The Confluence

Join the OMPA this April for another evening of relaxed, creative networking with Portland’s film and media community.

The OMPA’s monthly gathering series continues on the last Wednesday of every month throughout 2026, bringing together filmmakers, producers, editors, crew members, and creative enthusiasts for casual meetups across the city. Each month, we explore a new Portland venue – creating space for fresh conversations, unexpected collaborations, and stronger connections within our creative network.

For April, we’re excited to gather at the new Hollywood Q Food Hall, a vibrant, community-focused space in Northeast Portland conveniently located just below OMPA’s new office.

Cinema Unbound Week is coming soon—five days celebrating cinematic storytelling not contained to a single medium! The public programs expand upon the annual Cinema Unbound Awards and include a collaboration with Criterion Collection.

Events include: Michelle Zauner, author of Crying in H Mart and Japanese Breakfast frontwoman (May 27); Criterion Mobile Closet (May 29–31); Criterion film screenings (May 23, 24, 30); Paralyzed by Hope: The Maria Bamford Story w/ Maria Bamford in-person (May 31); and live taping of the Criterion Channel’s Adventures in Moviegoing with Fred Armisen & Carrie Brownstein (May 31).

We are incredibly proud to introduce the 2026 cohort of The Bridge: from Oregon to Industry. Out of an exceptional pool of applicants, these Oregon-based filmmakers have been selected to take the next leap in their careers through this first ever intensive partnership with the Sundance Collab, Portland Film and Events Office, Prosper Portland and Oregon Film. Participants are coming from Eugene, Ashland, Bandon and Portland representing narrative features, groundbreaking documentaries, and the future of Oregon’s storytelling legacy. Over the coming weeks they will be working directly with Sundance Collab Advisors to refine their projects and redirect their careers in the global market.

For “One Piece” Season 2, Refuge VFX delivered 240 visual effects shots across the series’ eight episodes, continuing its work from the first season with a focus on weapon extensions and action-driven effects.

Sword fights presented a major challenge, as stunt performers often used rubber or shortened props during filming. The visual effects team digitally rebuilt these weapons so they appeared rigid and dangerous during combat. Early in the season, a sword used by Zoro had to be extended and refined in post-production after a stunt moment where the prop could not be fully shown on set.

Fallout Season 2 comes to life through 192 visual effects shots created by Refuge VFX, spanning large-scale destruction, graphic violence, detailed desert environments, and intense creature sequences across key episodes of the series.

In one of the season’s most intense sequences, Refuge VFX delivers a brutal outbreak of violence, using advanced simulation and animation to depict bodies torn apart and environments overwhelmed by destruction. The emphasis on physical realism reinforces the raw tone of the series at its most unforgiving.

Later in the season, the focus shifts toward creature-driven horror.

We are proud to be partnering with the inaugural International Women’s Sports Film Festival in downtown Portland May 1-3!

Join us at The Judy for a weekend of incredible storytelling through film, including: “Reggae Girlz” from Oscar-winning director Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy and Trish Dalton, the Billie Jean King documentary “Give Me The Ball”, and “The Britney Griner Story” (both produced by ESPN Films), plus live conversations with the athletes, coaches, and filmmakers behind the stories.

Explore the full lineup and buy your tickets today at iwsff.org

Multi-platinum, Grammy-nominated artist Tyga is set to make his feature debut in a starring role in “Baby, You’re a Star,” a coming-of-age musical drama that he’s also producing and wrote with Curtis Bryant.

Co-starring Madison Bailey (Outer Banks) and Ashton Sanders (Moonlight), the film is set in 1989 and follows an ambitious young artist determined to break free from the limitations of his environment, as he navigates love, identity, and the pursuit of artistic expression.

Production is happening in Portland, Oregon, pic’s cast also includes Apollonia, Clifton Powell, Patrick Cage, David Alan Grier, and Mike Epps.

The Oregon shot “Via Negativa” will premiere at Tribeca in June. Facing a crisis of faith after the death of an old friend, a young priest abandons all he knows and sets off on a road trip out West to heal. Along the way, he picks up a wounded coyote and meets enigmatic strangers who offer a different path towards closure.

Directed by Hannah Peterson the film stars Young Mazino, MiMi Ryder, Tony Hale, Zoe Winters, Keith Kupferer, Stanley Simons, Carl Clemons-Hopkins, Mamadou Athie and Jee Young Han.

Los Angeles-based filmmaker Moriah Doepken, a 2020 graduate of SOU’s Digital Cinema program, returns to Ashland this year as guest director with the Digital Cinema program’s innovative “Crew Experience” course.

The Crew Experience production intensive is taught by Digital Cinema Professor Nora Zubizarreta, a filmmaker with professional experience in Los Angeles and New York City, and producer of the film Umama, which won gold at the Student Academy Awards.

Doepken graduated in 2024 from Dodge College of Film and Media Arts at Chapman University with an M.F.A.