Dialog; Hawaii's Film Industry

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Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome to Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric Company, people with a powerful commitment. Welcome

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bone 125 % and win 15 stone debut singles from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Very interesting group and we thank you all for being with us on Friday. We'd like to welcome our dialogue guests and remind you that we are live for the next hour here on Hawaii Public Television. We're also being sign -on -cast on Hawaii Public Radio, K -I -F -O 1380 AM. Our sign language interpreter is Loretta McDonald and if you have a question or comment on Hawaii's film industry for the guests, the number is 973 -1000. Our alpha delta kappa zi chapter phone volunteers, hello ladies, are ready to take your calls. Once again, that number is 973 -1000. As always, neighbor island viewers, you can call us, collect at the same number, 973 -1000. Georgia, I'll start it with you because you are the state film commissioner and it seems for a while there, there was really a low in the film industry here, but in the last maybe year or so, things have picked up considerably to what do you attribute that? Well, there are a lot of things that we always do, you know, on a regular basis in terms of marketing and promotion,

but I think that the one thing that really does seem to have made a difference is the familiarization tour that we had for Disney, the Disney executives, and that started a whole chain reaction of pictures that they had in the lineup involving jungle locations. So what we saw was Georgia, the jungle, followed by Krippendorf's tribe, followed by Mighty Joe Young, you know, three very major Disney projects all right in a row. And what happens is that one production comes here, they have a really good experience, they go back, and they tell everybody else what a great place it was to film, and that kind of promotion and advertising you cannot buy, it's, you know, Hollywood is still, what I would consider a pretty small community in terms of who's talking to who, and word of mouth is a very strong indicator of how successful you're going to be.

It sounds like word of mouth, but also bringing people here, making the investment to educate filmmakers about, about filming in Hawaii, and I think all of you have gone to trade shows and you sponsor trips over here. How important is it to reach out to the Hollywood community? Oh, it's essential. Absolutely essential. You have new people coming into positions all the time, and unless you continually let them know of the resources that you have, and hopefully you're evolving too, so you have new things to tell them about, it's the only way that they get the information sometimes. Now you mentioned the familiarization tour with Disney, did you folks work on that, or was that a combined effort? Well, that's part of our new combined effort as film commissioners working together. We did it under the umbrella of film offices of the Hawaiian Islands. Which really maximizes, I think, all of our individual investments, both county and state, where we're really pooling our funds to be as efficient as possible, and with lots of us having background, I think in the industry, we pool our resources as well, sharing

those whenever we can, and I think it's a real plus to be able to do that. How important is it to have a film commission, maybe for the state and for individual islands? Why do we need that function? Very important, Lynn. One of the things that we've noticed in the last few years is that internationally, not just nationally, but internationally, there are film commissions now set up everywhere. Hawaii is not just competing with states and countries, but actual huge continents. I mean, it's very, very competitive. Filmmaking does bring in so much to an economy that jurisdictions all over the world now have set up staffs to be able to entertain film crews to try and get them there. So we're really in heavy competition worldwide. I think if someone is trying to come into a community and you don't have a film commission, they immediately think that you don't have any of the other resources to support them. So right away, that sends a

message that the government wants this business to come here and that the community supports that and has a resource for them. What does a film commission or do? Judy, maybe you can answer that from a quite you perspective. Well, it's a broad -based challenge. The basic charter of the film commission is to attract film work, and that's a very broad spectrum that goes all the way from the biggest to feature films through documentaries, through television, through print, through fashion catalogs. I mean, really basically we're servicing the visual world in media. The idea is to attract them to come to your locale. And once you've attracted them to come, to make sure that they have access to the resources they need to be successful. So there's a part promotion. There's part production expertise that comes into play in convincing them that you have what they need. And then we kind of turn it to a referral agency where we make sure that they have access to the services to the personnel. So you're not just a permit office. Basically. Oh, and then there's permits. I

think one of the most important things is economic development through promotion, but being the best possible resource office, we get requests that are just unbelievable. Do you have any live donkeys? Do you have this yet? So we can fly. Or butterfly. You can imagine a field of flowers, which we look for all winter. Unbelievable requests. So if we have a resource, if we're a resource office, and we have a database that can just punch up something, where the community then gets totally involved, because there are the resources. So that is really one of the most important things to be a great resource office to attract them to come. You know, they have to go through somebody to get here. I think the other critical thing too is that the Film Commissioner on each island also has a responsibility to interface with the community. So quite often, you find yourself as a mediator or you want to have the minimum amount of impact on the community.

