The Oregon film community's official blog.
I just wanted to send out a note that we are now considering applications for iOPIF again. As the fiscal year is coming to an end we have gone through several audits of the projects that had applied for the program and now know what funds are available. In addition with the new fiscal year comes a new round of funding for iOPIF. So if you are a producer with a local project in the fall, please feel free to contact me to inquire about iOPIF.
It’s April, it’s beginning to sprout green everywhere you look and there are many good and green projects out there that make evident Oregonians are doing their part for Earth Day and a “A Billion Acts of Green®” this year.
The Ashland Independent Film Festival is screening a handful of Oregon made eco-films, the 48 Hour Go Green project has chosen two Oregon filmmakers to screen at Cannes and we have been working with the Producers Guild of America to help with a searchable green vendor data base to help green your next project.
The U.S. Department of Labor will require supplemental FUTA tax assessments in some states due to budget deficits. Attached is a chart from the U.S. Department of Labor indicating projected increases beyond the base rate of 0.8%. If an increase rate is 0.3%, then the revised FUTA tax rate will be 1.1%. FUTA tax contributions are assessed per employee on the first $7,000 in wages. Changes are not scheduled for Oregon or Washington, but if you are filming in other states, you may have to make adjustments to your payroll budgets.
So, I entered my new short film, The Bag in to the Tupelo Film Festival (TFF). That’s right Tupelo Mississippi. I had heard good things about TFF and when it came time to enter film festivals I thought why not Tupelo. After all it is the hometown of Elvis Presley and since the writer/star of The Bag was Elvis’ leading lady in The Trouble with Girls maybe TFF would find a little extra interest in the film. Fast forward about 5 weeks and I haven’t heard anything back from Tupelo other than acknowledgment that they received my screener.
When Richard Herskowitz called me to let me know that he was able to get Terrence Chang and David Linde to speak at this year’s Industry Symposium, I leaped at the chance to participate. It is very rare for an event in Oregon to have one person with this much industry experience let alone two people. And the best news is that the entire event is FREE!!!!! Check out the line up below and also check out all the other great things happening this year at Cinema Pacific.
[vimeo]http://vimeo.com/21400776[/vimeo]
March 15th was a night to celebrate the screening of “Meek’s Cutoff” at Salem’s historic Elsinore Theatre. As seen in the video above, many local film industry workers took the time to show their support by giving a brief interviews discussing how important it is to Oregon and to Oregon’s film community that productions like this continue to be filmed here in our state. Many people from the Oregon film industry along with quite a few state senators and representatives showed up for this special screening to benefit the Oregon Cultural Trust.
Below is a link to the KGW news piece covering the NBC pilot “Grimm” as well as the entire motion picture industry in Oregon. A special appearance by former “Will and Grace” star Sean Hayes is in the piece as he is an Executive Producer of the pilot. Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that the show gets ordered to series and they do the series right here in Oregon!
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Mississippi Studios Concert & Auction Featuring Storm Large benefiting Rid of Me a film by James Westby and The Sexual Assault Resource Center April 8TH, 2011 Performances By: Storm Large, Grand Archives, Ohioan, Oracle, & Part Time Pony This event will be the film’s kick-off to New York City, where it will premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in April. VIP tickets include a 6 pm cocktail hour with hors d’oeuvres with Storm Large, an intimate performance, swag bag (valued over $300), handcrafted chocolates, and reserved concert seating. |
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Los Angeles, March 22, 2011 – Palisades Tartan announced today that SOME DAYS ARE BETTER THAN OTHERS, Matt McCormick’s debut feature, which stars Indie rock talents James Mercer from the Shins and Carrie Brownstein, vocalist/guitarist for Wild Flag and the now defunct Sleater-Kinney will open the Hollywood Theater in Portland on March 25th before opening wider across the country.
Brownstein can also be seen on PORTLANDIA, the new IFC Original short-based comedy series created, written by and starring Brownstein and Fred Armisen from Saturday Night Live.
