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2013 marks the 100th anniversary of film production throughout the Hawaiian Islands. For a century, Hawai‘i has hosted some of the best filmmakers of all time. We are proud of the movie magic they’ve made across our archipelago...

Pictured here are the stunningly cinematic mountains, valleys, fishponds and ocean that make up the ahupua'a of Kualoa on the lush Windward side of Oahu. Photo by John Demello.

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HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

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KING VIDOR, LOIS WEBER, VICTOR FLEMING, HAROLD LLOYD, CECIL B. DeMILLE, HOWARD HAWKS, FRED ZINNEMANN, EDWARD DMYTRYK, JOHN FORD, RAOUL WALSH, HOWARD W. KOCH, DICK POWELL, JOSHUA LOGAN, FRANKLIN J. SCHAFFNER, FRANK SINATRA, BILLY WILDER, CLINT EASTWOOD, JOHN G. AVILDSEN, JOHN GUILLERMIN, DINO DE LAURENTIIS, BLAKE EDWARDS, GREG MacGILLIVRAY, JIM FREEMAN, GORE VERBINKSI, JERRY BRUCKHEIMER, MICHAEL BAY, STEVEN SPIELBERG, GEORGE LUCAS, JOE JOHNSTON, LEE TAMAHORI, KATHRYN BIGELOW, TOM SHADYAC, IVAN REITMAN, ROB REINER, PETER SEGAL, BARRY LEVINSON, WOLFGANG PETERSEN, PHILLIP NOYCE, JEREMY LEVEN, PAUL THOMAS ANDERSON, KEVIN REYNOLDS, JOHN WOO, PETER BERG, ROLAND EMMERICH, JOHN PATRICK SHANLEY, DANNY DeVITO, BEN STILLER, LAWRENCE KASDAN, TIM BURTON, JULIE TAYMOR, BRAD SILBERLING, JOHN MILIUS, ANDREW BERGMAN, ROB MARSHALL, ANG LEE, AND ALEXANDER PAYNE

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O F F I C E S

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FilmHawai‘i ISSUE THREE 2011 HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE

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CONTENTS

H AWAII film & video M A G A Z I N E

Cast and crew prepare to shoot a Godzilla scene.

www.hawaiifilmandvideo.com www.hawaiifilm.com PUBLISHER

James Baker EDITOR-IN-CHIEF

Tim Ryan tryan@media-inc.com ASSOCIATE EDITOR

Katie Sauro ksauro@media-inc.com CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

Paul Booth, Donne Dawson, David C. Farmer, Sue Kanoho,Arlene Newman, Michael Andres Palmieri, Teena Rasmussen, Art Umezu SALES MANAGER

Katie Higgins

SALES EXECUTIVES

Eric Iles, Paul Yarnold

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PRODUCTION MANAGER

Editor’s Letter

Hawaii’s Tax Credit Increase Poised to Bring New Business to the State

22 Preview: Hawaii International Film Festival

24 Creative Lab at HIFF Launches Broadband,Writing and Producing Accelerators for 2013 26 HIFF Returns to Kauai

34 Grace Under Pressure TALENT

35 SAG-AFTRA Looks Toward a Bright Future for Local Talent 36 Hawaii Talent Spotlight 40 Talent Agencies List 41 Casting Directors List 42 Using Real Life in Acting

44 Indie Beat:An Angel Descends on Kahuku

28 A Kauai Movie Tour

30 Hollywood Sands of Time

32 Updated Version of the Kauai Movie Book Set for Release

48 Oahu DP Keeps Busy with Multiple Projects

50 Hawaii-based Director Wins Best Drama Award at L.A. Fest

SPOTLIGHT ON MAUI 10 The Inside Scoop:An Interview with Mayor Arakawa

12 Film Studio Update:The Latest News on Maui’s Soundstages 14 Maui’s Got Talent

16 Star Appeal! Luxury Mobile Trailer Company Sets Up Shop on Maui 20 Maui Filmmaker Selected to Direct Film on Jazz Legend 21 Top Chef to Film on Maui

On the Cover: Torry Tukuafu, Hawaii Five-0 "A" camera operator, films co-star Scott Caan at Oahu's Ala Moana Beach Park where an apparent "murder victim" has been discovered near the water.

