Last night, Valley River Center hosted the premiere screening of the psychological thriller feature film Something Wicked, starring the late Brittany Murphy. The film was shot in Lane, Linton and Benton counties and includes scenes shot on the University of Oregon campus.
Something Wicked producer Scott Chambers offered to have the premiere benefit Cinema Pacific, an annual University-wide film festival which features film screenings, multimedia and art, which runs April 23-27.
“Cinema Pacific has a long history with Chambers Communications. [Chambers] supported the festival from the beginning, particularly helping with Adrenaline,” said Richard Herskowitz, the festival’s director.
Currently, Valley River Center is the only theater playing “Something Wicked.” On April 11, it will be released in five Portland theaters and seven Seattle theaters. Eugene isn’t normally a hot spot for movie premieres, but the filmmakers wanted to honor the location where it was shot.
The film features the University of Oregon campus, Sahalie Falls and the historic Hull Oaks Saw Mill, which was one of the film’s main inspirations.
“Shooting on campus was really cool because those scenes require a lot of extras and we had student lining up to be a part of it. University of Oregon was very cooperative,” said Joe Colleran, the film’s producer and screenwriter.
Maddie Dunkelberg, the intern publicity coordinator for Cinema Pacific saw an advanced screening of the film in addition to the sold-out premiere last night.
“We were more scared the second time, seeing it in a theater. Seeing shots of campus, like outside the EMU was cool because it’s like ‘oh, I go to school there!’ It’s also really interesting to see Brittany Murphy onscreen again,” Dunkelberg said.
Oregon is becoming an increasingly popular place for television shows and films to be shot- “Grimm,” “Twilight” and “Into The Wild” to name a few.
“In Oregon, there is no bureaucracy to get location permits and citizens themselves are much more generous,” said Colleran when comparing filming in Oregon and California. “I hope primarily that people see the location and beautiful scenic background and people will want to come shoot here. It would be great for the economy.”
Be sure to check out Something Wicked at Valley River Center, as well the Cinema Pacific Film Festival later this month.