Istari Pictures

Coraline, an upcoming stop-animation film, is getting close to being released. With Henry Selick (Nightmare Before Christmas) and Mike Cachuela in charge of direction and animation, my hopes are set HIGH - WAY HIGH!!! Coraline is also being produced at Laika Studios - just 100 miles north of here - in Portland, OR, and could be the biggest cinematic release Oregon has seen in quite a while.

Trailer

From Wikipedia:
Coraline is the story of a young girl (Dakota Fanning) who unlocks a mysterious door in her new home in Ashland, Oregon, and enters into an adventure in a parallel reality. On the surface, this other world eerily mimics her own life—though much more fantastical. In it, Coraline encounters such off-kilter inhabitants as the morbidly funny Miss Forcible (Jennifer Saunders) and Miss Spink (Dawn French), and a counterfeit mother—who attempts to keep her. Ultimately, Coraline must count on her resourcefulness, determination, and bravery to get back home.

Note: at the present time you’ll need to enter a code to get into the Coraline website. You’ll see what I mean if you click-through via the link below.

Here are some of the codes (thanks to Drawn.ca):
stopmotion
moustachio
puppetlove
armpithair
sweaterxxs

Visit the Coraline website
Visit the Laika website

OregonFilm.org is a great resource for aspiring and professional filmmakers alike. Funded by the Governor’s Office in Film and Television, the website provides extensive information ranging from incentives and programs to production resources, upcoming events, news and filming on location. If you are looking to make films in Oregon, www.oregonfilms.org would make a great starting point.

Here are some of things that caught my interest:

• Grant Information: this page provides a list of available film making grants. Grant funding and opportunities range from a variety of organizations including: the Oregon Media Arts Fellowship, ACE/Silverdocs, Disney, Roy W. Dean, Sundance Documentary Fund, Phelan Art Award, and so many others. If you are looking for funding, this page would be a great starting point.
• Oregon Incentives: provides a 20% tax rebate for Oregon-based goods and services, and an additional cash payment of up to 16.2% of wages paid to production personnel. Unlike other states’ programs, these incentives are cash rebates as opposed to tax credits.
• Fee-free State Parks, Cities, and Counties: Oregon State Parks will waive filming fees in exchange for acknowledgment in the credits or other scenarios that would be beneficial to the parks. There are more than 200 parks around the state, encompassing over 96,000 acres of incredible Oregon scenery and 362 miles of Pacific shoreline.
• Regulatory Information

: features information pertaining to laws, permits, regulations, transportation and insurance.

As of November 9, 2009, filming for “Little One” has started. The film is set for an online release in April of 2009. Little One is a short film about a family who is stricken by an Irish curse and the temporary loss of their beloved “little one.” As the story unfolds, the curse is revealed and the fate of the family falls into the laps of Eleanor “little one” McLean and her brother Arlo to bring balance back to the family.

The film will be shot entirely in Eugene, Oregon.

Istari Pictures is a new, independent film studio in Eugene, Oregon.  The studio was founded in October 2008 by indpendent filmmaker, Ed Wright Parker.  IP has plans to release several short films during the 2008-09 production year with the goal of attaining U.S. distribution and festival coverage.

For more information about Istari Pictures, email ed@istaripictures.com