The Confluence

Gus Van Sant and James Franco present “Memories of Idaho” at TIFF

Gus Van Sant will be making the trek up to Toronto next month for the Toronto International Film Festival, where he’ll be contributing an installation commemorating the twentieth anniversary of the cult classic “My Own Private Idaho.” Released in 1991, “My Own Private Idaho” stars River Phoenix and Keanu Reeves as young hustlers on the streets of Portland.

The installation, entitled “Memories of Idaho” and created in conjunction with James Franco, will screen as part of the festival’s Future Projections, described as, “A new film frontier outside the cinema space where moving images become art throughout the City of Toronto.”

An Italian Perspective on American Cinema

by Francesca Serra
Oregon Film Intern from Napoli, Italy

In Italy, the idea of American cinema is tightly connected with Hollywood and sensationalist movies where the hero is always handsome and honest and the audience knows that. By the end of the movie, he will defeat all his enemies who, of course, are ugly and bad.

Why do Italians have this vision of American movies? Because, most of the American movies that arrive in Italy always have the same features: a big international secret, a woman in distress, and a hero that saves her.

Case Study: Fashionbuddha Shares the Monterey Bay Love

Oregon-based companies pride themselves on being amongst the first to leap beyond the established creative norms. And Fashionbuddha, an animation studio in Old Town Portland, thrives off this innate quest for innovation. “We’re a unique studio from the standpoint that we have animation and interactive under the same roof,” explains founder and Executive Director Robert Lewis.

Fashionbuddha got its start ten years ago creating high-end flash websites but has since expanded into mobile apps, interactive installations and broadcast animation. “We were all under the same roof at the beginning because it made sense with those projects but now we’ve splintered to some degree and it’s just as exciting,” says Lewis.

New Case Study on Oregon Animation Blog

This dual focus helped Fashionbuddha when they were hired by San Francisco agency Engine Company 1 to create promotional spots for the Monterey Bay Aquarium.

25th Anniversary of Oregon’s Own “Stand by Me’

25 years ago, on August 8th, a film shot in Oregon was released nationwide in the theatres. It hasn’t stopped playing since. It is currently #175 on IMDB’s top 250 list, above “Avatar” and “Gandhi”. It was nominated for an Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay from Stephen Kings’ novella “The Body”; the Japanese Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film; and won the Jackie Coogan Youth Award for the cast of River Phoenix, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell and Corey Feldman.

Master Pancake Theater – Cinema 21 – Portland – 8/13 @ 10:30 PM

What’s Master Pancake Theater? MPT is a beer-soaked show featuring raucous film commentary (in the style of MST3K) that Entertainment Weekly calls “a glorious pairing of turkey movies with live comedy.” They’ve been selling out Austin’s legendary Alamo Drafthouse for years. Now they’re heading north by northwest for the first time with a skewering of 1985’s classic teenage angstfest, “THE BREAKFAST CLUB”.

Do you like to laugh? Do you like to drink beer? Then you will love Master Pancake Theater. And Master Pancake Theater will love you.

Five Spots Remain for Next HD/Film Makeup Workshop

Colour Box Makeup Studios founder Kerry Herta, a 2011 Emmy nominee, returns to Portland to teach aspiring makeup artists the latest techniques used in HD/Film makeup.

While these workshops were scheduled to accommodate students on waiting lists following workshops earlier this year in Portland and Seattle, there are still five spots remaining. The workshops – the five-day Makeup Artist Boot Camp and one-day Airbrush Seminar – will be held Aug. 31-Sept. 5, 2011, and are again limited to 12 aspiring artists, all of whom will be trained by Herta and complete assignments using live models and industry-leading products and equipment.

NBC Introduces “Grimm” to Television Critics Association

Grimm‘s been accumulating more and more positive word-of-mouth since it’s debut at Comic-Con in July and NBC took the opportunity to formally introduce the show to the Television Critics Association Monday afternoon along with the rest of its fall lineup. So far, the critics have plenty of good things to say.

Matt Roush from TV Guide says that, “NBC’s quirkiest fall show is unquestionably the fairy-tale-inspired Grimm.” Walt Belcher from The Tampa Tribune agrees, calling Grimm a potential “dark horse” of the fall TV season.

UPDATE: Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival – Call for Entries – DUE August 1, 2011

Northwest Fest Needs Filmmakers Like You!

Formerly known as the Northwest Film & Video Festival, the Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival continues the Film Center’s 38-year tradition of bringing moving image artists of the Northwest together to share ideas, discover resources available to them, to inspire, be inspired and to showcase their finest work to greater audiences. Entries are judged by a prominent filmmaker, curator, or critic who determines the Festival awards. Past judges have included Gus Van Sant, Matt Groening, Todd Haynes, Christine Vachon, and Sundance and Outfest programmer, John Cooper.

Northwest Fest Needs Filmmakers Like You to Submit by Monday!

The entry deadline is this coming Monday August 1, 2011 (postmark).

The Festival runs November 11-19, 2011.

Formerly known as the Northwest Film & Video Festival, the Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival continues the Film Center’s 38-year tradition of bringing moving image artists of the Northwest together to share ideas, discover resources available to them, to inspire, be inspired and to showcase their finest work to greater audiences. Entries are judged by a prominent filmmaker, curator, or critic who determines the Festival awards.

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