Oregon's Film and TV Industry Turns Out To Thank Outgoing Governor Ted Kulongoski

Union actors with former Governor Ted Kulongoski, backstage on Friday night, December 17, at the Governor's Office of Film and Television (GOFT) Annual Report meeting. L-R: Tobias Andersen, Portland Council, SAG and AFTRA, member, AEA; Michele Mariana, Portland council, SAG, VP Portland AFTRA, member, AEA; Governor Kulongoski; Mary McDonald-Lewis, National Board Member, Portland SAG, President, Portland AFTRA.

As we mentioned last week, outgoing governor Ted Kulongoski addressed Oregon’s film and television industry Friday as part of the Governor’s Office of Film and Television’s annual meeting.

The meeting was very well attended and the after-party at Portland’s City Hall (sponsored by the Oregon Media Production  Association) was packed with industry members, political and business leaders, and members of the public.

An official report from the annual meeting was posted on the Film Office’s Oregon Confluence blog over the weekend, but we thought our readers might like to hear a different voice-   Mary McDonald-Lewis, National Screen Actors Guild Board Member, and the President of Portland’s AFTRA branch shared this report:

The event was held at Portland State University, in the newly-renovated, LEED-certified Lincoln Hall, which turns 100 years old in 2011.  Vince Porter, executive director of GOFT, reported that the year was a good one, thanks in large part to the hard work of Governor Kulongoski, whose term just ended. Revenue was up, and 13 projects have already applied for next year’s film incentives.  

 

In attendance were industry members from all walks of the work, including AFTRA and SAG members (council members Anita Barry among them). Also present were a group of rangers from Oregon State Parks and Recreation, there to receive recognition for that department’s hard work in making it easy to film here. A large contingent of producers, writers, and other staff members from Electric Entertainment, creators of Leverage were also there.  Though Leverage’s 4th season doesn’t begin for another two months, the group is back Portland lensing their second project here, Brain Trust, starring D.B. Sweeney.  Dean Devlin, Electric’s principle and the creative mind behind both Leverage and Brain Trust, sent his greetings and his thanks to Governor Kulongoski from set, via video.

 

The event was joined remotely by filmmaking organizations representing all of Oregon.  In Ashland the teleconference was hosted at Southern Oregon University, organized by Gary Kout, Executive Director of Southern Oregon Film and Television (SOFAT).  In Bend the newly branded Central Oregon Film Alliance (COFA) hosted the event at OSU-Cascades Campus.  And in Eugene, the Mid-Oregon Production Arts Network (MOPAN) hosted the teleconference at the University of Oregon. Go, Ducks!

 

The Governor’s Office of Film and Television invited AFTRA, IATSE and SAG to present a final award to the governor, along with the award’s sponsor, Oregon Media Production Alliance (OMPA).  This was the event’s capper, and included a montage of film and television work produced in the region this year. The statue, video and presentation were produced by OMPA, with executive director Tom McFadden taking the lead. The statue itself features a replica of the “Golden Pioneer” found atop Oregon’s state capital, with AFTRA, IATSE, OMPA and SAG’s names prominently displayed as the organizations thanking the governor for his tireless efforts on behalf of the working women and men of Oregon.  It was impressive, to have that many union organizations welcomed to the stage at a civic event.

 

A party followed, held at Portland’s City Hall — a fitting place to toast an industry that benefits so many citizens of the great state of Oregon. 

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