OM 2013

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OREGON FILM MAGAZINE 2013

PUBLISHER

James R. Baker ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Katie Sauro CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Nancy Hoover, Gary Kout, Gary Nolton, Dave Peterson SALES MANAGER

Katie Higgins SALES

Eric Iles INTERNET SALES DIRECTOR

CONTENTS

Andrew Boyd DESIGNERS

Dawn Carlson, Beth Harrison, Christina Poisal

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That’s A Wrap!

Oregon production industry closes out successful 2012 and gears up for more in 2013.

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The Sundance Kid Kyle Patrick Alvarez takes Oregon-shot feature C.O.G. to the esteemed film festival.

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Astoria: Oregon’s First, and Still Its Premier, Film Location

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Independent Feature Filmmaking Roars Back Into Southern Oregon

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Blazing Trails NBA team taps Portland production company for ad campaign.

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How To Insure Equipment

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The Northwest Film Center Presents: PIFF 36

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Eastern Oregon Film Festival

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Oregon Film Festival Round-up 2013

PRODUCTION MANAGER

John Rusnak OFFICE MANAGER

Audra Higgins INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER

Lois Sanborn WEBMASTER

Eric Pederson

MEDIA INDEX PUBLISHING GROUP (800) 332-1736 • media@media-inc.com www.media-inc.com • www.nwfilm.com Display Advertising. Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. Advertising confirmation deadline is the 30th of the month prior to issue publication. Advertising mechanicals are due the 5th of the month of issue. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Inc. and will not be returned.

Copyright © 2013 Media Index Publishing Group. All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. Printed in USA

FROM THE COVER: (l to r) Redwood Highway director Gary Lundgren (center) and actors Tom Skerritt and Shirley Knight on the set at It's a Burl. PHOTO BY GARY KOUT

OREGON FILM MAGAZINE 2013

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Grimm shoots a season two episode. SCOTT GREEN/NBC

THAT’S A WRAP! OREGON PRODUCTION INDUSTRY CLOSES OUT A SUCCESSFUL 2012 AND GEARS UP FOR MORE IN 2013 ith world premieres, award nominations, and tons of filming going on around the state, the Oregon production community had an extremely fruitful 2012.

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TELEVISION The year kicked off with TNT and Electric Entertainment’s Leverage filming its fifth and final season in and around Portland. The season’s 15 episodes were shot in the spring, with the production utilizing numerous locations throughout the city, as well as a newly-renovated, 60,000-square-foot soundstage in Clackamas County.

Season five of Leverage premiered on July 15, with the series finale airing December 25.

This was the fourth season that the show had filmed in Portland, after relocating from Los Angeles in 2009. According to estimates, by the end of its final season, the show had spent more than $100 million in-state.

While Leverage’s presence will be sorely missed—both 4

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physically and economically speaking—the production has paved the way for many other TV series to film in Oregon.

These include IFC’s Portlandia, which premiered its third season in January, and NBC’s Grimm, which is in the midst of airing its second season. Both series filmed throughout the summer of 2012.

The sketch comedy Portlandia, starring Fred Armisen and Carrie Brownstein, is IFC’s most-watched series ever. The show has scored in the ratings and beyond, spawning a soldout tour last year, a book deal for its two stars, and an ever-expanding fan base that includes Hollywood stars clamoring to appear on the breakout hit.

Season three features a number of guest stars, including Kyle MacLachlan (returning as Portland’s “mayor”), Chloë Sevigny, Jeff Goldblum, Kumail Nanjiani, Roseanne Barr, Jim Gaffigan, Bill Hader, Juliette Lewis, Patton Oswalt and George Wendt, among many others.

All three Portland-based series—Leverage, Grimm and

Portlandia—have not only been fan favorites, but they have been critically lauded, as well.

Leverage earned a number of Saturn Award nominations and one win over the course of its five-season run, and this year, the series was nominated for a People’s Choice Award.

Grimm was also nominated for a 2013 People’s Choice, its second consecutive nomination. The NBC fantasy series also received a Saturn nomination and a Primetime Emmy nomination last year. Portlandia has earned both a Peabody Award and an Emmy, and has been nominated for several more Emmy Awards, among others.

In other Oregon-based television news, the MTV reality series The Real World filmed in Portland this past summer and early fall. The Real World: Portland, the 28th season of the reality show, will air in 2013.

FEATURE FILMS Television wasn’t the only game in town in 2012. Several

After five seasons—four of which were filmed in Oregon—Leverage wrapped production in 2012. Pictured here is Dean Devlin of Electric Entertainment (center) giving direction to actor Timothy Hutton as they prepare to shoot a season two episode. ERIK HEINILA

major feature films that were shot in Oregon made their debut last year, and several more rolled cameras all across the state.

