Oscar Nomination Adds Golden Glow to Oregon’s Film Scene

Portland, OR. Will the crew from Oregon based Laika studios take home an Oscar? The Yeti-themed, global-trotting adventure, Missing Link has been the front runner since it won the Golden Globe in early January. The film was written and directed by Chris Butler and produced by Arianne Sutner and Travis Knight. Laika, the stop-animation studio located in Hillsboro has been nominated six times, but this would be a first Oscar win. The 92nd Oscars will be held on Sunday, February 9th, at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, and will be televised live on ABC starting at 5 p.m. on the West Coast. Missing Link features the voices of Hugh Jackman, Zoe Saldana, Emma Thompson, and Zach Galifianakis.

Arianne Sutner was a recent guest speaker at a program about the Oregon Film industry presented at the Multnomah Athletic Club. She’s pictured with the Head of Marketing for Lika, David Burke.

Here’s a video about the creation of the Missing Link:

Oregon film reports steady growth in both local productions and projects coming in from outside the state. This includes the second seasons of; SHRILL (Hulu), TRINKETS (Netflix) as well as the Emmy nominated third season of DOCUMENTARY NOW! New projects included THE BIRCH (Facebook), FIRST COW from director Kelly Reichardt, THE WATER MAN from director David Oyelowo and the Nicolas Cage project called PIG.

Speakers at the program on Oregon film included: the project manager at Portland Film Office Brian Lord, Arianne Sutner from Laika. Back row: Lisa Cicala, Executive Director of OMPA Lisa Cicala, Executive Director of Oregon film Tim Williams and president of SAG-AFTRA Michelle Damis.

For over a century, largely due to the variety of landscapes it offers and its proximity to California, Oregon has been a popular location for the film and entertainment industry, lending sites to some of Hollywood’s iconic movies. Oregon’s popularity continues to grow, with an increasing number of shows produced for television and the big screen being filmed in the state.

About Oregon Film:

Oregon Film, a state agency, has a mission to promote, support and advance the film, video, interactive, animation and creative content industries within the state by fostering connections between production, business and public sectors and strengthening this industry’s profile and reputation locally, nationally and internationally.

Elisa Klein

I’ve been a professional journalist and writer since 1987, (and long-time reporter for KOIN-TV.) As a nationally published reporter, with a Master’s Degree in Journalism, I love to report positive news and information. Journalism has also connected me with another non-profit where I served as a leader; the Northwest’s biggest writer’s organization: The Willamette Writers.