tickets for the NW Animation Festival On Sale Now

The NW Animation Fest is coming up
May 17-19 @ The Hollywood Theatre
in Portland, OR.

The NW Animation Fest is a variety show that celebrates the best new work from independent animators around the globe. This is the festival’s biggest year yet. And with “over 150 hilarious, dramatic, strange and inspiring films” screening over the course of the 3-day event, it’s now “the biggest animation show in the USA.” The Oregon Governor’s Office of Film & Television is proud to be sponsoring the opening night of the festival, Friday May 17.

Free Spirit Lori Lewis Returns to Portland Casting

Lori Lewis of Free Spirit Casting at Stage 13

Early last year, when Lori Lewis ran into Leverage producer Paul Bernard at a Hollywood Theater event, “He flat-out asked,” recalls Lewis, “Are you back yet?” The erstwhile casting director had to admit to her urge to return to the work she adores, promising, “Next year, after knee surgery.” This week, Oregon’s film industry welcomes Lori Lewis, plus one new knee, back into the casting scene. Lewis says, “I’m super excited to be back, and so overwhelmed by everyone’s warm embrace that I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate.”

Transmedia Series ‘Phrenic’ Releases Two Episodes and a Choose Your Own Adventure Story

Phrenic, a Portland transmedia series that premiered as an iPhone app last month, is releasing a portion of the experience online. The first two episodes are available as well as an interactive choose your own adventure story that puts the reader in the world of cloning and creepy talking dolls. The Doll has over thirty possible endings and text that changes each time you read it. More episodes and stories will be released over the next few weeks.

Phrenic is the story Alison Taylor, who will kill her husband in seven days.

Premiere Screening of Project Viewfinder – Presented by NW Film Center

Join us for an evening of poignant short films, about the myths and realities of homelessness, created by young adults transitioning from struggle to self-sufficiency. Mentored by Northwest Film Center faculty for the last three months, the youth have worked in front of and behind the camera to tell these personal stories of struggle and hope for the future. Many of the young filmmakers will be in attendance to reflect on their experience and take questions from the audience.

Preceded by a pre-film reception at 5 p.m.

How “Collider” Aims To Make DIY Science Cool

When someone undertakes a do-it-yourself project, it doesn’t usually involve the risk of destroying planet Earth. That is a very real possibility for the characters in local filmmaker Leo Jackson’s upcoming project Collider, the story of a group of friends who decide to use plans they find on the Internet to build a miniature particle accelerator in their garage.

“I hear about young people making huge leaps in physics, chemistry, even medicine, because they are given access to facilities that allow for this kind of discovery,” Jackson said.

NBC’s “Renovation Nation” Seeking Properties in Oregon

NBC will begin production on “Renovation Nation,” an exciting, new home makeover competition event that will showcase the talents of the most accomplished designers and home renovators in the country, revealing stunning transformations week after week. Nate Berkus, host and Executive Producer, will not only guide the audience through the process, but will also serve as judge and advocate, mentoring the contestants week to week.

This bold new series will travel across the country one city at a time, with two separate teams tackling two new homes each week.

You are officially invited… Media Production Industry Day at the State Capitol

So don’t say you weren’t invited: We want you. We need you. Please forward, post, blog, write a letter, phone bank, take a bus, ride a carpool, Facebook and Tweet asap. But most important: Attend or support Industry Day on May 2nd.

1) RSVP right now
at www.OMPA.org

2) Write a letter to your state legislator
(also at www.OMPA.org)

3) Attend Industry Day in Salem.
You won’t regret it.

WHY??
Governor Kitzhaber has recommended to the Oregon legislature that we expand the OPIF (Oregon Production Investment Fund) so we can recruit twice as much business into our state as we did in this last record-breaking year.

Celebrate Earth Day! See Oregon’s First Lady, Cylvia Hayes’ Earth Hour Challenge Monster Makeover!

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/64423471[/vimeo]

(Video was shot by Clackamas Community College Digital Media students)

We blogged recently about the “I Will If You Will” challenge campaign that the World Wildlife Fund and Earth Hour created. It was a way for them to encourage conversation and positive action for the environment. Many high profile companies and individuals around the world created their own challenges, including Cylvia Hayes, Oregon’s First Lady. Ms. Hayes agreed to be made-up into a “Wesen” monster (by the special effects make-up artists from the NBC Universal show, “Grimm”) if one thousand people agreed to take a stand against the haunting of the “phantom load” in homes and offices everywhere, by unplugging unused electronics!

Party today to release the SourceOregon production directory

Grimm has wrapped, the SourceOregon book is out, and now it is time to party — today starting at 4pm at Koerner Camera Systems FEATURING OSCAR THE TACO KING!! Beer is sponsored by New Belgium, tacos sponsored by Koerner Camera and OMPA. All are welcome to come celebrate as we kick off another year of promoting the best people and production resources Oregon has to offer.

OMPA members: This is your chance to pick up your copy of the book. (All others, including our actor Add-on members, can purchase a copy for $20 and save shipping charges.)

“C.O.G.”, Filmed in Hood River, OR, Gains Distribution

“C.O.G”, written and directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez and based on a David Sedaris autobiographical essay, was filmed in Hood River and the Portland Metro Area. “C.O.G” premiered at the Sundance Film Festival earlier this year, and has just gained distribution through Screen Media and Focus Features’ alt-distribution label Focus World. They have plans to release the movie in theaters later this year.

More info. on the film via Deadline Hollywood:

(“C.O.G.” is) about a man who decides to immerse himself in the real world and goes off the grid following his graduation from Yale to work at an apple farm.

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