Yeah, you know, the community is benefiting from what's going on. So it's a balancing act, kind of like a ER doctor and, you know, touch by an angel kind of together. It does kind of get that way. Would you agree? I do want to see something about permits though, because I know it's not the sexiest topic that we do, but it's probably one of the most important that we do. If they come here and they can't get permission to shoot where they want to shoot, it's all over. And, you know, we are fortunate that we've been able to develop really good relationships with not only the community, but with other agencies within the county and the state and the federal government as well. And if, you know, unless we're all working together and those people have been extraordinarily great because filmmakers require some pretty fantastic things in a very short amount of time. They're very wonderful to work with. And unless we get

their cooperation, we become very ineffective. We're talking about the film industry. If you have a question, we have the film commissioners from all four counties and the state here to answer your questions. The number to call is 973 -1000. We talked before the show about recent emphasis on the state's part in terms of economic development and clean industries and high tech industries, and certainly the film industry falls in that category. How has the state level of support been maintained, diminished, improved over the years? Well, the support that we have seen at the state level, you know, has varied from year to year. I think that you saw during the times when the economy was very good, there was more money to be had for, you know, promotions and expanding the offices and so forth. And as everyone knows, you know, it's been a difficult situation economically over the past five years or so, or at least noticeable since the Persian Gulf War. But I think that what we have done is come to the point where we've been able to work around that situation. And I would say that,

you know, we have been able to put up a film facility which, you know, is a major accomplishment from the state's perspective. During the past legislative session, there were some critical bills passed, one of which was a tax incentive bill for the industry, some housekeeping bills in terms of the permitting. And I know that on each of the islands, the support from government is very important. And I know that if we did not have the county offices, it's impossible for my office to be on each of the islands. So we really have developed an interdependent relationship with each other. Couple of, I'm sorry, go ahead now. I'm just going to say that. And then that carries down on the county level to interdependent with all of the agencies and the support. We can't do it as just our office. We have to have the support of not only the government agencies, but

the private community as well. And it's essential for a film production to be successful. Especially the visitor industry. I think everybody gets some sense of support from each island. We get a tremendous amount from the visitor industry. Work hand in hand with HBB. I guess HBCB now? Yeah. HBCB. I'm still getting used to the C. It doesn't flow off yet. But that's a critical partnership. You know, all the governments and the community organizations as well as the visitor private sector industry. When you say support from the visitor industry, do they help in terms of providing low hotel rates and that sort of? I mean, how do they help? How does the visitor industry help the film industry? For example, on Maui Lindy, some of the projects that we've had come in. We work with them in a very integral way from the first production meeting. They'll be there to talk to the production people about what they can do for their production coming up, their members and the support that they would give. And then through the production promotionally, also on trade shows, I think all of us tend to utilize their resources. And we hope that they will continue to be that

effort. Well, it seems like it's good for them. They get the exposure. Well, it leverages come marketing. I mean, it's amazing. People say Hawaii 5 .0 brought made Hawaii tourist destination that it is for so many years. Two questions along the same lines. Why are you trying to bring Hollywood films to Hawaii instead of encouraging local filmmakers? And to the entire panel, what future plans do you have to promote local Hawaii directors rather than the Hollywood client? Oh, good. Can I take that one? Can I start with that? I guess. Actually, it's something that has become a mission of ours on Maui. And I think that it really is not just a Maui -based thing. It's really something for the entire state. With the inception of the Maui Riders conference several years ago, because the writer really is to us the backbone of any kind of creative project, whether it be a novel or a multimedia project or a screenplay. I think we're doing an awful lot in that area. It's the fifth successful year for that. We have screenwriting competitions and we're going to be developing a Maui filmmakers fund specifically to be able to produce locally Indigenous projects and get them aired on national television. It's a

goal of ours, both television side and the film side. I think if you look at Canada and the development of their community there, you have to realize that the two work hand in hand that you have to have the larger projects to give people an opportunity to develop their skills and to become more well -known and to be introduced and to other avenues of the market so they can sell their shows so that people recognize who they are and the two have to grow together. So the one helps the others, it comes in. Any of the thoughts on local, we had a couple more calls come in just as we were discussing that what can we do to help fund local filmmakers to support stories of Hawaii and Hawai 'iana? What is the potential for locally produced films and what can be done to encourage it? Well, that's, you know, a very important question because we have always said that our film statistics have gone up and down, up and down for decades and it's not going to change, you know, it's not going to level out until we stop our dependence on

productions coming from Hollywood or from the outside. Unfortunately, in order to support local filmmaking you need an incredible amount of capital. I don't think people realize how expensive it is to produce television and film and, you know, when you're talking in terms of independent film with a low budget being, you know, what some say is under six million, others say it's under three million, you know, it's not something that you, you know, take a second mortgage on your house on, you know, to do, it's very difficult to raise monies. So that is certainly the major drawback, I think, in trying to help the local filmmakers and it's certainly not for a lack of understanding the situation or a desire to help. It's just really hard to raise the money. It's the realities of the business. Right. But yeah, you do read from time to time of somebody who made a film for $35 ,000 and it becomes a sleeper hit. I was assuming that's as feasible here as any place. That's exactly right. Those