One major feature that debuted in 2012 was ParaNor-

man, from Oregon animation house LAIKA. Similar to LAIKA’s 2009 hit Coraline, ParaNorman is a slightly-dark, stop-motion animated film for the whole family. The story is about a misunderstood boy who takes on ghosts, zombies

OREGON’S PRODUCTION INCENTIVE PROGRAMS

The state boasts a number of generous incentive programs that attract major productions. Read on: The Oregon Production Investment Fund offers qualifying film or television productions a 20% cash rebate on production-related goods and services paid to Oregon vendors and a 10% cash rebate of wages paid for work done in Oregon, including both Oregon and non-Oregon residents. The labor portion of this rebate can be combined with the Greenlight Oregon program for an effective labor rebate of 16.2%. A production must directly spend at least $750,000 in Oregon to qualify. There is no per production cap.

The Greenlight Oregon Labor Rebate offers productions that spend more than $1 million in Oregon a cash rebate of up to 6.2% of Oregon-based payroll. This rebate can be combined with the Oregon Production Investment Fund incentive for an effective rebate of 16.2% on qualifying production payroll.

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The 2009 Oregon legislature passed SB863, which created the Indigenous Oregon Production Investment Fund (i-OPIF). The i-OPIF program provides the same rebates of 20% of goods and services and 10% of Oregon labor for films produced by Oregon filmmakers who spend a minimum of $75,000 but not more than $750,000 on their project.

In addition to the savings associated with the Incentive programs listed above, filming in Oregon can save you money in the following ways: • No Sales Tax • Fee-free State Parks, Cities and Counties • Lodging Taxes Waived For more information, visit www.oregonfilm.org.

and grown-ups to save his town from a centuries-old curse.

According to sources, LAIKA has another film coming out in September 2014, though the studio hasn’t released any details about the project.

Several other Oregon-made features had their premiere in 2012 as well, including Gone, the Portland-shot thriller starring Amanda Seyfried from Lakeshore Entertainment/SKE Entertainment; Cell Count and The Weather Outside from Portland filmmaking team the Brothers Freeman; and BUOY, an independent feature from local writer/director Steven Doughton.

In addition to these releases, throughout the latter half of the year, four independent films were accepted as a part of the Indigenous Oregon Production Investment Fund (i-OPIF), an incentive program created in 2009 to encourage Oregonbased filmmakers to produce films in the state. These films, most of which are currently in post-production, include: • The A-List, written by D.J. Halferty and directed by Will Bigham. The indie comedy shot for 24 days in Lake Oswego, Beaverton and Portland with an almost all local cast and crew.

• Wilderness of James, written and directed by Michael James Johnson. The Portland-shot coming-of-age tale stars Kodi Smit-McPhee (also the voice of Norman in ParaNorman), Isabelle Fuhrman and Virginia Madsen.

• C.O.G., adapted from the David Sedaris essay and

Not only are out-of-state production companies coming to town to shoot the diverse Oregon landscapes, but homegrown companies are making a name for themselves on the commercial scene as well. directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez. This is the first time Sedaris has allowed any of his works to be adapted into a movie.

Set to screen at Sundance, C.O.G. filmed in Forest Grove and Portland, among other locations. Read more on page 10.

• Redwood Highway, produced, written and directed by James Twyman, Gary Lundgren and Gary Kout. Filmed all over Southern Oregon, the film stars Shirley Knight, Tom Skerritt and James LeGros. Read more on page 16.

Kyle MacLachlan (left) in one of his many guest appearances on Portlandia, which stars Carrie Brownstein (center) and Fred Armisen (right).

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Also shot in Southern Oregon about the same time as Redwood Highway was Night Moves, directed by Kelly Reichardt. Reichardt’s fourth film shot in Oregon (her most recent was 2010’s Meek’s Cutoff), Night Moves features an all-star cast, including Jesse Eisenberg, Dakota Fanning and Peter Sarsgaard.

COMMERCIALS The state has hosted hundreds of national commercial productions over the years. And not only are out-of-state production companies coming to town to shoot the diverse Oregon landscapes, but homegrown companies—advertising agencies and production companies alike—are making a name for themselves on the commercial scene as well.

With clients like Nike, Old Spice, and Procter & Gamble, Portland-headquartered agency Wieden+Kennedy is probably the biggest example of this, but there are myriad others.

Check out page 22 for a story about a recent commercial campaign produced by an Oregon company.

There are tons more productions—too many to list here—happening in every corner of the state all yearround. For more information about shooting your next project in Oregon, whether it’s television, film, digital media, or commercial, visit www.oregonfilm.org. OF

THE SUNDANCE KID KYLE PATRICK ALVAREZ TAKES OREGON-SHOT FEATURE C.O.G. TO THE ESTEEMED FILM FESTIVAL hroughout his entire career, acclaimed humorist David Sedaris remained adamant that his stories not be made into films, citing his family’s protection.

But now, for the first time ever, Sedaris has allowed one of his short stories, C.O.G., to be adapted into a full-length feature film by writer/director Kyle Patrick Alvarez. The reasoning: Sedaris’ family doesn’t appear in the story, which is based on the author’s experiences in his twenties when he traveled to Oregon to work on an apple farm.

