The Confluence

Oregon Cartoon Institute Launches Mel Blanc Project

We love to report good news! Oregon Cartoon Institute recently reported that they with receive support from Miller Foundation and Kinsman Foundation for the first project for which had sought funding,The Mel Blanc Project. The Project officially begins on June 8, with the first lecture: “Now Cut That Out!”: Portland Theaters Educate Mel Blanc.

Oregon Cartoon Institute is a consortium of individuals and organizations working together to raise awareness of Oregon’s rich animation and cartooning history. Five organizations created the Mel Blanc Project: Oregon Cartoon Institute, Oregon Jewish Museum, Ethos Music Center, Oregon Historical Society and PSU’s School of Fine and Performing Arts.

Case Study: Bent Image Labs and Koodo Mobile

Canada has a new hero and his name is “El Tabador”, a 4-inch tall Mexican wrestler who warms your heart, tickles your funny-bone, and effortlessly works in a few good words about Koodo Mobile.

El Tabador follows in a long tradition of Lucha Libre fighters. He’s part detective, ladies’ man, and a righteous defender of justice and the creation of Portland-based Bent. To meet this brief, Bent drew Director Rob Shaw’s vast knowledge of Lucha Libre culture and worked closely with the TAXI 2 to design Tabador from first sketch to final computer-generated character.

Oregon’s LAIKA Studio Launches New Website and Demo Video

In addition to a recent announcement made by Oregon’s LAIKA animation studio in early May about two new feature film projects, LAIKA also rolled out a newly designed website including the video included below. The video provides another example of the hand-made artisan craft and expertise utilizing cutting edge technology Oregon firms possess.

[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/23325702[/vimeo]

We want to bring you examples of what the storytellers of the Oregon animation and visual effects sector aspire to; building on our knowledge and experience from the past while embracing the technology and promise of the future.

OregonAnimation.com Blog Premieres Tonight

Following the successful effort to create a voice for the Oregon Film and Television community in this blog, we recently convened a group of Oregon animation and visual effects professionals that we know, and asked them how a site dedicated to their segment of the industry might be received. After lots of lively conversation and great ideas, it became clear that there was great interest, and that it would be very helpful for drawing attention to the fact that Oregon has more than just great locations, amazing acting and crew talent, and not to mention, a terrific film incentive program.

“Commercially Speaking . . .”

Most of the attention of late has focused on feature films and the renewal of the production incentives. The press loves to write about the “Leverages,” the “Grimms,” the “Gones” and the “Portlandias’ because they bring recognizable star talent to Portland. And because they have a mystique about them; they are, for all intents and purposes, “the movies,” “Hollywood.” But we don’t want to loose sight of that portion of the production world that has provided a reasonably steady stream of work for local crew and local vendors; the COMMERCIAL.

What Is Both Green And Universal At The Same Time?….

….sustainable fairy tales of course!

We are excited to have the opportunity to work with NBC Universal this summer on greening the new series, “Grimm”. NBC Universal’s Television and Environmental Policy affirms they are, “committed to pursuing environmentally sustainable practices across all of our operations” and these are clearly laid out in their environmental policies that cover the production office, construction, on set and wrap. That’s great for the state of Oregon as well as the environment generally!

Grimm Confirmed to Come to Oregon

So the cat’s out of the bag – “Grimm” is committed to shoot in Oregon for it’s first season. Kristi Turnquist wrote about it today in The Oregonian. We are absolutely thrilled to know that three television series will be shot in Oregon this summer. In the coming weeks we’ll have more information on the production including a crew call.

I do want to thank everyone who worked so hard to make this happen – Gordon Sondland and the film office board, Governor Kitzhaber, the Oregon legislature, Sam Adams and the City of Portland and of course the entire film and video community.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnawUXqlfSU[/youtube]

5^th ANNUAL S.U.R.G.E. FILM FESTIVAL: OFFICIAL SELECTION INCLUDES ANTI-NUCLEAR WEAPON DOCUMENTARY

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