films are more than a labor of love. And the only way they ever get made is if a very large community of people put love into it. And I've no doubt that everybody at this table is sitting ready to help somebody get to that point. There's just no question about it. What we've tried to do on Kauai's, we've created the Kauai Institute for Communications Media as the sole purpose of it is to host very high level conferences to bring in major talent from around the world to make this available to people who are here locally and as well to attract visitors to come in so that we're making every attempt to kind of hone the skills of people who are here by bringing in new technologies and by providing as much training as we possibly can. Now, how does somebody become involved or take advantage of the opportunities that you offer through your institute, the Maui Writers Conference? Let's let the people that are watching know. They're interested in this. How do they get involved? What we do is we keep a very active database of people who are interested so that as soon as we have any kind of information we do

mailings and there are always posters and flyers and information is mailed to people who are interested. We also advertise locally in all of the newspapers and on television and radio and all of that stuff when we have things to announce. The other thing is anybody who's interested is always welcome to call us and ask us what's going on. That is probably the best way for somebody to find out what's happening. We're not in a position to call 350 people and tell them what we're doing. But we are extremely amenable to receiving phone calls and questions. I mean, my sense, you know, our policy is that everything that goes in our office inside our office is basically public record, you know. We don't keep secrets in our office. We are there to help to facilitate the industry. So it's real important to us that people let us know that they're interested and what they're interested in. So you're listed in the phone book under Kuwaiti Institute. Would you like us to give up? Sure. I'm delighted to do that. On

Kuwaiti, the film commission phone number is 2416390. I don't know how I'm going the same thing. Contact the Maui Film Office or you can contact the Maui Writers Conference directly, either at writers at Maui .net via email or 8 -7 -9 -0061. John and Shannon Tullius are really the parents and the gave birth to this incredible conference. And much patterned in the same way where we're bringing in notable people in Iran, Howard, James L. Brooks. There is a screenwriting competition as well as a novel competition. The closing date is July 1st. So I would suggest that if you're interested call now. Leave a message on the machine before I get hooked up to your email. But great projects have come out of that and a lot of agents, a lot of producers, a lot of directors. All of that is sort of really becoming quite a critical mass with over 1 ,400 people attending now. So dynamic event. And of course this is the first year for the Maui Writers School as well. That launches the weekend prior to Labor Day.

And that's incredible, Ron Howard is leading that front. So he's with us for a second year and he'll be back again. So I really see that there is a great potential to nurture all filmmakers here. Get that filmmaking fun done. If anyone wants to contribute some fun, speak here. Never know. Somebody out there may be watching and may want to do that. Speaking of nurturing filmmakers, a couple of calls on the same subject. Why is there no film school in Hawaii? Are there any plans for the state to develop or promote a film program at UH? Why is the only state in the nation without a film program? Is that correct? It's correct that there is no B .A. in television or film production, I believe. But I do know that Leeward Community College has an associate degree. And the program out there is excellent. And I know. I know it's a specific media now, and they deal with all different levels and bring people in as well. Yes, it's not a degree program. I know Hawaii Pacific

University is in the process of developing one. And we've been talking to USC and UCLA about tying in with some of Ron's work through Maui Community College. We have quite a great telecommunications program there already. And with all the infrastructure that's in place, we see that as a mission of our higher education future as well. So that definitely is something we're pushing for. Does anyone in the panel know anything about a film with the topic George Helm in the bombing of Koholabi? This would be a good story to share nationally. I've heard that raised as a film topic here and there over the years. Is it anything in development that anybody knows about? The first thing I know that had any involvement with that, I think, was Barry Rivers from Teamwork Communications or he had mentioned it at one point in time? I did get a call from a woman who was producing that project. But this was quite a while ago, and I think she was still in development. She was

not close to production at that point. It's a great story, though. How long does it take to get a film going? Some days, some days. Some days, some days. She had more than a few decades. She had more serious thoughts on the years in development that television series. It took seven years for somebody to take note and be willing to broadcast. We've been working with the producer on the father Damian Film for seven years, actually. Now how close is that to? That's seven years as a magic number. By any man, period of time. But it's interesting to note that someone, even as successful as Steven Spielberg, who had Jurassic Park behind him already, it took 12 years to make Schindler's list. So I don't think there's any magic number, but it certainly is someone's tenacity that usually makes it happen. The business is complicated and very layered and players change frequently. With the Damian project, it was a seat of a great idea and they got Robin Williams interested through the partnership with Martian Rob and they took it to Tri -Star. Of course, that's where Chris Lee is now. And they're on the third draft of

their most recent screenplay of the director's reviewative and we're hopeful that it's coming in, at least to scout in the next month or two and we don't know when they're shooting. It'll be soon, stay tuned. Is that an example of something that you think has a really good chance of becoming reality? Oh, yes. At the stage. More so as time goes on. You know, a big hurdle was when Robin Williams agreed to play the role and then the next, you know, the next big step was Chris Lee's involvement in Tri -Star. So I mean, as each year passes, it just seems to be more and more likelihood. You both mentioned Chris Lee for those of you who don't know, he's an Ilani graduate, I believe, but anyway, from Hawaii. And is he, he's now head of production at Tri -Star? What is his new title? Is that head of production at Columbia Tri -Star? And is that the highest in the Hollywood higher studio hierarchy that a Hawaii person has progressed to your knowledge? Yes, I believe so. What is having somebody who is from Hawaii and must have some appreciation for what Hawaii have? What does

