Friday, April 8, 2011

83 starts strong in ADC!



Led by the outreach of Doug "I will not be denied" Schmidt, the Class of 1983 has had a good first week in the April Donor Challenge

Most donors as of 4/7/11:

Class      #
1974       15
1964       7
2009       6
1957       6
1983       6
1992       5
1948       4
1980       4
2004       4

Special thanks to the guys who got us to this point:

Mr. Robert E. Fitzpatrick
Mr. Timothy G. Ehrhart
Mr. David F. Morley
Mr. John G. Knight
Mr. Douglas A. Mays
Mr. John R. Munro Jr.

Our goal is 57 donors for the month, and you are welcome to give a token second gift if you have given prior to April!

Give to DA to help '83 earn some of the $50K in trustee reward $


Wednesday, April 6, 2011

A Thank You from Brian Steward

On November 19, 2010, I finally walked down the aisle with the lovely
Hannah Williams. That fact is secondary to the rest of this comment
but it is certainly a place to start.

In attendance at this blessed event were D.A.'s finest James Wareck '83
and Corbin Snow, III '81. As many of you may recall, I am originally from
San Antonio. As such, I have been around Corbin's family for
approximately 40 years.  Corbin's presence was a poignant reminder of
the power of relationships and extended family.  Jim's presence,
however, was a test.  During the college years, Jim and I traveled
together a great deal despite attending different schools. Somehow,
that meant that Jim and I would pile into one of our vehicles and
travel north to invade Hamilton and other institutions.  I confess
that I was not always the best passenger (or driver). In Hamilton, I
distinctly recall stuffing my sports car into a snow bank while Jim
and Al Kerr were trapped in the hatch. Fortunately (for me), I was
enjoying a great conversation with Al's girlfriend at the time.  Some
of you may also remember our 5th reunion where Jim graciously provided
me with the keys to his parent's Suburban.  Some of you were even on
the Suburban as we rocketed across the lower level and stuck it axle
deep behind the tennis courts. Fortunately, we were able to extricate
the vehicle and no one (read me) was harmed in the act. Clearly, Jim
COULD have exacted his revenge at the wedding but he did not.  Instead
Jim regaled a table of like minded people about his movie/screen
writing career. He did not tell any storiees about my strange hatred
of Parney Hagerman or any of the multitude of stupid things that I did
during college and after.  Jim (or the memory of Jim) caused me a
great deal of concern but that anxiety was misplaced. I admit that I
had "people" placed to spirit Jim away if he decided to end my wife's
day of tribute (and no I did not consider it OUR wedding). This time
Jim behaved appropriately (as opposed to Doug Schmidt's Kansas wedding
where Jim's antics were legendary). After the ceremony, my mother
remarked that Jim had certainly matured, which was a direct reference
to Jim's consumption of champagne on graduation day so many years ago.

Jim - thank you for your exemplary behavior and I apologize for
doubting you! Everyone needs to see/buy/rent Below the Beltway.

-- 
Brian C. Steward



Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Guyer Acting Career Heating Up

Portland Actor Leigh Guyer and Timmothy Hutton In An Explosive Scene From TNT's Leverage
Guyer acting gigs heating up - that's him on the left, Tim Hutton on the right...

Oregon’s film and television industry has never looked stronger. Vince Porter, executive director of the Governor’s Office of Film and Television, predicts that the state will pull in more than $90 million from television shows and films shot here in 2011. And that record windfall could be just the beginning.For the third year in a row, Electric Entertainment is shooting its action series Leverage in Portland. According to Porter, the Leverage team wrote checks to 417 Oregon businesses and put 471 local people on the payroll in 2010.
The payoff could be even bigger if the recently filmed television pilot Grimm wins over NBC executives. NBC is expected to decide in April or May whether to back the quirky fairy tale/cop show written for Portland by a team with past involvement in the massively successful Buffy the Vampire Slayer franchise. Porter’s predecessor at the state’s film office, Steve Oster, the line producer for Grimm, was instrumental in bringing the production to Oregon. If the pilot becomes a major network show, it could pull $45 million per year into the state.

0411_Productions_02
Leverage is just one of many productions contributing to Oregon's growing film and TV industry.
The direct economic impact of the quirky spoof show Portlandia is smaller than that, but the recent news that the show would continue for another season certainly generates buzz. News is also expected soon on the fate of another pilot recently shot in Portland, TBS’s Brain Trust, which would have a budget similar to that of Leverage.
As soon as the shooting ended for Grimm, it started for the feature film Gone, starring Amanda Seyfried.
But for all the excitement around live shooting, the opportunity may be even bigger in the Portland area for animation. Laika is gearing up for its long-awaited follow-up to the Academy Award-nominated Coraline, and Portland-based Bent Image Lab is growing rapidly, specializing in animation and music videos.
“Oregon is developing a real fertile cluster on the animation side,” says Porter. “I see that side growing quickly, even faster than the live-action side… I would love nothing more than to market us as home for another animation company because our talent pool is growing.”


Read more: Shooting revs up for Oregon's best TV and film year ever - Oregon Business http://www.oregonbusiness.com/articles/98-april-2011/5036-oregon-film-tv#ixzz1IhCa6EgA