COVER PHOTO BY TIM RYAN

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HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

John Rusnak DESIGNER

Dawn Carlson, Christina Poisal, Beth Harrison WEBMASTER

Jon Hines

OFFICE MANAGER/ACCOUNTING

Audra Higgins

INFORMATION SERVICES MANAGER

Lois Sanborn

Media Index Publishing Group (800) 332-1736 media@media-inc.com

Display Advertising: Call Media Index Publishing Group for a current rate card. Discounts for frequency advertising. All submitted materials become the property of Media Index Publishing Group and will not be returned. Subscriptions, call (800) 332-1736 for information and rates.

Copyright © 2012 Media Index Publishing Group.All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be used for solicitation or copied by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying or recording by any information storage or retrieval system, without the express written permission of the publisher. PRINTED IN THE USA.

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Editor’s Letter

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odzilla, The Untitled Cameron Crowe Project aka Deep Tiki, Big Eyes, Jurassic Park, Angelina Jolie, Chris Brown, and Paul Walker topless, just to name a few… So where do I begin?

I don’t know what the dollar figures are yet for Hawaii’s film, television and commercial productions through September, but I do know that the state’s production industry is alive and well, if not thriving, due in large part to the state film office, Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT), SAG-AFTRA, Honolulu Film Office and others working diligently to convince state legislators to increase the production tax incentives to remain competitive with other locales. The tax incentives were increased from 15 percent to 20 percent on Oahu and from 20 percent to 25 percent on the Neighbor Islands.

Oh, and the maximum cap a production can receive was increased to $15 million.

First, though, a big time aloha to some of you who always step up to contribute to this magazine, at often the last minute with more than a little prodding from me. Last month I should have “anointed” as honorary assistant editors Sue Kanoho, Kauai Visitors Bureau director, and John Mason, Big Island Film Commissioner, who not only contribute story ideas, but often pave the way for my interviews.

Mahalo, Sue and John… Sorry it’s not a paid position!

Moving along…

CBS’s Hawaii Five-0 remains the constant for Hawaii’s production industry, back for its fourth season of 20-plus hour-long episodes translating to more than $40 million in local spending, immense publicity for the state, and local hires. It’s also exciting to know that Melanie Griffith will have a recurring role as

Scott Caan’s mother. Will Griffith and Caan’s real and on-screen dad James Caan interact much with son Scottie? All three are feisty and this promises a spike in the ratings.

But the real production news is on the feature side.

The Godzilla sequel took over Waikiki Beach for several days in a well-controlled shoot on the famed beach and along the usually tourist-clogged street. The production also hired hundreds of extras, crew, Honolulu firemen and police officers. Randy Spangler was locations manager. Expect to see some Waikiki hotels destroyed thanks to CGI. Meanwhile, the Margaret Keane bio-pic Big Eyes, starring Amy Adams and directed by one-of-a-kind director Tim Burton, shot four days on Oahu. Jim Triplett served as locations manager. And the Cameron Crowe dramedy Deep Tiki—starring Emma Stone and Bradley Cooper—slid into Oahu in midSeptember for a three-month shoot through the end of the year. Once again, Mr. Spangler serves as locations manager.

Eye candy alert. Also on Oahu, Paul Walker, the star of the mega-successful The Fast & the Furious films, did a two-day still shoot at Halona Cove—aka Eternity Beach—for Cool Water cologne, in which he rolled around in the surf without his shirt but in a pair of blue jeans. Some tourists—primarily females—spent as long as two hours enjoying the view from the overlook and snapping photos. Walker has a home in Kahala.

The down news?

Angelina Jolie visited Oahu (with two of her children) for a few days in July with plans to direct the film Unbroken here, and even opened a production office. Then the following week, the production was lured to Australia for budget reasons.