it mean to have somebody in that position for us? You know, it's more critical than you can even imagine because it's such a difficult process to get a project through from development to production. And if you have a cheerleader who is in a position of power, they can do some really great things. The other part that, you know, I feel could be very beneficial to us is that the Hawaii people seem to be unsatisfied with the way Hawaii has been portrayed by Hollywood. And this is really a good opportunity for somebody like a Chris Lee or anyone else from Hawaii to try to incorporate some sensitivity in terms of mainstream projects about what Hawaii is about, what Hawaii culture is about. It's not just, you know, palm trees and beaches. There is an intelligent culture here that and some great

stories that need to be told. It comes back to the familiarization and having somebody like that and having somebody like Chris Lee in that kind of a position. He can disseminate information and talk about Hawaii and familiarize people. If they don't know what we've got, and I found that so, so much so in the last couple of years on the big island. And every production designer who's come on the island, every director who's never been there before, they're totally amazed. You really have all this. They think of us as volcanoes. And then when they see how much is there, so I think the perception in general with people who aren't familiar with the islands, think of us as one place. We'll get calls, for instance, they think they might be calling the state office. They don't differentiate the islands initially. So they're thinking of one place. So it's really important for us to familiarize and having somebody like Chris Lee around that is at that kind

of a level really helps. We'll call it a great thing. Now that he's in that position. This caller says, I heard that SAG, which is screen actor's guild here, is very difficult to work with. Too many restrictions. Has this hurt film production? Any comments on that? I don't think that the SAG roles here are any different. From the SAG roles in any other jurisdiction. So I'm not quite sure what the caller means specifically by restrictive or different goal. And another union -oriented question. It appears that film production, what he has been slow in developing, can this be attributed to unions impeding its progress? I know a few years ago there was some union trouble, particularly with the trucks and the movie equipment that was in the papers quite a bit, but I would assume unions for the most part would want to facilitate film production here. How are the relationships with the unions these days? I think positive. I mean, from our experience on Maui, I can speak

to that. I think both the I and the teamsters have always been willing to work with us on whatever projects we bring in. And it's important to contact them early to let them know what's coming. I think there's a lot of things that have been on the street. Word of mouth, again, is Georgia. It's a small community in LA. Maybe we could be more aggressive about getting the word out that it is a positive environment. And there's lots of ways to do that. I think the personal one on one, rather than splash EPR campaign certainly, is a better way to go. And I think the more that we can talk about positive experiences and the more productions that have come here that have had positive experiences with unions will help us. I think you just need to look at the productions that have come in in the last year and the comments that we've had from that, how they've talked about how skilled our people are, how great they are to work with, how letters have been sent from the producers back to the mainland union offices that are housed there and to our local places here. And something like a cable movie like Atlantis, Escape from Atlantis, a lot of people

might not have seen it, because right now it's only airing on the stars on core network and not anywhere else. Hawaii people can see. That was really something that everybody had to come together. Everybody had to make a commitment to do that. And it wouldn't have come together unless the unions were willing to come in and support the project. That's the same with, we started off the year with a small independent film called Kamahina. And this was a small independent film. And if they had not had the blessing of the unions, it could not have been made. And between the unions and the support of the community helping, you know, give really good rates. Car dealer ended up giving them a car. They were minus a car. I mean, you know, really coming together to support this film to be made, it wouldn't have happened. And the unions were very, we've had nothing but good relationships on the big island. I think, too, when we went through a slump, you know, two years ago, I guess you would say. And I think when people aren't working, they realize how important it is to make sure that we get those people

back and to keep working. Well, if anything good came from that slow period that we had, I think the whole industry began to coalesce. It used to be pretty fractionalized, and they seemed to be getting closer together and realizing that you have to work as a team to support this industry. And you can't have little enclaves of fights going on or not when it's a fairly small, and as you say, very contained area. We're going to take a brief break. This is a good time for you to call in your question or comment on the film industry. The number is 973 -1000. We'll continue with the second half of dialogue talking about the film industry in just a moment. We'll be back. Music Whether forecasters report that El Nino conditions are upon us, conditions that often mean

hurricanes for Hawaii residents. Two storms, either in Aniki, have taught us all too well the dangers of hurricane winds, storms that develop most often during the months of June through November. Is the community ready for them? What can each of us do to protect our property and loved ones? How much morning can we expect if a hurricane develops? For the answers to those questions, join us Friday Day for an encore dialogue with our Hurricane Stormbusters. I watch a lot of news, but I really look for in -depth coverage. I look for in -depth coverage. I like to watch PBS. PBS offers a banquet of programs. I like to keep informed. A lot of time they don't have time to be news papers. And I've watched a lot of the different channels, but when it comes to my choice, I know I will never get the in -depth coverage from any other channel except to PBS. Welcome back to the second half of dialogue on Hawaii's film industry. I'm Lynn

