The inaugural Oregon Film History Conference took place on May 8, 2015. The conference was inspired by the deluge of new information unleashed during the Mid Century Oregon Genius screening series.
Click here to download a draft of the program and here to see Anne’s detailed plan for the event.
Talks
Electrified, Movie-Mad Portland, by Steve Stone & Gary Lacher. The authors of Theatres of Portland mapped the the 1910’s/1920’s streetcar/movie theater infrastructure.
Homer Davenport Project, by Gus Frederick. The political connections of Oregon’s first white cartooning superstar, Homer Davenport, contradict his self description as “country boy”.
Pinto Colvig, by Ben Truwe. Voice artist Colvig, one of Oregon’s earliest pop culture practitioners, directed an early feature length animated film (now lost, save a handful of archived 35mm frames), in San Francisco in 1916.
Norm Dimick, by Walt Dimick. Second generation filmmaker/inventor Walt Dimick describes the business strategy of Norm Dimick, one of Portland’s first full time film entrepreneurs.
Portland talent hits sound era Hollywood, by Dennis Nyback. Nyback talked about the careers of George Olsen, Del Porter, Louis Kaufman, Mel Blanc, Phil Moore (pictured here), Johnnie Ray, and Jane Powell.
James Ivory & James Blue, by Anne Richardson. A talk about the Third World debuts of Oregon’s first sound era directors.
The birth of Northwest Film Study Center, by Sheldon Renan and Brooke Jacobson (pictured with Bob Summers). The two speakers talked about Portland’s film community in 1970-71.
Teknifilm Lab, by Richard Blakeslee & Tom Chamberlin. The two filmmakers talk about how Teknifilm nurtured the return of Portland independent film.