Portland Dispatches

In September 2018, Lower Boom undertook a unique process to open up opportunities for writers from all communities to be part of the creation of an original television series called “Portland Dark.” The 6 writers selected (from 94 applicants) for this Initiative collaborated to write the pilot script for the TV show and a short film script set in the world of a seldom seen Portland. The short film will shoot April 2020, and have its premiere at the historic Hollywood Theatre. The Oregon Made Creative Foundation (OMCF) was an initial sponsor of this Diversity and Inclusion Writers Initiative.

About the Dispatches Initiative

This Spring, 2020, Lower Boom will launch a new project called Portland Dispatches. This Initiative will focus on visual creators providing a daily visual mosaic comprised of short, personal dispatches from the Portland these creators know. It will challenge all storytellers to show their Portland in less than 1 minute.

Through an open and inclusive application process similar to the first Initiative, we will identify 49 visual creators.

Each creator will provide up to 1 minute of footage – once per week – of their experience of Portland.

This could be anything from footage of a performance they attended, a direct-to-camera-style confessional, birds on a N. Portland street, skateboards in the parking lot at the Moda Center, a basement jam, 4 a.m. at a diner, late night at the club, Sunday afternoon at church  – the diversity of voices will result in a diversity of content. Lower Boom is not handing out ‘assignments’. The goal for these Dispatches is to surprise, enlighten, mystify, delight and challenge the viewer – all in less than 1 minute.

In addition to the 7 separate short posts each day on social media, the footage from that day’s 7 creators will be edited into a single piece (as each creator is submitting up to 1 minute the length would be at most 7 minutes) and distributed extensively across multiple Lower Boom platform accounts including but not limited to: Instagram and IGTV, Facebook, YouTube, Roku, and Amazon Fire TV.

At the end of the week, a single Dispatch will be created and distributed comprised of that week’s most compelling content.

The initiative will run for 2 months, generating 420 individual dispatches, 60 daily edits, and 8 weekly “greatest hits” pieces.

For more info, email: info@lowerboom.com