Waters, and these wonderful phone volunteers are waiting to take your calls. They're members of the Alpha Delta Kappa Zai chapter. We'd like to thank them for being here on a Friday evening to answer the dialogue phones. And by the way, if you have a question or comment, the number is 973 -1000, and we are talking with the film commissioners, Vallea Constantino, Georgia Dima, Judy Droz, Marilyn Hillary, and Georgia Skinner. And a comment from a friend of all of ours, Dennis Christensen, who's president of the Film and Video Association of Hawaii, he'd like to praise the five commissioners for the extraordinary links they have gone to to bridge public and private sectors to the benefit of the industry. He says, I know they won't praise themselves, so thank you, Dennis. Thank you, Dennis. Thank you, Dennis. We'll pay him later. Bribes are forthcoming. A couple of comments still on the union issue, and then we'll move on to something else. Because of past production problems between unions, what are the commissioners doing to assure these companies that they will not have any problems in the future? We could speak to them. It's been mentioned many times at this table that word of mouth is our major

promotional tool. We can do all sorts of things, but the one thing that makes a difference is what people who have worked here experience and what they say to their cohorts when they go back. No large film comes to these islands without checking references. They call everybody that's worked before, and if they don't, I for one recommend that they do, because by calling the producer of Jurassic Park or by calling the producer of Outbreak for Kauai pictures, I know they're going to get the right kind of report because I know that those were very, very positive experiences. And truthfully, that's the best that we can possibly do because they're talking to their peers and they believe what they're hearing. Exactly. But I'd like to, you know, I understand where the caller is coming from, I think, and it's a very difficult thing for government to interfere in labor relationships. However, you know, we have made it, made an attempt to be a liaison between labor and the production companies.

And we have, unfortunately, had some incidents that have put a black mark on the industry that have lasted quite a while. I think that the important thing, though, is now we are working with probably the best labor situation that I have ever seen in my entire career. You know, we're working with the unions as being part of the governor's financial incentive package. They're going to be an important part of all of that. And I can't imagine going forward in this industry, in this state, you know, without having a good working relationship with all of the unions. It's really a national movement as well. Okay, is the film industry doing anything to get back or revive the Hawaii 5 .0 series? Now, I understand that it is not, the pilot is completed, but it is not on CBS's fall schedule.

But we still have hope that it will be on, I think in late July, picked up for mid -season replacement. So we haven't lost hope yet. We certainly let them know about the new incentives that are there if it may not get picked up for economic reasons. If it's not picked up for creative reasons, then there's not a whole lot that someone can do. But certainly the areas that we have resources and can let them know about. We're beating the bushes for that. We want it back. That's why we have to develop more series of our own. Okay, question for Marilyn. We should go ahead and deal with this, because it may come up again. You're the best in the industry. Why are you the former big, I'm a film commissioner. Can you explain in a nutshell what your status is? I was on a private services contract. So I am caught up in the privatization fiasco, I should say. As of last Friday, my contract was

suspended as well as, oh, I think there were 1200 contracts that Mayor Yamashiro decided to sever across the board. But they are actively dealing with it. And because they need input from so many different agencies and each contract is very different, it's going to probably take a little bit. But I've been assured that film is wanted on the big island. So I do think that something will happen and they're working on it. So I feel comfortable about it. That's all I'll say. Say too much more. Say too much more. You both mentioned incentives. Does the state or city and county of Honolulu have any plans to support the film industry with tax breaks? You mentioned that the legislature had enacted some. Let's cover both on the state and county level. There was a bill that was introduced during this past legislative session that covered financial incentives for the film industry in the form of tax credits. And that did pass. The bill

itself was fairly broad. My understanding is that the director of taxation and as well in cooperation with D -Bad needs to get together to work out what the details of that bill will be in terms of who qualifies what the criteria will be and so forth. But I know that everyone is very anxious for this to get into place. And so I expect it to be in operation, so to speak, you know, very soon. So that people will be able to apply for the tax break effective in 1997. Anything on the county levels? It'll affect all of us. I think county -wise for us, there's no plan essentially to do an incentive program of that nature. But again, getting back to trying to support local filmmakers, local directors, pursuing this Maui filmmakers fund using some of the resources, some of the directors, the other Hollywood people that are business owners on Maui, possibly doing a package

with the independent feature project or something like that so that we can start funding local filmmaking. Our focus would probably be there at this time. How about on the Wahoo? We're streamlining as much as we can. And I have to say that the police department was just exemplary when we were working with 5 .0. And in a matter of a week and a half, we were able to develop a whole new system for equipment rental that streamline things to the point where we could fax it. It requires only two signatures and approvals could be done in a matter of hours rather than days. And so it really takes that commitment from the inside to bring it all together. But we're also working with the community to be able to showcase the work of people that do things here. I don't know that many people know about the Man No AI Awards. It's usually in conjunction with the Hawaii International Film Festival. And what we're able to do is submit the work for the contest. And right now the contest are for commercials that are produced by Hawaii -based companies in all different areas that otherwise haven't been recognized