Alvarez originally hatched the idea more than three-anda-half years ago, and after some back-and-forth, convinced Sedaris in 2010 to agree to the film adaptation. But the idea didn’t become a reality until this past fall, when the film shot for 18 days in Portland, Hood River, Sauvie Island, and Forest Grove, among other Oregon locations.

And now, just a few short months later, C.O.G. has been selected out of 12,146 Sundance submissions to show at the festival. What’s more, all five of the film’s screenings in the Dramatic Competition sold out in advance.

Starring Jonathan Groff as “David,” along with Denis O’Hare, Corey Stoll, Dean Stockwell, Casey Wilson, and Troian Bellisario, C.O.G. is a humorous, poignant story based on Sedaris’ real-life experiences in Oregon in the 1980s. Here is a brief synopsis, courtesy of C.O.G.’s press notes:

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Jonathan Groff stars in C.O.G., an Oregon-shot film screening at Sundance. COURTESY SUNDANCE.ORG

“David has it all figured out. His plan, more a Steinbeckian dream, is to spend the summer working on an apple farm in Oregon with his best friend Jennifer. When she bails on him David is left to get his hands dirty alone, watched over by the old farm owner Hobbs, the first in a series of questionable mentors he encounters. There’s Curly, the friendly forklift operator with a unique hobby, and Jon, the born-again rock hound who helps David in

a time of need. The first ever film adaptation of David Sedaris’ work is the story of a prideful young man and what’s left of him after all he believes is chipped away at piece by piece.”

C.O.G. is Alvarez’s second feature film. His debut, Easier with Practice, earned him the Someone to Watch Award at the 2010 Independent Spirit Awards. Visit www.cogmovie.com for more information. OF

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OREGON FILM MAGAZINE 2013

ASTORIA: OREGON’S FIRST, AND STILL ITS PREMIER, FILM LOCATION

BY NANCY HOOVER Visitor Services, Astoria Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce

storia was selected as the setting for the first motion picture filmed in Oregon, The Fisherman’s Wife, in 1905. Since then, dozens of movies, television shows and commercials have found it the perfect location for a wide variety of visual backgrounds. No wonder Astoria was chosen as the home for the Oregon Film Museum.

In Steven Spielberg’s 1985 movie The Goonies—still one of the most popular movies ever made—the entire town of Astoria starred, along with nearby beaches and many local characters. Thousands of the film’s fans from around the world arrive every year to follow “the Goonies track” and to photograph themselves in the settings where their favorite characters lived, played, and eventually saved the town from greedy developers and unscrupulous outlaws.

The Great Race took advantage of Astoria’s hillsides of Victorian-style homes and nearby wilderness and open roads to set the stage for a 1910 madcap contest. In The Black Stallion, vast beach and water shots gave the illusion of a deserted tropical island. The Guardian took advantage of local Coast Guard advisers and the treacherous Columbia River to show harrowing storm and rescue scenes.

The sites that make Astoria one of the most scenic and unique destinations in the nation are the same ones that have been highlighted in films to create very special moods and effects. They include the following: • The magnificent 4.6-mile-long Astoria-Megler Bridge, with its magnificent views and high and low construction that simulates a thrilling roller coaster ride.

• The Astoria Column and its interior 164-stair spiral stair-

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A view of downtown Astoria from the 11th Street Stairs.

The Astoria–Megler Bridge spans the Columbia River.

The shipwreck of the Peter Iredale remains on this beach in Astoria.

case leading to a 125-foot-high observation deck and awesome views of the town, the Columbia River, surrounding mountain ranges, river tributaries, valleys, and the Pacific Ocean.

• Columbia River traffic, including huge freighters, military craft, cruise ships and 18th century tall ships, such as the Lady Washington and Hawaiian Chieftain (which visit ports on the Columbia River as part of their West Coast tour).

• Eighth Street, one of the steepest dedicated streets in the USA. 12

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• Fort Clatsop, an exact replica of the encampment built by the Lewis and Clark expedition in 1805.

•The Columbia River bar with waves up to 40 to 60 feet during high tides and storms. (Good luck keeping a steady camera.)

• The shipwreck of the Peter Iredale, a British freighter that went aground on the beach in 1906 and has not budged since then, but has steadily deteriorated down to today’s menacing metal skeleton.

The Oregon Film Museum, housed in the Clatsop County Jail in Astoria, which was featured in the movie The Goonies.

The Flavel House Museum is an 1885 Queen Annestyle Victorian home, complete with period furnishings.

• The Old World charm of Victorian homes and a working waterfront that gives this oldest permanent settlement west of the Mississippi a very special personality. OF The Astoria-Warrenton Area Chamber of Commerce assists loca-

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tion scouts to find the perfect scenic background to add punch or nuance for almost any requirement. They can also help acquire access, obtain permits, and book services such as equipment rentals, housing, and catering. For more information, please contact info@OldOregon.com or call 503-325-6311.

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Redwood Highway crew films outside of Mountain Meadows in Ashland.

