The Confluence – Page 89 – The Oregon film community's official blog.

Northwest Film Center Brings Venice VR Expanded 2020 to Portland

The Northwest Film Center and Portland Art Museum have been announced as the exclusive U.S. partner for the Virtual Reality (VR) arm of the Venice Biennale through its Venice VR Expanded 2020 programming. This year, since many audiences will not be able to come to Venice for COVID-19 related reasons, Venice will come to them.

For the first time in its 125-year history, La Biennale di Venezia (the Venice Biennale) is offering its programming both online and at select venues around the globe, responding creatively to the travel and in-person gathering challenges of the coronavirus pandemic.

Oregon Film – Who We Are & What We Do (2020)

Even though we have seen so many unusual, frustrating, debilitating and just plain indescribable events come to the fore here in 2020, we wanted to keep up our tradition and reflect on some of the projects, works, events, and connections we have been a part of during the last year.

SAFETY & COMMUNITY

The last few months have seen us set out to find ways to ensure that all parts of our industry and all content creators could find a way to get back to work in a safe manner.

ShadowMachine’s #OregonMade Animated Musical “Pinocchio” Announces Cast

Shadow Machine announced this week its cast choices for the animated musical feature, “Pinocchio“. Principal photography on “Pinocchio” began last autumn at ShadowMachine’s Portland studio and production has continued uninterrupted during the pandemic.

Oscar-winner Guillermo del Toro’s stop-motion animated musical movie “Pinocchio” for Netflix has announced its cast – newcomer Gregory Mann is in the title role, Ewan McGregor as Cricket, and David Bradley (Harry Potter franchise, Game of Thrones) as Geppetto.

Oregon Game Community Loses One Of Its Own Creators – John Bergquist

John Bergquist (photo credit J. Bergquist/Twitter)

We are deeply saddened by the passing of John Bergquist, one of the founders of Soma Games, (along with Chris Skaggs and Rande Bruhn). John passed away recently as the tragic result of an auto accident. Soma Games is known for its Christian company culture and video game storytelling, and was the first video game studio to create a licensed game based on the well-known, and popular Redwall book series.

John was described by Soma Games as, “a true man of God, a mentor to many, a storyteller, and an amazing friend.

First Covid-19 Feature Film, “COVID-19 Response,” Tells the Story of How a Neglectful Dad Reacts to a Pandemic

OregonMade, “COVID-19 Response,” is a family drama written and directed by Andrew Jacob Brown, owner of Confound Productions. A global pandemic hits the stock market, so a day trader hits the stores to stock his shelves. But when his teen daughter unexpectedly shows up on his door step, she wants to ransack his supply and give it away to his neighbors.

The film was inspired by the different reactions people had at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic. Two weeks in, Andrew was engaged in a bible teaching that talked about reacting and responding to stressful situations, and boom, the idea of “Covid-19 Response” was born.

#OregonMade Netflix Film, “All Together Now” To Air August 28th

#OregonMade Netflix film, “All Together Now” released its official trailer for this YA drama that is set to air on August 28th. Starring, Auli’i Cravalho (“Moana”), Rhenzy Feliz, Carol Burnett, and Fred Armisen, this project filmed all over Portland and of course hired an Oregon crew. “All Together Now” is based upon the novel, “Sorta Like a Rockstar,” by Matthew Quick, (who also wrote the novel, “Silver Linings Playbook” and who also took on the initial adaptation of “All Together Now”) the screenplay was directed and co-written by Brett Haley (“Hearts Beat Loud”, “I’ll See You In My Dreams”) and Marc Basch co-wrote.

Coronavirus Relief Fund for Cultural Support – Apply Now

$25.9 million to be distributed statewide by Sept. 15

Applications are now live and open for Oregon’s Coronavirus Relief Fund (CRF) Cultural Support program. Funds allocated to the Oregon Cultural Trust will be available to Oregon cultural organizations facing losses due to the COVID-19 health crisis. The $25.9 million in funding was made available through a $50 million relief package for Oregon culture recently approved by the Emergency Board of the Oregon Legislature.

The distribution plan for the CRF Cultural Support program was approved at the Aug.

Short Film, “Another Day” Follows A Young Black Girl’s Experiences Navigating Through Portland’s Predominately White Schools

“Another Day” was written and directed by Portland ethnographic filmmaker, Sommer Martin.

In Martin’s own words, “Another Day” is a film following a young Black girl’s experiences navigating through Portland’s predominately white schools. Another Day, in conjunction with Portland public school teachers and administrators, comes with discussion questions as a guide for viewings of the film for students, teachers, religious organizations, and more. Produced by Golden Pride Productions and starring Broadway actor Bobbi MacKenzie.”

The Regional Arts & Culture Council and “countless other donors” made this project possible.

Applications Are Now Being Accepted For The 4th Oregon Made Film Grant – “OAFG21”

Outdoor Adventure Film Grant 2021 “Oregon’s Outdoors Are for Everyone”

Oregon’s open spaces and outdoor pursuits are for all Americans and visitors, yet there is a well-documented inequity in America that is deeply rooted in our shared cultural history, and as a whole, our outdoor spaces are not equally utilized for a multitude of historical, social and cultural reasons. The Outdoor Adventure Film Grant ’21 (OAFG21) aims to help support and amplify stories and storytellers (both in front of and behind the camera) utilizing Oregon’s outdoor spaces as a backdrop.

Hinge Digital Creates Covid-19 Spots

Hinge Digital has been busy creating a number of Covid19-related spots including, “Unite in Gratitude” for Omnicom Health/Pfizer/Merck that was finished in June and launched a few weeks ago. Mark Axton, Hinge Senior Producer, said, “It is a tribute to front line healthcare workers, combining Live action (stock footage) and our photorealistic CG/VFX Gratitude Flag. Hinge created and animated the CG flag and composited it into the shot.”

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