David Ogden Stiers In The News

Full Story at Oregon Live

Venerable TV actors Ed Asner and David Ogden Stiers put in a pitch for Oregon as a filming location Monday, as Gov. Ted Kulongoski signed a bill aimed at improving the state's appeal to the film and television industry.

The Greenlight Oregon program offers tax and sales rebates to movie and TV production companies that spend more than $1 million in the state in one year.

Oregon has been the location for movies such as "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest," "Free Willy," "Animal House" and "Drugstore Cowboy," directed by Portland-based filmmaker Gus Van Sant.

But Stiers -- who co-starred in the TV series M*A*S*H -- said Canada has been drawing production companies away from Oregon, including a new series in Vancouver, B.C., where he begins work today.

"It seems incomprehensible to me that a state as geographically varied and beautiful and inviting and friendly as Oregon is, needs additional inducements or incentives to offer on a business level to get the film business here," said Stiers, who lives on the Oregon Coast.