INDEPENDENT FEATURE FILMMAKING ROARS BACK INTO SOUTHERN OREGON

BY GARY KOUT Founder & Executive Director, SOFaT • PHOTOS BY GARY KOUT AND GARY LUNDGREN

outhern Oregon has been the backdrop for many feature films, starting all the way back in 1914 with Grace’s Visit to the Rogue Valley. Though generally an uncommon event, a strong flurry of filming began in 2000 with at least one independent film being shot every year in the area. Then in 2010, filmmaking came to a screeching halt with no films being made, and in 2011 there were only two micro-indies with budgets in the $100,000 range or less.

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Those keeping tabs on the industry know that private equity, the usual source of funding for indie production, had become incredibly difficult to procure. The distribution models for independent films had also been going through a fundamental shift, with fewer and fewer theatrical opportunities, skewing everything towards the less lucrative digital markets. Finding money and making money had dropped through the floor.

But late 2012 saw a dramatic change in the production landscape as not just one, but two good-sized independent films, both with strong creative talents and recognizable 16

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casts, filmed in Southern Oregon. Eager to shake off the dust from their long break, the local industry rose up to meet the challenge.

Night Moves, the latest film from critically-acclaimed director Kelly Reichardt, was the first film to roll cameras.

Reichardt’s last two films, Wendy and Lucy and Meek’s Cutoff, were both multiple award nominees and winners at major festivals. Continuing her preference for filming in Oregon thanks to its wide range of locations, film-friendly environment, experienced crews, and competitive incentives, Reichardt and longtime screenwriting partner

Jonathan Raymond set their latest story of eco-terrorism in the small communities and beautiful landscapes of Southern Oregon. The movie stars Jesse Eisenberg (The Social Network), Dakota Fanning (the Twilight series) and Peter Sarsgaard (An Education).

The second film was Redwood Highway, the follow-up feature from the creative team behind Calvin Marshall, starring Steve Zahn, which also filmed in Southern Oregon in winter 2007. Redwood Highway tells the story of Marie, a resident at a retirement community who decides to walk 80 miles down the Redwood Highway to see the coast of Oregon for the first time in 45 years. The movie stars awardwinning veteran actress Shirley Knight (As Good as it Gets), with strong supporting roles by Tom Skerritt (A River Runs Through It) and James LeGros (Point Break).

Thanks to our familiarity with the local industry, director Gary Lundgren, my fellow producer James Twyman, and I cast several local actors, many of whom perform with the

Lining up a shot of Shirley Knight on the Redwood Highway.

acclaimed Oregon Shakespeare Festival and have strong Hollywood film and TV credits.

Living up to its name, Redwood Highway filmed primarily along the actual Hwy 199, Southern Oregon’s main route to the coast. As travelers along the fabled highway know,

many interesting and incredible sites await them. The filmmakers wanted to recreate that experience, making the movie a sort of greatest hits of the Redwood Highway. Their filming locations included Lake Selmac, Eight Dollar Mountain, It’s A Burl, Cave Junction, Great Cats, Rough and Ready

Tom Skerritt and Shirley Knight with director Gary Lundgren in Cave Junction.

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Bridge, Jedidiah Smith State Park (in California), and the beautiful coast in Brookings, Oregon. Other locations filled out the production schedule, covering a large swath of Southern Oregon: Mountain Meadows Retirement Community in Ashland, Talent Club in Talent, the Applegate River Lodge, and downtown Grants Pass.

Night Moves also filmed all over the region from as far north as Roseburg, east to Lake of the Woods, west to the Applegate Valley, and the main population centers of Medford and Ashland. All told, there wasn’t much of Southern Oregon that didn’t see cameras roll, nor feel the economic impact of feature filmmaking.

Southern Oregon Film and Television (or SOFaT for short), the membership-based local professional association and de-facto film commission for the region, assisted both productions. SOFaT provided strong recommendations about the filmmakers to local public agencies and private businesses, which helped to acquire locations, smooth the various permit processes, and perpetuate the already profilming attitude in Southern Oregon.

When both productions inquired about local crewmembers and services, SOFaT directed them to its online directory where many professionals in the local industry list their contact info, credits, and links to samples of their work. As a result, many SOFaT members were hired to work on both productions. Such employment not only

contributes to the local economy, but it builds the resumes and raises the overall experience level of the local industry, making those members and the region more attractive to future productions.

SOFaT and the Southern Oregon industry hope that 2012 is merely the start of another busy decade of filmmaking, and is already working hard to springboard the results and ramifications of Night Moves and Redwood Highway into

Lundgren with Michelle Lombardo and Knight at the Talent Club.

DP Pat Neary gets a push from key grip Eric Bixler.

future filmmaking activity.

For more information about making your next project in Southern Oregon, visit SOFaT at www.filmsouthernoregon.org or contact us at info@filmsouthernoregon.org. OF Gary Kout is the founder and executive director of Southern Oregon Film and Television and a producer on Redwood Highway, as well as having worked on four other feature films in Southern Oregon. He was the production supervisor on the 2011 Academy Award-winning animated feature Rango, starring Johnny Depp, and has line-produced over 100 national commercials.

