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Last Friday Deadline.com broke the news that cable channel IFC had “green-lit” a new series to be shot in Portland. Taking its name from the iconic statue atop the Portland Building, Portlandia will be led by comedian Fred Armison (best known for his work on Saturday Night Live) and Carrie Brownstein, guitarist and signer for the Pacific Northwest band Sleater-Kinney.
Oregonlive.com notes that the show will be produced by Lorne Michaels (the executive producer of Saturday Night Live,), and will include guest appearances by Kyle MacLachlan (“Desperate Housewives”) and Aubrey Plaza (“Parks and Recreation”).
According to the official press release from IFC, Oregonians can expect many humorous takes on ubiquitous “Portland-types,” including
…the owners of a feminist book store; a militant bike messenger; an artsy couple who put cut-outs of birds on everything; and a punk rock couple negotiating a “safe word” to help govern their love life.
Of course, here at OregonFilmandTVDollars.com, we’re most interested in the impact the series will have on Portland (and therefore Oregon’s) economy. While no figures have been made available as yet regarding the half-hour series’ budget or how many Oregonians they expect to hire, the Oregon Confluence blog notes that production on the show is slated to start later this month, and the official Oregon Film Office job hotline contains a post from the show’s producers looking for all crew positions.
Portland Mayor Sam Adams, who appears in the show’s pilot episode (shot earlier this year in Portland) as an assistant to MacLachlan’s fictional mayor, recently noted on Twitter the creative services in Portland provide 14,000 and approximately $976 million in payroll – a figure we fully expect Portlandia to add to.
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Didn some local actors work on the pilot? Any word from those folks if they are being asked to be a part of the official cast?
Hey Jacqueline – There were quite a few local actors hired for the pilot. No word if we’ll be back yet.
This is the perfect post and may be one that you should followed up to see how things go
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