Universal Studios executives for Jurassic Park IV—now called Jurassic World—scouted Oahu in June with all systems go, but it

was yanked for the time being, reportedly to revamp the script. According to sources, Jurassic World is slated to film on Kauai, possibly Oahu, and in Louisiana with a planned June 2015 release.

Then we have singer Chris Brown, who arrived on Oahu this summer to perform a concert and shoot a music video. The production included a scene at Kaneohe Bay’s offshore sandbar, where Brown was going to be made to look like he was walking on water. While his company received a lastminute state permit to film on the sandbar, it did not get permission to construct a plexiglass platform to simulate the water walking.

But that didn’t stop the production company from building the platform anyway.

Bad move. The state’s Department of Land and Natural Resources and Honolulu Police Department, who were monitoring the production, quickly had the platform disassembled and the shoot moved elsewhere.

In other bad news for Hawaii production, the new Maui Film Studios thought it had locked in Warner Bros.’ Tarzan, but the film suddenly decided to shoot elsewhere.

Sounds like it had to do with a high budget that the studio just couldn’t reduce to the level that made it feel comfortable. This is the film that Warner Bros. has tried to get going for years, even hiring writers Adam Cozad and Craig Brewer to separately script their own visions for the franchise.

For Maui’s sake, let’s all hope that MFS overcomes this bump in the road.

And finally, a hearty mahalo to Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa for a lengthy and frank interview about the state of Maui film production and how he hopes to improve it.

See page 10 for that interview.

Tim Ryan Executive Editor

STEPHANIE G. SPANGLER stephspang@mac.com www.stephaniegspangler.com

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• “Alvin and the Chipmunks 3”

• “Lost” TV Series 6 Seasons

• “Journey 2: The Mysterious Island”

• “The Informant”

• “Off the Map” TV Series

• “Forgetting Sarah Marshall”

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• “Pirates of the Caribbean 3: At World’s End”

• “Hawaii Five-0”: Television Pilot

• ”Indiana Jones: The Cyrstal Skull”

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ISSUE THREE 2013 HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE

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Hawaii’s Tax Credit Increase Poised to Bring New Business to the State

BY DONNE DAWSON Hawaii Film Commissioner

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t’s only been a few months since the Legislature

passed a bill to enhance our refundable production tax credit (known as Act 88) and Governor Aber-

crombie signed that bill into law. Act 89 increases

Hawaii’s seven-year-old tax credit program by five percent across the board. So qualifying productions on Oahu will be able to claim 20 percent of their production expenditures and qualifying productions on the Neighbor Islands (Maui, Molokai, Lanai, Kauai, and the Big Island of Hawaii) will be eligible to claim 25 percent of their production expenditures. The credit cap per production has also increased from $8 million to $15 million and the sunset date has been extended to January 1, 2019.

The phone calls and e-mails are coming in at a steady pace. This much-anticipated increase keeps Hawaii competitive on a global scale and is going to prove to be a game changer for our film industry by attracting new business to our state.

Since the tax incentive program was launched on July 1, 2006, we always pushed for a differential for the Neighbor Islands because they need the added bump. The reality is that most of our state’s film production takes place on Oahu and most of our industry’s infrastructure is situated there as a result. That means it costs a little more to film on the Neighbor Islands. Yet we know the amazing diversity of locations that exists across our island state, so it remains our goal to showcase that diversity and drive as much business to the Neighbor Islands as we can.

The five percent differential helps us do just that. By getting productions to Maui,

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Molokai, Lanai, Kauai and the Big Island of Hawaii, we put pressure on the infrastructure needs for those islands, and in turn, demand of labor, equipment and facilities follows suit. Already we are seeing supply and demand take shape with the new Maui Film Studios up and running, and the University of the Nations’ Lokahi Studios in Kona on the Big Island poised to go online next year.

For our part in all of this, the Hawaii Film Office is working to rebuild capacity to more efficiently support the needs of the industry as it grows. We have been working with the state Department of Taxation to update all of our tax credit forms and information to enable productions to better understand and take advantage of the enhanced program. On September 23, we launched the state’s first 24/7 ePermitting system to fast-track film permits for our Department of Land & Natural Resources pre-approved sites.