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Blazers star Damian Lillard is featured in a new campaign.

BLAZING TRAILS NBA TEAM TAPS PORTLAND PRODUCTION COMPANY FOR AD CAMPAIGN

BY GARY NOLTON Owner, Limbo Films

ew moments in the daily flow of our industry are as rewarding as when a client returns with another project simply due to their satisfaction and enjoyment from the prior experience. That’s exactly what happened when the marketing manager for our local NBA team, the Portland Trail Blazers, contacted Limbo recently.

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Last year we produced a 30-second and 60-second image spot, through Los Angeles ad agency Zambezi, which were used to re-engage the fans once the NBA players lockout was settled. The spots were very well received and the Blazer management expressed their overwhelming excitement to work with a local production company and get national caliber results.

This time the Blazers contacted us directly with the goal to shine a light on nine members of the Blazer roster, both the known and the new, by giving the fans a 30-second spot as well as a longer Web video portrait of each man, in order to fire up support, along with ticket sales, for the 2013 season.

This is a young squad led by a new coach, so few people have high hopes for their season, and how the rookies would deal with being filmed was uncertain in many ways, too.

My producer, Heather Harlow, and I wanted to create fresh, hip looking spots with contemporary graphics and music. We were glad to not be asked to use any stock or highlight footage, at least not in the spots. For each of the eight players and Coach Terry Stotts, we mixed interview, training and workout footage that I shot on our Arri Alexa at the Blazer training facility and at the Rose Garden.

With only three hours allowed with each player, we 22

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worked fast. I’ve shot a very long list of celebrity athletes, including Michael Jordan, Wayne Gretzky, Bo Jackson, Tom Watson, Drew Brees, Andre Agassi, plus dozens more, so I fully understand the delicate dance between these stars’ time, moods, and, umm, let’s say‘focus.’ I must applaud all the players, especially All-Star LaMarcus Aldrich, Wesley Matthews and Damian Lillard, who all were very cooperative and patient as we put them through the quick workout, training drills, and Q&A sessions that yielded some great footage. I went for looks to the lighting that felt dramatic and far beyond what we’d get using available light. This took more time, of course, but the results are worth it.

A tiny crew of seven was all the budget allowed, so we utilized some of our very favorite Portlandbased men and women whom we work with often. In cases like Nicolas Batum appears in this, that familiarity and the shorta Blazers spot produced hand communication that comes

by Limbo Films. with it can make a critical differ-

ence. After the three shoot days, I weeded through all the footage and marked my selects, then handed all the footage over to ace editor Jacob McNeil, who crafted all nine long form pieces for the Blazer Web site, as well as the 30second spots, on a very tight deadline. We think he did an outstanding job and the client does, too!

So far they have been featured on the ‘Best Ads on TV’ Web site, as well as ‘Best Ads You’ll Never See,’ which focuses on regional campaigns. To check them out, go to wdrv.it/QHtQrK. This project was so rewarding in many ways, but maybe the best was getting star player Nicolas Batum to give a little shout-out via iPhone to my son on his 21st birthday. Those moments are pretty priceless. OF

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HOW TO INSURE EQUIPMENT

BY DAVE PETERSON Guest Columnist

ne very important element of film production is the use of equipment. Lots and lots of equipment. It can be owned, rented or borrowed, but it must be insured in case of loss due to theft, damage, or mechanical failure. The owner of the equipment is ultimately responsible for any problems that arise during use. However, any user has a responsibility to maintain the equipment, and at the end of the day, return it in the condition it was in at the beginning of the day.

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is about to lend, and require the producer to carry insurance for Miscellaneous Rented Equipment at the level requested.

In today’s insurance marketplace, the instances of large owned equipment schedules for producers are waning. The new cost of cameras, lenses and ancillary equipment is continuing to decline, so it makes economic sense to rent rather than buy. However, if the producer owns equipment, it should also be insured on a “floater,” which will cover that equipment in case of loss or damage.

There are different kinds of Equipment Policies. Most are annual in length, and are issued at the same time as a General Liability Package policy.

Let it suffice to say, “If you take care of your gear, it will last a long time.”

Inland Marine Insurance is the term used by insurance professionals to lump together coverage for equipment that commonly leaves a fixed premises. The coverage is usually issued in the amount of the value of the equipment in question. When a producer uses a rental house for equipment, the rental house will establish a value for the equipment it

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OREGON FILM MAGAZINE 2013

Owned and Rented Equipment coverage can be purchased on a miscellaneous basis, which does not require listing out the actual pieces of gear. Scheduled Equipment Insurance is the

form that lists each piece of gear. The listing is by manufacturer, description, serial number and cost new. This is perhaps the best form of Inland Marine coverage, but it is also the most time consuming, due to potential changes in the number of items added to and subtracted from the list during the policy term.

Inland Marine policies can be issued for different territorial use. If a producer is ever contemplating using equipment out of the USA, its possessions, or Canada, a “World Wide” policy can be issued. The cost of this coverage is nominally higher than a standard- issue Equipment Policy issued with the territory USA or Canada, and is easily obtained.

