The Studio on The Square

The Studio
Coming soon to Portland’s Living Room

The Studio is a community space and film tourism hub in the heart of downtown Portland. Located in Pioneer Courthouse Square, it is being designed to help reactivate the city’s core, support underserved creatives, and serve as a starting point for exploring Oregon’s film culture and film locations.

WHAT IS THE STUDIO

The Studio will be a street-facing, community powered media space that brings Oregon stories into public view. It will combine:

• An OregonMade film exhibit that highlights more than a century of film and television production in the state
• A flexible screening space for small-scale events, educational programs, and work-in-progress showings
• A community classroom for workshops, talks and hands-on media education
• A film tourism exhibit and welcome center that connects visitors with real Oregon locations they have seen on screen

It is designed to invite people in, connect them with Oregon’s creative community, and then send them back out into the city and across the state with new places to explore.

WHERE IT LIVES

The Studio will sit inside Pioneer Courthouse Square, often called Portland’s Living Room, surrounded by hotels, restaurants, shops and major visitor attractions in downtown Portland. It is directly served by MAX, bus and regional transit, and is a short ride from Portland International Airport.

1.6 million people visit the Square each year, which makes it an ideal place to introduce visitors and locals to Oregon’s film history and to the communities where that work is made. The Studio will also serve as a first-stop gateway to the Oregon Film Trail, giving people an easy way to discover film locations across the state starting from a single, central spot.

WHAT WILL HAPPEN HERE

The Studio is being designed as a working space, with an additional hallway exhibit and film history mural. Once open, it will host:

• Community screenings and microcinema events, inside the space and projected out into the Square
• Rotating Oregon-made exhibits that highlight OregonMade productions, craftspeople and locations
• Workshops and classes led by community partners for youth and emerging creatives
• Public talks and conversations that connect audiences with filmmakers and other creative professionals
• Interactive digital tools that help visitors map and explore film locations across Oregon

WHO IT IS FOR

The Studio is intended to serve multiple audiences at once:

• Community organizations that support underserved and underrepresented creatives, including youth, BIPOC and LGBTQ+ digital creators, who need no-cost space and visibility
• Visitors and film tourists who are seeking on-the-ground experiences tied to shows and films they love, and to experience the city (and beyond) in a new way
• Local Portland residents, schools and nonprofits who want a welcoming place to gather, learn and share work in the center of the city
• The wider creative industry, by helping build a more inclusive talent pipeline and a stronger sense of place for production in Oregon

By bringing these groups together in one highly visible location, The Studio is intended to support both cultural and economic recovery in downtown Portland.

OUR PARTNERS

The Studio is being led by Oregon Film, in collaboration with:

• Hollywood Theatre
• Oregon Film Museum
• Outside the Frame
• Portland Workforce Alliance
• KGW
• Pioneer Courthouse Square (and facility partner)

These partners bring experience in exhibition, education, youth engagement, workforce development and community-centered programming. Together, they will help shape and deliver the programs that bring The Studio to life.

FILM TOURISM AND THE OREGON FILM TRAIL

The Studio is also part of Oregon’s growing film tourism strategy. It will:

• Serve as an on-the-ground gateway to the Oregon Film Trail and other location-based experiences
• Highlight the real communities where productions are made, encouraging visitors to travel beyond downtown
• Connect physical exhibits with digital tools that help people discover Oregon-made locations in Portland and across the state

By linking the exhibit corridor, the Square and real locations on the Oregon Film Trail, The Studio is intended to help turn casual visitors into explorers of Oregon’s landscapes and towns.

TIMELINE

The Studio is currently in design and fundraising. Architectural work and early planning are underway, and the project is moving through stakeholder review, city design review and permitting. Construction and build-out are planned to follow, with public opening targeted for late 2026 to early 2027, subject to approvals and funding.

HOW TO GET INVOLVED

In this coming soon phase, we are:

• Working with community organizations that serve underserved creatives to help shape programs and future use of the space
• Talking with educators and youth-serving partners who are interested in exposing  students to creative jobs 
• Seeking sponsors and partners who want to help bring the Oregon-made exhibit and community programs to life, and who see value in being visible at one of downtown
• Portland’s most visited locations, and beyond

If you or your organization are interested in partnering on programming, film tourism or sponsorship opportunities connected to The Studio, please contact:

Oregon Film
jane@oregonfilm.org