before. Actors and actresses as well as behind -the -scenes production people art direction, that type of thing. And the tapes of the work that people do here are sent all across the country to some of the most incredible people. John Lasseter was a judge who saw the real, the editor's one, the top clear award for three years. Judge the editing categories. Actually the owner of the clear awards is a judge so that we export the work as well. And hope that that in itself is an incentive for people to come in to use our talent and to see that there is talent. Okay, good things going on. Why do we give so much publicity to the film industry which employs so few people and has so little impact on our economy? Anybody want to dispute that question? Well I could say that on a walk -in for ten projects that varied from commercials to feature films. There was over a million

dollars generated just in hotel rooms. Just in what the rooms of people stated, not the food and beverage, not what they spent to actually do the production. So you look at that and then divide up what your transient accommodation tax is to see how much actually comes back to your community. We're looking at half a million dollars. So for this year, just with the projects we've seen on a walk -in. Yeah, and if you compare it to other industries like tourism, it may seem small in comparison. But you have to remember that the greater value of the film industry is not the production expenditures that are spent every year. It's the incredible promotional exposure that the state gets. Exposure that you couldn't possibly afford to buy. And it's millions and millions upon dollars of exposure. Very positive exposure. I think it is very well known that Hawaii was put on the map because of Hawaii 50. People all over the world know where Hawaii is now and

what a premier visitor destination it is because of what they have seen on film and television. And we're still getting promotional dollars from that show. In the run that they're starting on the family channel, they came here to do the promos for it. You know, I get calls from people from across the country that are beginning to see it again. And they look for it. We were in the newspapers there. We were in magazines. The show hasn't produced here since 1981. Yeah, 1970. You know, 1980. 1980 was the last year. And so here we are. Like, amazing. 17 years later. Well, I love us all. Yeah. 50 years in house. Yeah, right from now. People will be watching Hawaii by the end of the week. Pacific was filmed in 1958. And it's still a major draw for me. Major draw. I mean, that's really. I mean, Kauai really has that reputation because of the history of filmmaking that's been there. Or Donovan's Reef. Or some of the other great things that have gone there. I mean, we're hoping that the new generation of things, like Georgia the Jungle and Krippendorf's tribe and Mighty Joe Young

will reintroduce that. And a lot of what that has done to the crew base here. It has brought this, the crew base here are now so professional that they could compete with anybody anywhere. And that's why they're ready. You know, we're really ready to take that next step to produce our own films. And it's all we need as a benefactor. And an outlet. We need someone to distribute it. And distribute it. You know, because the crew base now is definitely after all the production that's happened in recent years. Definitely up to small. Well, here's a good question since you mentioned doing your own films. What stories are you planning to make into films? More to the point, what great stories are there that you think should be made into films? We'll pick any Hawaiian legend. That's just a start. I don't imagine something that it's kind of interesting. I've just been talking to a line producer who was in town two weeks ago on Big Island. Gentlemen wrote a ghost story based around Hilo. Now, this

is interesting internationally speaking. We are in competition for that to be shot either in Hilo or China. Because in China, the DP, they can get for $100 a day. What's a DP? I'm sorry, director of photography. And coming to anywhere in the United States, it'll be, well, I don't even want to guess how far greater. The director is from China, too. The director is from China, though he did go to school here. But the point is that it's this wonderful ghost story. Hamaaina was another one that was based on a very local story. Teenagers. That was very interesting. Edgy Lee's Paniola. Edgy Lee's Paniola. Picture bride. Picture bride. Kid by paradise. Well, it is now in the Democratic side. It's been by St. Colesbury. There's so many. That are waiting to be done because we're a culture that I think people haven't discovered. You know, people have come into Hawaii and they've told stories of what they think

Hawaii is. But no one has really looked from the inside out to tell people what the culture really is. But I think they're starting to look at that. I know Princess Kailani. There are a couple of different scripts that are floating around Hollywood. And that we see right now. And that we occasionally call on that. So it would be wonderful if one of those got told. A nice saga that was real. It would be great. But people have been talking about other things that are just fun. Where you could imagine a dynasty type of show that's set in Hawaii. But the characters have all that very local angle to them. Instead of, you know, the oil rigging aspect that they had back then. Or, you know, the wine aspect of Falcon Crust or something like that. And so there's a lot of things to have fun with too. It doesn't just have to be documentary in nature. For example, Linda Gray speaking of Dallas. We're just watching in my mind. But, listen. I'm wearing that straight away. But she has come to Maui to do some research on a project that's based on an actual person from Hawaii

about the chaplaincy based on Sister Roberta, loosely. And it's a very interesting project that they're pitching to the networks this month. That, and I think some other projects that talk about what the Indigenous culture here has to offer for the rest of the world that many people haven't tapped into. And there's a great crossover happening right now in the world of spirituality and healing. And I see a great potential there. You know, and I think it's important to point out too that it takes more than just being about Hawaii. You have to have really great writing. And you have to have strong characters. And you have to have a story that really, you know, holds together well and has universal appeal. I mean, I just saw Fargo cable the other night. Now, if some, you know, I mean, you got so wrapped up in what was going on in Fargo and you got the slice of life on, you know, what it was like to live in Fargo. It's a great little independent. Yeah, and it all had to do because they made you interested in the story and the characters.

