SHOW BIZ

Kyle and Efram get national TV deal

By Noah Bruce

Local filmmakers Kyle Rankin and Efram Potelle of Newborn Pictures will take a small step into the big-time when their short film “Pennyweight” is shown nationally on the Sci-Fi Channel at 11:00 p.m., June 24. The pair recently received word that their latest short, “They Came to Attack Us,” will also be purchased by the Sci-Fi Channel and will be aired later this year.

A film crew from the Sci-Fi Channel was in Portland on May 21 shooting a “day in the life” of the filmmakers to be shown with their film.

Potelle says that, as filmmakers, their “biggest problem is finding money” to fund their films. The Sci-Fi deal, he says, should help the pair with their next step — finding an agent. “Right now we’re sending out query letters to agencies . . . [The national TV deal] sets up apart from other filmmakers.”

Rankin and Potelle are considering moving to Los Angeles “to get better connected” says Potelle, but “ultimately we’d like to stay here [in Portland].”

In the meantime, the pair are busy writing another short and a feature-length film.

As for the pending $100,000 lawsuit against the pair for allegedly degrading an employee of the public access Channel 2 on air, Potelle’s lips were sealed. “Our lawyer said not to say anything about the case.”