Vancouver Columbian article. Thursday, November 20, 2008.
Friends Find Common Ground
When Camas filmmaker Nikia Furman needed a forested area for a scene in his short film “Slingshot,” he knew just where to turn. A friend, Joseph Long, also in the film industry, lives on five wooded acres just outside Washougal. Long’s property provided the backdrop for the opening shots introducing the main characters.

Long and Furman attended college together in Walla Walla, but their friendship didn’t really take off until years later, when both were living in Clark County.

Last fall Furman and Long started meeting weekly to talk about media, film theory and ongoing projects. Both found the accountability and support helpful.

“If you know the other guy’s working on something else and there’s a deadline, it pushes you to get it done,” said Furman, a 33-year-old Camas resident and owner of Furman Pictures LLC.

“It’s a very symbiotic relationship,” added Long, 32, owner of Very Long Media.

Furman tends to make traditional narrative films. Long’s work is more experimental. He calls his genre neomythic documentary, a stylized mix of fiction and nonfiction.

Long draws inspiration from humorist David Sedaris and used a similarly autobiographical approach in his most recent project, tentatively titled “44.”

“44,” which combines live action and animation, is a collection of 44 vignettes about parenting inspired by Long’s experience as a new father to 16-month-old daughter Magdelana.

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"A sweeping vista. Like War & Peace, without the snow or the French."

- Bill Porter, Tillamook County District Attorney