So it's got to be more than just the locale. Okay, back to the drudgery day to day work. We have had a lot of calls about the permit process. It takes so long. It's so easy to produce and get elsewhere. Why does it take so long? It's killing our chances to attract filmmakers. Why is there still not a one -stop permit system? There is. Yeah, I don't know. There is a one -stop permit system. We have a one -stop permit system in the state. And I know that each of the counties have or are very close to it. We tend to be the stop. You give us all the information and we funnel it out to the agencies and we do that as efficiently as we possibly can. But we also shield the filmmaker, producer, production coordinator from everything that we need to do to get it back to them. And the turn around time, you know, is most of the permits that come through that are based on very simple productions. They're instantaneous turn around. I don't know how much faster you're going to get on that. The rest of them are usually a three -day

maximum turn around. So unless it's an incredibly complicated situation long -term with, you know, how to protect landings, power -technics and whatever. With potentially dangerous impact to the environment. The permit system, I think, is about as good as it's going to get. I think there is some confusion that people don't understand that there are different types of permits. You know, that there are state permits for state land and there are county permits for a county land. But we certainly make every effort to make it appear as if it's quite simple. And there are jobs. And another thing that's important is there are no fees for permitting in Hawaii, which is a plus. And are there fees elsewhere? Yes. Very nominal. Ten dollars for some of our permits where I know in other states, just to come into that state, it's a fee of $250 to work with the film commissions. And for us, I think. Now that you... They might have changed that again being competitive, but

it used to be a specific fee. And it was based on the size of project that you had. And if you were a series coming in, it was like $1 ,000. If it was a commercial, it was $250. Which, of course, doesn't come close to paying for the services they're getting returned. This is true, but then we're biased about that. But that is our biggest competition. International. We are now in Australia. New Zealand, New Zealand. Thailand. Thailand is a very big right now. China. North Carolina. Yes. Because they have rice patties and North Carolina. Really have it together. And what is North Carolina doing that we're not doing? North Carolina is a right to work state, one thing. So you can negotiate your own rates for crew. And it's on the mainland. And so there's a perception that you can drive there and that in terms of trucking, freight and all of that stuff, it's just easier to do. They also have a very built up infrastructure in terms of crew and facilities. So do you have facilities? So do you have facilities? Most of you. Do you know De La Rantos was the one that went in there initially and built up the studios there. And as Judy mentioned,

because it's a right to work state, the cost of crew is probably going to be lower. It's the same case with Florida. And oftentimes we compete with Florida on beaches. It's odd because they're not tropical. And we are, but if someone just needs a beach. I would say it's really leaning toward places like Bore and Location. They also compete tremendously with L .A. with the studios. Because a lot of times they'll decide to build jungle in a studio for control, for ease of functioning. Well, that happened with George of the jungle. I mean, we were fortunate that we got as much of that here as we did. And that, you know, they used both Kauai and Oahu, but they built most of it in a studio setting. Now, Mighty Jo Young isn't doing that. I think the people working on that project knew what we had as they were developing things. But you're absolutely right. The technology that allows them to work in a sound stage, in a studio is something that I think all film commissioners are going to be competing against

after a while. Speaking of the film studio, how is the film studio being used on Diamond Head? Is it generating income for the state? This viewer says that he or she observed little activity at the site. How often is it being used? It's been in constant use since September of 96, starting with Atlantis or Escape from Atlantis, I guess it's now called. And then, George of the jungle was in there after that, followed by... 5 -0. 5 -0. 4 -5 -0. Krippendorf's tribe after that, and currently we have Mighty Jo Young in there now. Following Mighty Jo Young, season opener for Beverly Hills Final 210 will be here shooting in the summer. I think it's important for people to know how that studio works too, and that the nature of that kind of facility isn't that it's rented all the time, that it's booked every single day of the year. And I don't know any soundstage anywhere in the country, private or public, that

is booked in that way. And so, understanding the process and how that works to know that it has provided such a great value to people. I mean, we would not have had George of the jungle come here, had we not had opportunity for a cover set for them. And even though they shot here for a total of 10 days, a lot of their people were here for up to 3 weeks, they brought in 5 to 8 million dollars in that short time. So, it's been, it was the only incentive we had for the longest time, and it served us very well in that way. This color wants to know, I should answer this question. Why doesn't Hawaii have a film festival, like Cannes, and Lure American and former filmmakers here, since Hawaii has so much to offer? Well, we do have a film festival. Anybody who likes to comment on it, and it's a wonderful festival too, getting better all the time, right? We're hoping that sort of a new partner for the writer's conference this year is the writer's Guild of America, which we're real proud of. And their plan is to do something very similar to