Let it suffice to say, “If you take care of your gear, it will last a long time.” OF Dave Peterson is president of Midlakes Insurance, providing coverage for the production community for over 25 years. Reel Solutions Insurance is on the horizon. www.midlakesinsurance.com.

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THE NORTHWEST FILM CENTER PRESENTS: PIFF 36 unning February 7-23, 2013, the 36th Portland International Film Festival (PIFF) will bring more than 125 features, documentaries, and short films to the city.

Over the last 36 years, the festival has populated its schedule with diverse and innovative films for an audience of more than 35,000 annually from throughout the Northwest. As Oregon’s largest, most culturally diverse film event, PIFF pulls together a multi-faceted experience of features, documentaries, shorts, and visiting artists, including submissions for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and works by emerging talents. Audiences can expect to thrill over cinematic treats from around the world, as well as films made in our own backyard by members of Portland’s thriving filmmaking community.

Opening the festival on Thursday, February 7, is Hopscotch Films’ The Sapphires. Adapted from the hugely successful stage musical of the same name, The Sapphires

R

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is an inspirational tale set in the heady days of the late ‘60s about a quartet of young, talented singers from a remote Aboriginal mission, discovered and guided by a kindhearted, soul-loving manager. Catapulted onto the world stage as Australia’s answer to the Supremes, their journey of discovery offers them not only the chance to show off their musical skills, but find love and togetherness, experience loss and grow as women.

The Sapphiresis a feature debut of Australian director Wayne Blair and stars Irish comedic actor Chris O’Dowd, who will be familiar to U.S. audiences post his breakthrough roles in Bridesmaids, Friends with Kids, and This is 40.

An opening night party follows the screening at the Portland Center for the Performing Arts’ Newmark Theatre.

Following opening night, PIFF retains a sizable presence downtown with screenings at the Film Center’s Whitsell Auditorium inside the Portland Art Museum, Cinema 21,

The Sapphires is set to open PIFF on February 7.

Cinemagic, and various other venues across town. Other confirmed films for this year’s festival include: Post Tenebras Lux from Mexico’s Carlos Reygadas; Paradise: Love from Austria’s Ulrich Seidl; Pieta from Korean auteur Kim Ki-Duk; and Love, Marilyn, a documentary that enlists an all-star cast to read from recently discovered writings of Marilyn Monroe.

The full PIFF Program is available to the public online January 31 at: festivals.nwfilm.org/piff36/. OF The Portland International Film Festival, produced by the Northwest Film Center, is sponsored by The Oregonian, Regal Cinemas, LAIKA, The Paul G. Allen Family Foundation, Alaska Airlines, Wieden+Kennedy, Delta Airlines, James F. Marion Miller Foundation, and many more.

EASTERN OREGON FILM FESTIVAL he fourth annual Eastern Oregon Film Festival (EOFF) will be held February 28 – March 2, 2013, in La Grande, Oregon. EOFF is dedicated to creating a cinematic experience in Eastern Oregon that promotes discovery, entertainment, and education via artistic exhibition and viewership. Through the mediums of independent film and music, EOFF aims to expand the cultural experience within the community.

2011 marked an incredible year of growth for the festival. Organizers felt warm embraces by local and regional audiences, were humbled with the presence of more guest artists than ever, and saw a 30-percent increase in attendance.

In addition, EOFF was one of the first festivals to utilize Skype technology for its Q&As. This past edition featured conversations with emerging artists Evan Glodell, Tristan Patterson, Sophia Takal, and Dustin Guy Defa. For opening

T

Skype Q&A with filmmaker Dustin Guy Defa: Green 2011 PHOTO BY EOFF

Skype Q&A with filmmaker Sophia Takal: Green 2011 PHOTO BY EOFF

night, EOFF was graced by the presence of Jon Foy, director of the Sundance award-winning documentary Resurrect Dead: The Mystery of the Toynbee Tiles.

La Grande’s nightlife rocked hard during EOFF, and each night saw after-parties packed with energized participants with live music from artists such as Finn Riggins, Hillfolk Noir, and Jared Mees and The Grown Children.

Gather in the Grande Ronde Valley for another year of excellent independent film, sensational music, inspired conversation and good times, as EOFF celebrates its fourth annual event. OF For tickets, information, or to submit a film, please visit www.eofilmfest.com for up-to-date information.

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OREGON FILM FESTIVAL ROUND-UP 2013 MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THESE GREAT EVENTS COMING SOON TO YOUR NEIGHBORHOOD JANUARY OPENLENS FESTIVAL January 26 openlens.proscenia.net The single-day short film festival, hosted by the Downtown Initiative for the Visual Arts in Eugene, includes seminars, meet-andgreets, and, of course, film screenings. The film screenings begin at 7:30pm, followed by a public reception and awards ceremony in which the Jury Best Of Show, Jury Honorable Mention, and Audience and Choice Awards are made.

