Scene in Portland: Twilight Truth and Rumors

Twilight: Truth and Rumors

Breaking Dawn, the fourth film in the Twilight series, has created an enormous amount of buzz on Twitter, blogs, and even on casting websites—so much so that casting director Lana Veenker had to post a blog (The Casting Scoop) just to tell people to stop contacting her, because she hadn’t been contracted to cast the film. New Moon, in theaters on November 20, and Eclipse, which just wrapped, were both shot in Vancouver, B.C. But the original Twilight movie was shot right here in Portland, and we’ve all been wondering:

Will they stay in Vancouver or come back to Portland?

I made some calls to Los Angeles and spoke to a couple of industry insiders who would only speak to me off the record. The studio spokesperson I talked with most recently said the rumors of Breaking Dawn coming to Portland are completely false. He said the press releases are fabricated, the third movie (Eclipse) is just wrapping, the fourth movie isn’t greenlit, it’s too soon to say anything about the fourth film… I believe that this is all he is allowed to say publicly, and I appreciate the fact that he actually returned my phone call.

Now do you want the real scoop? Of course you do.

Twilight is coming back to Portland.

I can’t tell you how I know this, but I know this. According to a very reliable source, there are two production companies involved: Summit Entertainment and Sunswept Entertainment. The movie will be split into two separate films. Breaking Dawn Part 1 will most likely begin shooting in March of 2010 (despite rumors putting the start date as September 2010), which puts filming right smack-dab on the same schedule as Leverage. Portland will look like the backlot of Universal with Leverage and then the two Breaking Dawn movies shooting back to back.

Rumor has it that Karen Rosenfelt, producer at Sunswept Entertainment and the daughter of MGM Chairman & CEO Frank Edward Rosenfelt, is onboard for Breaking Dawn. I called Rosenfelt, and she was unavailable for comment.

Indent Studios Ramping up Just in Time

Portland is getting a new state-of-the-art studio thanks to Tim Whitcomb, founder of Indent Studios, a facility designed especially for the needs of the independent filmmaker.  Whitcomb says the studio team is currently managing the build-out of a 16,000 square foot facility in SE Portland that includes production offices, a sound stage, green rooms, a digital viewing theater and equipment rentals highlighted by the groundbreaking Red camera system and its associated post-production technologies. He hopes the facility will attract more independent filmmakers to Portland. No word on when the studio will be open for business to the public. Stay tuned.

ConCon is On!

Leverage fans have banded together to meet in Portland for a fan weekend called ConCon (the Con is on). According to the newly created forum (http://rikkisixx.proboards.com), the Leverage fan get-together will be at the Governor Hotel, March 19-21, 2010. If you’d like to jump on the Leverage fanwagon just follow Electric44 on Twitter.

Arthouse gets AFTRA Franchise

I reported a few weeks back that Portland talent agency Arthouse had just become a SAG Franchised agency, and was pursuing an AFTRA franchise. They recently got awarded their AFTRA franchise, which gives Portland even more credibility when projects are deciding whether or not to shoot in here and use local talent.

The Casting Couch

Casting this week includes spots for HP, Panasonic, Oil Can Henry’s, Oregon Lottery and roles in Gus Van Sant’s film Restless.

Kelly Jo Horton lives the life of a software and database geek by day, and the creative life of an actress, writer and improv comedienne at Comedy Sportz by night. She is the former writer, host and co-producer of TVC-TV’s political talk show “To the Point!” She holds a degree in journalism from San Diego State University.