And we plan to ask the Legislature to support our efforts to restore staffing and funding for the film office, which will work toward our ability to better serve this industry that means so much to all of Hawaii nei.

2013 is a hallmark year for Hawaii’s film industry. We are in the midst of celebrating a century of film production throughout the Hawaiian Islands. Please join us in that celebration, October 9 – 20 at The Studio at The Modern Honolulu for a special exhibit in honor of 100 years of film production in Hawaii. This special exhibit will showcase vintage movie memorabilia, still photos, vintage movie posters, and much more. The event is being held in conjunction with the Hawaii International Film Festival, which takes place October 10 – 20. HFV

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SPOTLIGHT ON MAUI

The Inside Scoop:

An Interview with Mayor Arakawa Hawaii Film & Video Magazine sat down with Mayor Alan Arakawa to discuss the state of the industry and the future of production on the Valley Isle.

Hawaii Film & Video Magazine: How do you envision the future of the film production industry for Maui County and how does your administration plan to achieve that?

Alan Arakawa: Ultimately, I am looking at a full-blown film industry (on Maui), but that will take a number of years to develop.

We have to start off with baby steps… the “cart and horse” kind of deal. We don’t have enough labor to fill all of the positions if we wanted to do a full-on film; don’t have fullon studios that we want. So we have to develop slowly, like the (Maui Film Studios) that we do have now.

That’s a big first step… If Socrates (Buenger of Maui Film Studios) can attract clientele to fill this, then they can afford to build a little bit more, then a bit more, and slowly expand.

You can’t expect the whole package to drop out of the sky, and spend hundreds of millions of dollars at one time. And even if it did, we don’t have the staffing locally to fill all the jobs that would be created… (We need to) get the soundstage going, then try to create all the infrastructure and personnel to support it.

HF&VM: Would you like to see the production tax credit increased to 40 percent, as Ryan Kavanaugh has proposed? (Ed. note: Relativity Media’s Ryan Kavanaugh has lobbied for increased tax incentives in order to build a studio on Maui. See page 12 for more.)

AA: What we’re trying to do is build our industry. Yes, originally we were looking at 40 percent, but not a long-term 40 percent. Just long enough to get the (production industry) started to attract business here and get a good start. We do need to attract someone here to build the studios to begin with. And something like a 40-percent boost would have allowed us to at least put out feelers and say, “Hey, this can be economically viable.”

HF&VM: Did you have an expiration date for this “40-percent boost”?

AA: By the very nature of the business, I 10

don’t believe the state would be able to sustain a 40-percent long-term. And when you put a cap on the total amount of expenditures (which is $15 million per production), the 40 percent is tempered by the cap. So whether it’s 25 percent or 40 percent, the cap remains $15 million. The smaller companies would be able to come in and take advantage of a bigger portion of it, so it would help to a degree unless you remove the cap, but essentially it doesn’t have that much of an impact.

HF&VM: Are you in favor of increasing the cap?

AA: At this point, we’re back to the cart and horse kind of a thing. We have to move slowly. We can work with what we have. I certainly would like to have a bigger advantage, but statewide that might not be fair to Oahu.

Every community has its own peculiar attraction to the industry. What production wants on Oahu is not what they want on Maui. We all have a tourist industry, but people come to Maui for different reasons than they do for Oahu.

The difference is how much money (Maui) can spend to build its industry. For me, it’s more important than that; instead of 40 percent as a cap or 40 percent as a percentage, maybe getting $60 million or $80 million as a total amount that we could expend would be more helpful.

HF&VM: Has there been any consideration, for instance, that rather than face an uphill battle to get 40 percent that the county offer additional dollar incentives—like hiring more Maui hires?

AA: Part of the package we’re talking about requires using and training the local community to be able to get into the jobs. But you cannot train overnight. And working with the unions to be able for new hires to qualify (for membership) gets a little bit tricky. So you have to balance the union requirements, the ability for us to develop college (training) classes, and absorb the right kind of talent for the right kind of film as they come in.