UNIVERSITY OF OREGON QUEER FILM FESTIVAL February 8-10 qff.uoregon.edu Now in its 21st year, the Queer Film Festival aims to support the LGBTQ community through films. The main objectives of the festival are to give a voice to the LGBTQ community, to bring those voices to an educational setting for exposure and discussion, and to showcase the talent of international and domestic filmmakers through short, feature-length, documentary and international film.

PDX AFRICAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL January 30-February 2 www.pdxaaff.com Now in its fourth year, the PDX African American Film Festival will screen at McMenamins’ Portlandarea theaters. The festival, a non-profit organization, is the creation of filmmaker Ron Craig, founder of the Astoria International Film Festival. Its mission is to provide a forum for African American film and filmmakers and celebrate their depth, contributions and history.

MID-VALLEY VIDEO FESTIVAL February 21-23 www.mvvfest.org Launched 10 years ago to celebrate the passion of local auteurs, the Mid-Valley Video Festival is a 501(c)(3) corporation organized to promote, educate and network filmmakers in Salem. Film submission categories include Narrative Short, Narrative Feature-Length, Documentary Short, Documentary Feature-Length, Music Videos, Animation, and more.

FEBRUARY CASCADE FESTIVAL OF AFRICAN FILMS February 1-March 2 www.africanfilmfestival.org The month-long Cascade Festival, held in Portland, includes a variety of feature and documentary films from the African continent that celebrate Africa’s achievements, expose Africa’s problems, and reveal the possibilities for a more hopeful future. The films show us pictures of Africa through the eyes of Africans, rather than a vision of Africa that is packaged primarily for Western viewers.

EASTERN OREGON FILM FESTIVAL February 28-March 2 www.eofilmfest.com The fourth annual Eastern Oregon Film Festival in La Grande is dedicated to creating a cinematic experience in Eastern Oregon that promotes discovery, entertainment, and education via artistic exhibition and viewership. Read more on page 27.

PORTLAND INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL February 7-23 www.nwfilm.org/festivals/piff/ Drawing an audience of over 35,000, the Portland International Film Festival is the biggest film event in Oregon.

Read more on page 26.

SISKIYOU FILMFEST February 8-9 www.siskiyoufilmfest.org Held in Grants Pass, the Siskiyou FilmFest, a production of the Klamath-Siskiyou Wild Lands Center, features environmental films focusing on sustainability and critical issues that face the Siskiyou Wild Rivers region, the Northwest, and the planet.

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MARCH PORTLAND WOMEN’S FILM FESTIVAL March 7-10 www.powfest.com The goal of POWFest is to shift the world of women in film, one film at a time. Although the festival’s contributors include Oscar winners and Hollywood heavy hitters (including directors Kathryn Bigelow, Gillian Armstrong and Amy Heckerling), special attention is also paid to dynamic young filmmakers and outstanding local talent in Portland’s burgeoning film industry.

FAUX FILM FESTIVAL March 29-31 www.fauxfilm.com The only festival of its kind, the Faux Film Festival specializes in faux trailers, faux commercials, faux PSAs, mocumentaries,

satires and spoofs. The three-day festival is held in Portland every year, coinciding with April Fool’s weekend.

APRIL ASHLAND INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL April 4-8 www.ashlandfilm.org

Every spring, film lovers gather at the historic art-deco Varsity Theatre in downtown Ashland to watch over 80 films (documentaries, features and shorts) in 5 days. Said The Oregonian’s Shawn Levy, ”(The AIFF) offers movie lovers that same sense of being in a magical place... Southern Oregon doesn’t have anything else like it — nor, in fact, do most places on Earth.”

CINEMA PACIFIC April 17-21 cinemapacific.uoregon.edu Based at the University of Oregon—and overseen by graduate students in UO’s Arts and Administration Program—Cinema Pacific features a wide selection of new film and media art from Pacific-bordering countries, each year focusing on a different nation. The 2013 festival focuses on Mexico and Singapore.

FILMED BY BIKE April 20-23 www.filmedbybike.org

Now in its 11th year, Filmed by Bike is a film festival of bike-themed independent short movies from around the world. Submissions are limited to eight minutes and must revolve around the central theme of cycling. Hundreds of international entries are submitted but only an average of 45 make the final cut.

DISORIENT ASIAN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL OF OREGON April 26-28 www.disorientfilm.org

Held in Eugene each year, the DisOrient Asian American Film Festival of Oregon is a social justice film festival dedicated to deconstructing the media stereotypes of Asian and Pacific Islander Americans as “Orientals.” The festival is a community, grassroots, and volunteer-run film festival committed to presenting honest portrayals of the diversity of Asian American experiences.

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CENTRAL OREGON FILM FESTIVAL April 27 www.centraloregonshowcase.com/COFF.html The goal of Central Oregon Film Festival is to “inspire and promote positive creative expression in Central Oregon” with an emphasis on student projects. COFF hopes to inspire the youth in the community, as well as adults, to conceive, plan and complete a short film production by a deadline, and assist as much as possible with the developing and learning of the craft.

