Meet Andrew & Lana from Cast Iron Studios on Vimeo.

Many of you who have been around the fandom awhile know that Lana Veenker was one the people who helped to cast the original Twilight movie that filmed in the Portland, Oregon area. Lana casts many shows such as Leverage that shoot in the Portland area. For Twilight, Lana helped cast much of the local talent that was used in the film (Cora the waitress, young Bella, the original Sam Solomon Tremble, etc).

Lana is now involved in a cause that means much to her, as one of her close friends is one of the major activists in this area. More details on how you can help bring awareness to this important issue here.

Our friend, casting director Lana Veenker, just let us know some sad news. A member of the Twilight crew, Bradford Turner (props assistant) passed away unexpectedly. Some of you who visited the Twilight set in Portland may have encountered Brad who was always friendly towards the fans. Part of his obituary on Oregon Live reads:

“(He)pursued his love of film at Portland Community College and University of Oregon. He loved fishing, hunting, skiing, and especially his time at the family home in Gearhart. His motion picture work in Portland eventually took him to Hollywood, where he worked on many film and TV projects as a property master. After 10 years in Hollywood, he returned to Portland and worked on projects that included “Twilight,” “Extraordinary Measures,” and “Leverage.” His spirit touched the lives of many friends and fellow workers in the industry.”

It was the work of many people like Brad, working on a small, independent film that no one in Hollywood cared about or took seriously that helped to launch the twilight films to where they are today.  For our part, his work was appreciated.

Lana also told us that “the family has suggested donations in his name to the Pixie Project. This organization helps the homeless who have dogs care for them and find housing that will accept dogs.  It helps dogs and cats get vaccines, spaying and neutering, and runs an animal adoption service and day care.”

For those of you unfamiliar with Lana, she was involved in the casting of the first Twilight movie. She’s based in the Portland area and gives seminars and classes on breaking into ‘the business”. She is now running a contest to win a Twilight poster signed by the local cast.

“Do you bear an uncanny resemblance to a Twilight character?

Send us your best Twilight look-alike photo!

Email your photo to twihard[at]slateplease[dot]com by October 1st, 2009.

Be sure to follow these guidelines:

• Include your first name, age (required for minors), and where on the planet you live (City, State/Province and Country are sufficient) in the body of your email. Anyone, anywhere in the world can participate!
• Your entry must be emailed to us in a file size no larger than 2MB. Please do not mail hard copies of photos or send links to photos. If it’s not attached to an email, it’s not eligible. Hard copy entries will not be considered or returned.
• One entry per person. If you send multiple entries, only the first will be considered. If there are multiple entrants in a photo, only one poster will be awarded.
• Contest ends at 11:59 PM on October 1st, 2009. Entries received after the deadline will not be considered.
• Please keep photos appropriate for an “all ages” audience.”

Check out Lana’s site here.

Lana Veenker is running a series of contests to give away posters signed by members of the Twilight cast. The first one is a haiku contest. One of the best parts is that you can live anywhere in the world to participate.

“The first contest is designed to test your creative writing abilities:

Send us your best Twilight-inspired Haiku!

If you don’t know what a haiku poem is, read up on the rules here.

Here’s a sample one to get your wheels turning:

Misty forest rain
Branches snapping underfoot
Moonlight frozen fear

Email your haiku to twihard[at]slateplease[dot]com by June 5th, 2009!

Please be sure to include your name, age and where on the planet you live (City, State or Province, and Country are sufficient).

Let’s see how many different countries can participate!!”