The Oregon film community's official blog.
Tickets are now on sale for the McMinnville Short Film Festival that runs Feb. 23-25. Come visit the heart of Oregon Wine Country and see films, meet the filmmakers and hear from experienced artists working in the industry.
You can find out more on https://mcminnvillefilmfest.org/
Mark Gustafson, who won an Oscar last year for co-directing the animated feature “Guillermo del Toro‘s Pinocchio” and a cornerstone of Oregon’s deep and diverse animation community, died on Thursday. He was 64.
Mark has a long and storied history in Oregon. He began his animation career in the 1980s with Will Vinton and worked in many different types of animation. His claymation work can be seen in the 1987 TV special “Claymation Christmas Celebration,” “The PJs” series starring Eddie Murphy and the TV special “Meet the Raisins,” starring the iconic California Raisins.
#OregonMade ‘Sometimes I Think About Dying’, starring Daisy Ridley, was released in the US on Jan 26th by Oscilloscope Laboratories (it opened theatrically in France on Jan 10th) and the film will be at theaters locally on February 2nd. Get ready to grab your tickets!
Kristi Turnquist’s recent update on the film reports that both Ridley and director, Rachel Lambert, described their experience shooting in Astoria and on the north coast as, “a gorgeous time”. A fine endorsement indeed!
Oregon-based Oscar winning animation studio ShadowMachine’s collaboration with Mike Judge, Zach Woods and Brandon Gardner comes to Peacock this month. The stop-motion animated comedy series is called “In the Know.”
Lauren Caspian is public radio’s third most popular host. He’s a well-meaning, hypocritical nimrod, just like you and me. He’s also a stop motion puppet. Each episode follows the making of an episode of Lauren’s show In the Know, in which Lauren conducts in-depth interviews with real-world human guests. Lauren collaborates with a diverse crew of public radio staff.
OPB recently interviewed the filmmakers and featured participants of the locally produced documentary “Downwind.”
“Downwind” looks at how miscalculated wind forecasts, government proclamations that radiation exposure wasn’t a serious health threat, and revelations from now-declassified documents referring to those who lived near the test site as a “low use segment of the population” potentially contributed to illnesses suffered by Americans who were never warned about the dangers of living near the test sites. It was produced and co-directed by Portlander Mark Shapiro.
Netflix has just closed a deal in the $17 million range for worldwide rights to It’s What’s Inside, the thriller written and directed by Greg Jardin that has been one of the Sundance Film Festival’s buzziest titles. It’s the second 8-figure deal of Sundance, after the Jesse Eisenberg-directed A Real Pain sold to Searchlight for $10 million. Both those deals were brokered by CAA.
“It’s What’s Inside” shot in Oregon in 2023. Congrats to the filmmakers and the entire creative team.
MoveMaker Magazine just released its annual list of Best Places to Live and Work as a Filmmaker and Portland has made the list again. Coming in at #15 (just under our friends and colleagues to the southeast in SLC), Portland stands alone on the list for the PNW.
Here’s an excerpt from MMM:
Portland is making it easier to get film permits in its efforts to grow as a filmmaking destination, and a sizable crew base means it can handle up to four feature films and commercial work at the same time.
Mark your calendars for Feb 6th at McMenamin’s Kennedy School. Portland Film Festival is launching their Indie Film Series for 2024/25 with powerful narratives from the Black community. ✨
Featuring:
🎬 “Windows” by Mischa Webley, A journey of self-discovery behind unfamiliar walls. (Recent winner of Portland’s Amplify Grant.)
🎬 “So Misunderstood” by Seretse Njemanze & Jehnovah Carlisle – Office life meets personal upheaval during the pandemic.
🎬 “Akata” by Iyore Odighizuwa, A tale of cultural identity and unity.
🎬 “13” by Danielle Nicolet, A poignant quest for closure and truth.
#OregonMade and Astoria shot SOMETIMES I THINK ABOUT DYING, starring Daisy Ridley, is being released by Oscilloscope Laboratories in the US (it opened theatrically in France on January 10th and will be playing in theaters in Canada, the UK and hopefully lots of other places in the near future) on January 26, but the film will be at theaters locally on February 2nd.
Portland
Regal Fox Tower
Opens Friday 2/2. (Q&A screenings with Rachel Lambert, Director and Dave Merheje, “Robert” at the 7pm shows at a special screening on Thursday and on opening night Friday, 2/1 and 2/2).
It was recently announced that My Dead Friend Zoe, an Oregon-shot upcoming film starring Sonequa Martin-Green, Natalie Morales, Ed Harris
, and Morgan Freeman will have its WORLD PREMIERE at South by Southwest in March.
The exact date of the premiere isn’t set yet but expect more details in the coming weeks.
“My Dead Friend Zoe” is a dark comedy drama feature which is unlike any film about veterans that we’ve seen before. At its core MDFZ is a buddy film about a complicated friendship, a divided family and the complex ways in which we process grief.
