I don’t feel at home in this world anymore (Netflix), Macon Blair‘s directorial debut and produced by Oregonian Neil Kopp, was honored with Sundance‘s Grand Jury prize in the U.S. Dramatic Competition last month. Blair has a history in Oregon as he starred-in, and co-produced, also with Kopp, another #OregonMade project, Green Room. I don’t feel at home in this world anymore shot in Oregon last spring.
I don’t feel at home in this world anymore tells the story of Ruth (portrayed by Melanie Lynskey), a nursing assistant suffering through a crisis of existential despair. But when her house is burglarized, Ruth discovers a renewed sense of purpose in tracking down the thieves. Accompanied by her obnoxious martial-arts-enthusiast neighbor Tony (Elijah Wood), they soon find themselves dangerously out of their depth against a pack of degenerate criminals.
In addition to I don’t feel at home in this world anymore and Green Room, Kopp has produced many features in Oregon, including Meek’s Cutoff, Wendy and Lucy, Night Moves and Paranoid Park.
Oregon also made its mark at the Oscars with the stop-motion animation feature Kubo and the Two Strings (Focus Features)—produced by Portland, Ore.-based studio Laika—garnering a pair of Academy Award nominations: Best Animated Feature Film, and Achievement in Visual Effects. Kubo and the Two Strings is the first animated feature nominated in the VFX category since 1994 when director Henry Selick’s stop motion The Nightmare Before Christmas earned that distinction. Kubo and the Two Strings marks the directing debut of Travis Knight, president and CEO of Laika.
AFCI Appoints New Officers To Board Of Directors
The Association of Film Commissioners International (AFCI) has announced the appointment of new officers to its 2017 Board of Directors: 1st vice-chairman Nick Maniatis, director of the New Mexico State Film Office; 2nd vice-chair Dr. Marijana Stoisits, CEO of the Vienna Film Commission; treasurer Karen Carberry-Warhola, director of the Maine Film Office, and secretary Jess Comoplia, sr. VP, U.S. production & events for the British Film Commission.
Kevin Jennings, executive manager, Film Otago Southland (New Zealand), continues as AFCI chairman, completing the final year of his two-year term that began in 2016.
In October 2016, AFCI announced its elected two-year term board members: Tim Clark, Buffalo Niagara Film Commission; Sigmund Elias Holm, film commissioner, Western Norway Film Commission; Heather Page, director, Texas Film Commission; and Virginia Pearce, director, Utah Film Commission.
NY Gov. Proposes Extension of Incentives Through 2022
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s 2017-18 executive budget proposal includes a full extension of the The New York State Film Tax Credit Program, at $420 million per year, through 2022. The incentives program is responsible for a significant economic impact in the Empire State, leading to record job growth and more infrastructure, soundstages and postproduction facilities statewide.
From 2011, when Governor Cuomo took office, through Dec. 31, 2016, more than 1,000 projects (film and television combined) submitted applications to the program, generating an estimated $15 billion in spending and approximately 934,000 new hires in New York State. Additionally, the number of Qualified Production Facilities across the state has increased to 77, containing more than 270 soundstages.