HF&VM: In the last two or three years,

HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

Maui County has had a lack of big productions filming there, with the exception of last year’s Blue Lagoon and a German indie production. Why aren’t there more productions coming to Maui?

AA: The point is, we are trying to attract more shows, which is why we’re doing what we’re doing. In order for us to do the big productions, we have to have the facilities, we have to have staffing, and we have to build up to the capabilities of having good-size productions. That’s one of the reasons we changed directions from what we were before to what we are now. In the past, Maui has been used as a (backdrop).

We’re trying to make Maui a production haven so we can do a lot more here. The reason we don’t have a whole lot of film is because we don’t have the infrastructure capable of handling it. That’s the bottom line.

HF&VM: Warner Bros. reportedly had planned to film the new Tarzan film on Maui for as long as five months—spending about $60 million—then suddenly canceled to film in Great Britain. Do we know why the production canceled?

AA: I have no idea. What I do know is film studios do what film studios do for whatever reasons. But it’s a huge step for Maui just to be considered for such a huge picture. Two years ago we wouldn’t even be in the discussion.

One of the things I want to make really clear: This administration has set a direction for a final goal (for film production). The players involved in these things have to make individual business decisions. We don’t get involved in individual business decisions; it’s not our place. I cannot negotiate for any company or studio. I won’t get involved in any negotiations. What ends up, ends up. I do know we are in a better place today because we now have a soundstage. We have some (production) equipment over here that we did not have two years ago. Like any new business, there are hits and misses until they can find their niche. Once they start rolling and people are comfortable about what can be done (on Maui), the business becomes much more stable. HFV

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Maui Poised to Take Industry to a New Level

BY TEENA RASMUSSEN Director, Mayor’s Office of Economic Development, Maui County

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or the past two and a half years, under the direction of Mayor Alan Arakawa, our Mayor’s Office of Economic Development (OED) has been working diligently to grow and elevate the film industry within our county. The Maui Film Office, which resides in OED, has been laying the groundwork to create a directory of resources, create a Web site and permit process that is much more user-friendly, support film-friendly legislation, entice film equipment companies to locate equipment on our island, and work with potential investors to build and create film facilities within our county.

We are proud to say that in 2013, all of these efforts came to fruition and Maui is now poised to take this industry to a new level.

Filmmaui.com has a complete resource directory for the talent, equipment and services that exist within Maui County. We teamed up with Reel-Scout, which has created the very powerful software for this directory that allows each person or business to upload their own information and keep updating it as they continue to gain film credits and experience. The directory also has a location guide, and photos can be uploaded. The Web site also has comprehensive information about obtaining a film permit.

This year the film industry successfully lobbied the Hawaii Legislature, which passed legislation that increases the existing tax credit by five percent across the board, extends the tax credit by three years, and increases the credit cap from $8 million to $15 million per production. This increase, which means 25 percent in refundable production credit for qualified expenditures on Maui and the other Neighbor Islands, will bring new business to Maui County.

The credit cap increase will allow us to attract larger productions and secure bigger portions of those projects, as well.

In April of 2013, the momentous announcement came that the newly formed Maui Film Studios, LLC had signed their lease and cemented the deal that would give Maui its first soundstage facility. The Maui Film Office worked with owner Socrates Buenger, and shortly after the opening, assisted in holding Maui’s first ever “Film Job Fair,” which attracted hundreds of Maui residents interested in working in the film industry. The Maui Film Office also assisted Maui Film Studios by getting local equipment vendors involved and will support Buenger’s efforts to expand the facility beyond its current footprint.

Mayor Alan Arakawa will be launching a search for a new film commissioner to replace Harry Donenfeld, who has diligently served as film commissioner for the past two years. Our office will assist in this effort by tapping industry professionals from Maui County to be a part of the search committee. We want to thank Mr. Donenfeld, who worked so hard to elevate the film industry in our county. Going forward we will be thoughtful and deliberate in our search to find the right person to continue building this important industry for Maui County and the state as a whole. HFV Ed. Note: As of September 17, 2013, Harry Donenfeld is no longer the film commissioner on Maui.

