The Confluence

Sonic Silents, a new festival curated by composer Mark Orton, brings four nights of newly commissioned scores for silent film to the Hollywood Theatre stage, September 17 – 20, with every score performed live by the musicians who wrote it.

When the Hollywood Theatre opened on July 17, 1926, it was a 1,500-seat silent movie palace with an eight-piece orchestra and an organist in the pit.

Sonic Silents is planned as an annual festival, with the 2026 edition establishing its commissioning model: new scores each year, from outstanding composers whose work resists a single category.

Getting Back is premiering on Saturday, September 26, 2026 at 2pm at Salem Cinema. Intertwining youthful fantasy with the unflinching reality of loss, Getting Back explores how children use imaginative play to cope with hardship, presenting adult struggles through the imagination of a child. It is a heartfelt commentary on how we find our way back to love during the darkest times in life.

Tickets can be purchased through Salem Cinema. Attendees will be able to watch the movie alongside cast and crew, as well as participate in a Q&A with key members of production!

“Succession” star J. Smith-Cameron will star alongside “Yellowstone” actor Jefferson White in the upcoming independent feature film “In Our Own Sweet Way” from director, writer, and producer Jeff Rutherford.

The film recently wrapped and is being produced under Rutherford’s banner Fred Senior Films, in association with Stoner Ranch Productions, Echo & Add, and Fair Oaks Entertainment.

Read more here.

Wow, one week later and I’m still high. What an amazing evening!

Thanks to all for an oh-so-very-special 7/31 encore screening of Space: A Meditation on the Meaning of Art: 

• Pamela Chipman and Erin Dengerink and the Bldg5 team for their support and stellar venue
• Samie Jo Pfeifer, Dave Storrs, Dave Leslie, and Chris Johnedis for their music deep from the heart
• Demetri Pavlatos and Bryce Frimming for their herculean staging efforts
• the Picture This team for their superb projection and tech support
• Dale Petersen for bringing Tim Stapleton’s art back into the world
• Sam Morse for his unconditional and dogged assistance
• Ryan Graves for his brilliant promotional efforts

…and a huge shout out to Producer Jessica Daugherty, without whom we could have never turned Bldg5 into a “temple du cinéma.”

Fox12 recently caught with local film historian Ellen Thomas to find out more about the early silent movie studios that called Oregon home at the turn of the 20th Century.

From “The Goonies” to “Stand By Me,” a number of iconic movies have been filmed in Oregon, but did you know that the state’s film industry goes back more than a hundred years? That’s when a small studio in Beaverton named Premium Picture Productions began making movies that were seen across the country.

The OMPA presents CINE|SEEN 2026. A night of short films showcasing the talents of filmmakers based in Oregon. Highlighting the unique perspective and films of underrepresented and underserved artists. Join them in creating a space for creative expression. Projects must have been shot in Oregon.

Submit your films, web series, docs, music vid etc. through August 24.

Submit here.

CINE|SEEN on September 30 at the Hollywood Theatre. Doors at 630p, event starts at 730p.

OriginalMind Productions today announced the world premiere of “Secret Life,” a new comedy-drama written, directed, and produced by Steve Perkins, on Friday, August 21, 2026, at the recently renovated Whitsell Auditorium in
the Portland Art Museum.

Doors open at 6:00p.m. for an opening reception featuring live music from composer Jay Ringer, with the film
screening from 7:00 to 8:30 p.m., followed by a Q&A with the cast and crew from 8:30 to 9:00p.m. Tickets are available at eventbrite.com.

“Secret Life” filming took place entirely within a house in Southwest Portland designed by architect Frank Shell.