The Confluence

Mercer/Lunden Films: Portland Purveyors of Short Subject Cinema.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/35525285[/vimeo]

Mercer/Lunden Films is the collaboration of Ben Mercer and Josh Lunden, two recent Oregon transplants who moved to Portland to experience the burgeoning indie film community. Since we had no local reputation or financial backing when we arrived, we decided to test crowd-funding models to raise money for two short films. We successfully raised over $2,000 and went into production with local actors and crew. We also began working with several community groups such as the PDX Film Collective. Along with the films, we’ve also produced a number of behind-the-scenes and technical videos to help illustrate the process of making short films on a limited budget.

Northwest Film Finance Symposium

Want to know what Investors are looking for? Where in the World do we find Feature Distribution? The latest on Digital Distribution? The most effective types of Marketing?

Get the inside scoop on the indie film industry from a leading Hollywood executive and more than a dozen local experts when the 2012 NW Film Finance Symposium convenes on Friday, March 9, and Saturday, March 10. Presented by OMPA and POWFest, this year’s event will feature Stephanie Slack, Senior Vice President, Co-Productions & Acquisitions for MarVista Entertainment in Los Angeles.

Portland’s Hinge Digital Creates VFX for Brightwood

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/36301977[/vimeo]

For Hinge Digital, creating the visual effects for Brightwood was a chance to bring Hollywood-caliber visual effects to an independent locally produced short film. Combining themes of childhood innocence and the search for home and family, the film juxtaposes a young girl’s real and imaginary lives. The film veterans at Hinge Digital helped bridge the gap between reality and fantasy.

Director L. Gabriel Gonda brought the film’s rough cut to Hinge Digital Executive Producer Roland Gauthier in November 2011 and presented the challenge: to bring to life a believable, feature-film quality digital mouse in eight live-action shots on a short-film budget.

The Evolution of Trever Stewart

by Amanda Bennett

If Trever Stewart runs into a room and says to you, “Quick, play dead.” You might just unthinkingly throw yourself on the ground and imagine that there are big, black Xs covering your eye sockets.

He’s that persuasive.

And, since moving to Portland from Los Angeles, Mr. Stewart (Associate Producer of Special Projects, Bent Image Labs) has learned to use his impressive powers for good, specifically, for the good of local animation.

It has taken some doing, though.

Film Festival Update: PIFF, POW Fest, Ashland, Bend, Cinema Pacific

This week the the 35th Portland International Film Festival begins its three week celebration of cinema from all over the globe. The festival begins on Thursday night (February 9) with the film “Salmon Fishing In The Yemen” which was directed by Lasse Hallstrom. For a complete listing of the films and schedule, click here.

Also in the horizon is POW fest March 8-12, the Ashland Independent Film Festival which is April 12-16, and Cinema Pacific in Eugene April 18-22.

Open Mic for Filmmakers!

ATTACK OF THE FLIX: PRESENTED BY MICROFLIX

Join us at Curious Comedy Theatre every third Sunday of the month for Attack of the Flix – a competition for Portland filmmakers.

All films must be less than 10 minutes long and are submitted on USB thumb drives. We screen nothing beforehand! Admission is free (donation bucket at the door).

Curious Comedy has a full bar and is an all ages venue. Join us for an unpredictable night of talented local filmmakers at their best!

Superbowl Ads Once Again Have an Oregon Connection

Last year Portland’s powerhouse ad agency Weiden + Kennedy made waves with their Chrysler commercial featuring Eminem. This year it was Clint Eastwood. (I can’t embed the clip so here’s the link) http://www.youtube.com/chrysler?sid=1037056&KWNM=chrysler+commercial&KWID=3179744957SB_2012&channel=paidsearch The spot which aired at halftime of the Superbowl was almost as much of a pep rally as it was a commercial. It’s already received a lot of buzz and sure to continue through the week. W+K also scored with several Coca Cola commercials featuring their animated Polar Bears.

Call for Entries: Lane County Teen Video Makers

Eugene, OR. DIVA’s Youth Visions’ program is now accepting 5-minute videos, or shorter, produced by Lane County youth ages 13-19 for its 2012 Teen Video Challenge Festival. The submission deadline is March 2, 2012.

Each year teens from all over Lane County submit work that is reviewed by a panel of video professionals and educators. Winning videos will be awarded cash prizes at this year’s event on Saturday, April 14th at the Bijou Cinema Arts Theater in Eugene.

The Teen Video Challenge is funded in part by grants from the Oregon Media Production Association and the Lane Arts Council.

Come Experience The New Seats At The Hollywood Theatre!

The new seats have been installed in the main auditorium of the Hollywood Theatre! We’ve also repainted, and replaced the curtains in the theater. These changes are in addition to our new sound system and new screen. A huge thanks to everyone who supported our seat campaign! We never could have accomplished this without you.

We’re extremely excited, and we have some great films and events in the next few days to experience in this auditorium:

Friday Jan 20 at 7:30pm – RED DAWN IN HECKLEVISION
Friday Jan 20 at 10:00pm – PORTLANDIA
Saturday Jan 21 – Sunday Jan 22 at 3:15pm, 5:15pm, 7:15pm and 9:15pm – CARNAGE
Monday Jan 23 at 7:30pm – SATURDAY MORNINGS AT NIGHT
Tuesday Jan 24 at 7:30pm – Kung Fu Theater presents EASTERN CONDORS (only known 35mm print!)

Portland Animation Now! – January 27-28

Discover Portland’s Powerhouse Animation Scene

Portland birthed the California Raisins. It schooled the voice of Bugs Bunny and the mind behind The Simpsons. It’s home to “the queen of indie animation.” It’s a rising force in entertainment, producing both TV shows and hit feature films such as Coraline.

On January 27-28, Portland Animation Now! reveals the power source behind these cultural icons: our electric, eclectic, grassroots animation scene.

Organized by the folks who brought us the first-ever NW Animation Festival this past summer, PAN!

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Discover Portland’s Powerhouse Animation Scene