MAY THE ARCHAEOLOGY CHANNEL INTERNATIONAL FILM AND VIDEO FESTIVAL May 7-11 www.archaeologychannel.org/events-guide/ international-film-and-video-festival Held in Eugene, the festival features five days of juried films and videos on archaeological and indigenous topics, aimed at exhibiting the diversity of human cultures past and present.

JUNE PORTLAND JEWISH FILM FESTIVAL June 16-30 www.nwfilm.org/festivals/jewishfestival/ Produced by the NW Film Center, the Portland Jewish Film Festival explores themes of spirituality and Jewish identity

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throughout all parts of the world, especially how American Jews perceive themselves in a larger social context. The films touch on tragedy, embrace humor, and recount the emotional and tangible gains and losses of a people.

JULY DA VINCI FILM FESTIVAL July 19-21 www.davincidays.org/the-film-festival A component of da Vinci Days, an event held annually in downtown Corvallis, the da Vinci Film Festival features screenings in multiple genres including documentary, animation, narrative shorts, and experimental films. The festival encourages filmmakers to embrace the “Spirit of da Vinci” by using new techniques and innovation in their filmmaking.

AUGUST 48 HOUR FILM PROJECT August TBD www.48hourfilm.com/portland_oregon/ A worldwide phenomenon, the 48 Hour Film Project has teams of filmmakers creating short films in just two days. The Portland edition takes place in August, though a specific date was not available at press time.

SEPTEMBER OREGON INDEPENDENT FILM FESTIVAL September 16-23 www.oregonindependentfilmfest.com The Oregon Independent Film Festival, coming to Eugene and Portland in mid-September, exists to discover and showcase the best independent films of the past year (with a curatorial emphasis on documentaries and student films), while promoting the majestic state of Oregon as a travel destination for film lovers.

OCTOBER BENDFILM FESTIVAL October 10-13 www.bendfilm.org

BendFilm celebrates the brave voice of independent cinema through films, lectures and education. The festival showcases films in six categories, including full-length Documentaries, Feature Films, Short Films, Student Short Films, Animation, and Conservation. With the thousands of dollars in prize money handed out each year, BendFilm landed on MovieMaker Magazine’s 25 Film Festivals Worth The Entry Fee, giving the most bang for the buck.

REEL MUSIC FILM FESTIVAL October 11-20 www.nwfilm.org/festivals/reelmusic/ Another NW Film Center production, Reel Music embraces films exploring a variety of musical genres—jazz, blues, rock, classical, opera, and avant-garde—and fuses them into a unique cinematic celebration. The festival features everything from collections of vintage performance clips to new documentary and dramatic films, to cutting-edge music videos and animation.

ASTORIA INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL October 18-20 www.goaiff.com A world-class film festival on the northern Oregon coast, the Astoria International Film Festival attracts and showcases the work of independent film and video artists and writers, and provides workshops and seminars for students of film and the public. AIFF showcases independent film from around the world, but its programming spotlights regional filmmakers and youth filmmakers as well.

PORTLAND LESBIAN & GAY FILM FESTIVAL October TBD www.plgff.org The Portland Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (PLGFF) showcases feature, documentary and short queer films from all over the world. Dates for the festival, now in its 17th year, were unavailable at press time.

EUGENE INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL October TBD www.eugenefilmfest.org In addition to the myriad excellent film screenings at EIFF, the event also features a number of networking opportunities for filmmakers (such as the complimentary filmmaker buffet mixer, the intimate nightly cocktail-and-snack lounge, and the exciting awards ceremony), as well as several production workshops like the EIFF Screenwriters’ Retreat™.

PORTLAND LATIN AMERICAN FILM FESTIVAL October TBD www.pdxlaff.org Serving the community as a non-profit cultural promoter under the guidance of The Hollywood Theatre, PDXLAFF is a festival with universal appeal that can be enjoyed by native Spanish, Portuguese, and English speakers, and other lovers of the Latin culture. Festival organizers are dedicated to showcasing perspectives of Latin American culture through an

annual exploration of Latin film and increasing the visibility of Latin American cinema locally by showcasing new full-length feature films, documentaries and short films.

NOVEMBER NORTHWEST FILMMAKERS’ FESTIVAL November 8-17 www.nwfilm.org/festivals/nwfest/ The Northwest’s premier showcase of new work by regional filmmakers, the Northwest Filmmakers’ Festival—for 38 years called the Northwest Film & Video Festival—brings artists and audiences together for a singular community celebration. Each year the festival draws more than 400 entries from filmmakers in Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, and Washington, presenting to the public carefully selected programs of outstanding work and awarding critical recognition to top juror- and audiencerecognized films.

FRESH FILM NW November 16 www.nwfilm.org/festivals/youngfestival The Northwest Film Center’s annual Fresh Film NW (formerly the Young People’s Film Festival) celebrates the next generation of regional filmmakers by showcasing their work and circulating it around the region and beyond. It is one of the oldest and largest youth film festivals in the nation.

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