OUR EVENTS
OMPA produces and promotes events that connect people to their community to help build careers. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter to be notified of upcoming events.
Want to add and event to our calendar, or have a great idea for an event? Reach out to Events@ompa.org
COCO Virtual Screening: Brandon Spring
African American director based in LA
Join us for a screening and discussion with Brandon Spring! Brandon inhabits the world of storytelling and visual marketing, shooting content for small businesses and organizations along with freelance directing. Having worked as a videographer at organizations like TechMD and Fullerton Free Church, he is currently the videographer at Revive, a real-estate renovation startup. In addition to these roles, Brandon is developing his latest short film, Safety Driver, and recently wrapped post-production on Sorry, Steve, soon to enter the festival circuit.
2026 Elections Kick-Off: What We’re Watching and Why it Matters
Join us for the kick-off to City Club’s fall election series with a Friday Forum designed to orient voters, whether you’re just tuning back in after August or already neck-deep in a campaign of your own. Our panel of keen Oregon political observers will survey the 2026 political landscape and highlight key local and statewide contests to watch.
September 11th, 2026
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm PST
📍 Where: University Place Hotel & Conference Center: 310 SW Lincoln St
Portland, OR 97201
OMPA Yard Sale
BUYERS! This is a great opportunity to pick up essential gear and items at a deep discount. There will also be practical office furnishings and the like. Student filmmakers will get an extra discount on purchases.
VENDORS! This is an opportunity to get rid of production office items, film gear, lighting, sound, props, and more! Proceeds may be kept by the seller or all/partially donated to OMPA. A receipt for your taxes will be provided for any donations.
We are also working on resources to haul away anything left after the sale, or you are welcome to take any leftovers with you.
Want to be a Vendor? Please contact director@ompa.org to learn more and reserve a space.
September 19th, 2026
12-4PM PST
📍 Where: Picture This Stages
6600 NE Lombard St. Portland, OR 97218
A Simple Machine (Q&A w/ Director Mark Hoffman)
**PLEASE NOTE** There will be a Q & A after the screening with Filmmaker Mark Alan Hoffman and the author of the local book, Evan P. Schneider.
Nick (Richard Blackmon) has a marketing job, a steady girlfriend, and crippling student debt. Struggling with the weight of expectations, he opts to downsize: dispensing with the luxuries he doesn’t need, cutting costs, swapping four wheels for two. It’s a path which leads to savings he hasn’t anticipated, physical and spiritual learnings, but which has others questioning his mental state…
Mark Hoffman’s debut feature film, inspired by Evan Schneider’s novel, is a lean, low budget gem, shot in Portland, Oregon, in black and white, with a fine score by Mark Orton (The Holdovers). Fittingly, for a tale about the virtues of simplicity, there is nothing superfluous or decadent here. But unpack it, the film reveals precious insights into the nature of “value” and “worth”, how materialism affects our sense of self, and, perhaps, the dangers attendant on any self-improvement project.
September 20th, 2026
7PM PST
📍 Where: Cinema 21
Legal Series: Workshop 1 — Chain of Title
Own Your Story: The essential roadmap to securing rights and protecting your creative IP.
A practical, creator‑focused guide to building a clean, defensible chain of title—the foundation that determines who owns a project and whether it can be sold, licensed, distributed, or financed. We’ll cover the essentials: establishing ownership, securing underlying rights, and ensuring contributors properly grant the rights you need. Whether you’re producing film, TV, podcasts, video games, commercials, or online content, this workshop helps you spot chain‑of‑title gaps early and adopt sound, consistent housekeeping practices so ownership issues don’t derail distribution, financing, or release.
FREE for current OMPA members, $25 per workshop for non-members.
Multnomah County Commission District 2 Debate
Join City Club for a Multnomah County Commission District 2 Debate!
Hear from the leading candidates vying to become Multnomah County District 2’s next Commissioner.
Moderated by Jennifer Williamson, former Oregon State Representative. Official participants to be confirmed.
Doors at 5:30 pm, program begins at 6:00 pm.
September 24th, 2026
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm PST
📍 Where: Moriarty Auditorium – PCC Cascade campus 5514-5518 N Albina Ave Portland, OR 97217
The NextNW Open Golf Tournament: 2026
Play 9. Play 18. Or skip the golf and meet us at the Back 9 Bash. The 2026 NextNW Open brings scramble play, on-course prizes and giveaways to Rose City Golf Course. Golfers and non-golfers are welcome at the Back 9 Bash happy hour for drinks, heavy hors d’oeuvres and no need to know a birdie from a bogey.
September 25th, 2026
📍 Where: Rose City Golf Course Portland Oregon
OMPA September Monthly Networking Meetup: Spotlight Brewing (at Hollywood Q)
Join us this September for an evening of relaxed, creative networking with Portland’s film and media community.
September 30th, 2026
6:00pm – 9:00pm PST
📍 Where: Spotlight Brewing at Hollywood Q
CINESEEN
A SHOWCASE OF OREGON’S UNDERREPRESENTED FILMMAKERS
September 30th, 2026
📍 Where: Hollywood Theatre, Portland, Oregon
Legal Series: Workshop 2 — Clearance & AI
Stay Legally Clear: How creators can navigate intellectual property, publicity and privacy, defamation, and AI driven risk.
This workshop helps creators identify clearance issues and develop a thoughtful clearance strategy. We’ll explore how real‑world people, places, brands, content, and AI‑generated material can trigger IP, publicity, privacy, and defamation concerns—and provide examples of uses that may be permissible without permission under fact‑specific circumstances, alongside those that generally require permission.
Legal Series: Workshop 3 — Production Legal & Delivery
Keep Your Project Protected: The legal tools and delivery standards that get your project distributor ready.
This workshop provides creators a practical overview of standard production legal documents and processes, including talent, crew, service provider, location, materials, NIL, and prop or equipment rental agreements. We’ll cover the baseline provisions major distributors generally expect to see in contracts, common terms that expose creators to risk, and the terms creators should not agree to. We’ll also break down the legal delivery elements major distributors commonly require, from rights verification materials to insurance and compliance documentation, so creators understand what “distributor ready” really means.