Cannes, where we would have an independent film festival that was tied in with the writer's conference itself. So, perhaps what the colors are referring to is the one difference is that Cannes is also a film market, and we're not a film market. And that is an opportunity for people to sell product and market independent films. And I think that would be a very interesting adjunct to what we're doing if we're going to play a bigger role in relating to films from Asia and the Pacific. Could the Hawaii International Film Festival, which is usually in late November, early December, become a market, such as Cannes or Toronto or some of the other big ones? It sets up to the film festival, you know, that's the direction that they want to go in. Okay, in response to great stories, this caller says a great story to film in Hawaii is from a wonderful book called The Road to Hana Maui. Yes, okay. A couple of comments on the same lines. Portrayal of locals in

Magnum PI and other series is not true. How do you plan to represent Hawaii in a more realistic way rather than the stereotypes, such as who look girls? Get to the writer. Get to the writer. As the people that are developing the shows come in to really introduce them to the local people so that they can experience them firsthand. And they're not developing a character out of all of the other images that they might have seen on television or in the papers that were incorrect. I think producers and writers have been receptive to that. A lot of shows, we asked them to put a cultural specialist or someone on the project, which is really critical. And a lot of times they'll... We find that actually they're frequently very sensitive about it and curious about it and want that kind of assistance, which is nice. In which may indicate a change in the tides? I think Bertha Paradise really made a good intent. Their intent was good. And they really spent a lot of time trying to research the local culture and higher local consultants.

We unfortunately don't have control over the content. But we certainly are very willing to play as great a role as possible in steering them in the right direction. One of the writers of Bertha Paradise told a marvelous story about how someone should come into the community. And he said he was working at the studio in one of the bungalows and some Hawaiian musicians were playing outside. And he just let the music sort of envelope him. And he said that's how you should come into this community, is to just let it overwhelm you so that you learn about it and don't try to steamroll over it and control it. This caller wants to know and we're almost out of time. How does someone like Brookley, who is the new Miss Universe, whose goal is to work for and with the film industry, get to work in the industry. And there may be some other Brookleys out there. How do you get to work in the industry? I think one of the most fascinating industries. Ever since I've started working, which is many, many

years ago, it's been an industry of internship. Now there are many, many film schools one can go to and many of those film schools have provide opportunities for students to be hooked up with various productions. But in general, one starts at the bottom, carrying coffee, being a go for what it's called, mail room. And works the way up. And in the process of that, you really do begin to learn what various jobs are and what's of interest to you. And you also make contacts because it's a very contact -driven industry. It's not the kind of thing where a formal resume is going to necessarily do the job. And many people have felt that it's sort of catch -22. You can't get in the film industry unless you've been in the film industry. But I frequently influence people to offer their services for free for a limited period of time in order to be an intern on a set, to just get the lay of the land, to see what's involved, to see what various jobs exist. By, so believe it or not, we are out of time. I'm afraid it's a wrap on this dialogue on what you film industry. We would like to thank our neighbor island film commissioners, Georgia Skinner from

Maui, Judy Droz from Kauai, former neighbor island film commissioner, Maryland, Kilarri, and hopefully future from the big island of Vallejo, Constantineau of the city in County of Honolulu, and Georgia Deamer from the state film office. And of course, thank you for watching. And we'd also like to thank our phone volunteers, lovely ladies from Alpha Delta, Kappa, Zy chapter for their help in answering our phones. If you'd like to volunteer for dialogue, you certainly can give our volunteer coordinator a call at 973 1000. And if you like sending email, our address is dialogue at chet .pbs .org. And since the hurricane season begins next week, my colleague Dan Boylan will be here to share the table with some of the state's hurricane storm busters. Sure, they'll have some good advice on how to prepare for a hurricane, what to do when it strikes, hopefully it won't, and how to deal with the aftermath. It'll be a very interesting show. Till then, I'm Lynn Waters wishing you a good weekend from dialogue. Dialogue is brought to you by Hawaiian Electric

Company, people with a powerful commitment. Hello, my name is Dan Boylan. When you go to the movies this summer, don't be surprised if some of the background scenes look familiar. With the recent surge of major studios filming the islands for the last few months, it's bound to happen. It's Hawaii's film industry on an upswing again.

Are more producers like Spielberg, Canal and Disney coming to town? We'll find out when my esteemed colleague, Lynn Waters, hosts a dialogue on Hawaii's film industry. And joining her will be the state and county film commissioners. That's Friday at 8 on dialogue. Hello, my name is Dan Boylan. When you go to the movies, don't be surprised if some of the background scenes look familiar. With the recent surge of major studios filming in the islands for the last few months, it's bound to happen. Is Hawaii's film industry on an upswing? Are more producers like Spielberg, Canal

and Disney coming to town? We'll find out when my esteemed colleague, Lynn Waters, hosts a dialogue on Hawaii's film industry. Joining her will be the state and county film commissioners. That's tonight at 8 on dialogue. Thank you very much. Thank you.