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SPOTLIGHT ON MAUI

Film Studio Update: THE LATEST NEWS ON MAUI’S SOUNDSTAGES

M

aui’s film production industry looked bright three years ago when the Valley Isle was the backdrop for major productions from Clint Eastwood and Ang Lee, features starring the likes of Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston, and television’s top comedy, ABC’s Modern Family .

Then suddenly production pretty much dried up.

With the exception of a movie of the week, Blue Lagoon, the productions coming to Maui since then have been low-budget and short-term shoots.

Then in 2011, mega-producer and Rela-

tivity Media founder and CEO Ryan Kavanaugh, a part-time Maui resident, began courting Maui County officials, including Mayor Alan Arakawa, as well as state legislators both on Maui and Oahu.

Kavanaugh proposed building a $200-million studio complex on Maui. He lobbied state legislators to grant tax breaks that would increase the state’s financial incentives from 20 percent to 40 percent to build the studio.

Speaking at the Hawaii State Association of Counties conference that year, he outlined his plans to reinvigorate the film industry in Hawaii by building two studios that he said could create thousands of jobs. Kavanaugh and his partners, Shangri-La Entertainment, said they wanted to build 40-acre studios on Maui and Oahu. In his presentation, Kavanaugh estimated that if Hawaii doubled its income and infrastructure tax credits to 40 percent, that would mean $10.9 billion in

economic activity for the islands.

Two years later, Kavanaugh and Relativity Media are still lobbying for increased incentives in order to build their studios.

Meanwhile, a new facility dubbed Maui Film Studios was unveiled this past spring by owner/operator Socrates Buenger. The 22,000-square-foot space, built without public funds, is the only studio on Maui or any Neighbor Island.

Hollywood’s initial response to the facility has been positive, with three major features and one network pilot all looking at the space for possible filming, although one of those films, Tarzan, has reportedly decided to film in England instead. However, the five-percent tax incentive increase approved by the state of Hawaii earlier this year will likely attract even more productions to Maui Film Studios.

Mayor Arakawa emphasizes that he encourages both studio projects, stating, “I support Socrates and his Maui Film Studio and I support Ryan Kavanaugh in his efforts to build Maui film production.”

Stay tuned as the story develops. HFV

Governor Abercrombie Visits Maui Film Studios

H

awaii governor Neil Abercrombie made a special visit to Maui in August to tour the new 22,000square-foot Maui Film Studios, the first such facility on a Neighbor Island. During his visit, Abercrombie met with the facility’s CEO, Socrates Buenger.

Said Abercrombie, “I feel (this space) is going to be an absolutely fabulous attraction, especially (with) the people in Hollywood who have told me how much they love coming to Hawaii, and especially Maui, with the new tax credits.”

The increased production incentives are crucial to Hawaii’s production future since other tropical locales—Dominican Republic, Malaysia and Fiji—have created very generous incentives. Puerto Rico, for example, last year added a 20-percent credit for above-the-line talent.

Until this year, Hawaii’s only major production facility had been the Hawaii Film Studio at Diamond Head, where Hawaii Five-0 now shoots.

Maui Film Studios has five soundstages,

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the largest at 22,000 square feet. On the Big Island, construction is continuing on Lokahi Studios at the University of the Nations campus in Kona. Completion is expected late this year. It includes the Transmedia Center, a 30,000-square-foot facility featuring sound-recording studios, soundproof practice rooms, green-screen, motion-capture stages and multiple edit bays. The complex will also have a broadcasting studio, a chamber concert hall, a 600-seat cinema, and a multipurpose facility containing two studio shells that can serve as soundstages or live performance venues.

Abercrombie acknowledged that Hawaii’s film industry has seen phenomenal growth over the last decade.

“This should come as no surprise, considering the breathtaking natural beauty of our island paradise,” he said. “What is often overlooked are the considerable skills and experience of our local film industry artists and tradespeople, not to mention the generous economic incentives available in Hawaii.”

HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

In addition to well known hit television series like LOST and Hawaii Five-0 that are supported by local Hawaii crews, in 2010 alone, 10 feature films shot in the islands. That year production expenditures in Hawaii totaled more than $400 million, and contributed over $630 million to the economy.

“These are staggering figures, and rest assured, our administration is 100-percent committed to seeing these trends continue,” said Abercrombie.

The administration’s plan is “simple and focused,” he said.

It consists of: • Ensuring adequate resources for the Hawaii Film Office.

• Nurturing local filmmakers committed to documenting Hawaii’s story.

• Increasing support to aspiring student filmmakers with expanded educational opportunities.

• Forging public-private partnerships to build world-class film production facilities.

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SPOTLIGHT ON MAUI

Maui’s Got Talent A SPOTLIGHT ON THE VALLEY ISLE’S SOLE AGENCY

W

hen your business is the only one of its kind on an island, you may have a monopoly, but you also have to fill a lot of varied requests, juggling several things at once.

“I work smart and fast, but not hard,” said Cynthia Clark, owner of Chameleon Talent Agency based in Kihei, Maui. “I do everything because I’m the only one on Maui.

We’re not in L.A. where you can specialize, so at Chameleon we have to do everything.”

Clark must be doing something right; Chameleon is celebrating more than 19 years in business.

She’s provided talent for major feature films, television shows, commercials and print ads. Credits include Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter, Blue Lagoon, ABC’s Modern Family, NBC’s Parenthood, and commercials for WestJet, Allegra and Kia Motors.

“I don’t care what the title is, I just do what the production needs from me,” said Clark.

In 1982, Clark graduated from the Fash-

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ion Institute of Technology in New York City, where she majored in fashion and commercial photography. After working with several photographers in New York and Europe, she settled down as the studio manager of a commercial photo studio in New York. She coordinated national print campaigns for advertising agencies, hiring models and talent from top agencies, including Ford, Elite, Wilhelmina, and Cunningham, Escott & Dipene.

At Time Inc., she was HBO Studios media coordinator. During the development of their first 24-hour digital cable network, The Comedy Channel, Clark became associate director of five shows a day. When HBO and MTV’s comedy channels merged to become Comedy Central, Clark moved to Maui and opened Chameleon Talent Agency.

Most of Clark’s clients learn about Chameleon through word of mouth, the Internet, and the Maui Film Office. When Chameleon does work on large projects, like Hereafter when she had to hire more than

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100 extras for the Clint Eastwood film, she hires additional people for casting.

Clark also has developed “a consistent client base” that returns to Hawaii, and specifically Maui, each year. This includes Lands’ End, Hanna Andersson, J.Crew, REI and Travel & Leisure, as well as recent clients TJMaxx, Pottery Barn Teen and the upcoming Athleta—owned by parent company of the Gap and Banana Republic.

Clark has a database of more than 1,200 children, which are always in demand for catalogues. But her primary demographic, and the most requested, is in the 18 to 50 years range.

What does Clark look for in models and actors?

“For actors, personality, being humble and willing to learn,” she said. “And for models, being healthy and fit.”

She added, “Clients want them to look like tourists from the mainland, a resort person, or athletes. In some cases, it’s all about the fitness. Everyone I represent needs to be fit, long and lean, like with swimmers’ bodies, and a natural look, not high fashion or edgy.”

For more information, call 808-879-7817 or e-mail info@chameleontalent.com.

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SPOTLIGHT ON MAUI

Star Appeal!

LUXURY MOBILE TRAILER COMPANY SETS UP SHOP ON MAUI

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nyone who’s worked in the film production business can attest that, well, some actors have special requirements. Special meals, AC to a specific temperature, clothes organized by color, no eye contact with them ever.

And when you run one of the country’s largest luxury mobile trailer companies for productions—providing dressing rooms, classrooms, makeup rooms, private living spaces, and more—you get a lot of wacky requests.

“We had an actor—unnamed—who required his trailer to have a swimming pool on the inside!” said Jason Waggoner, president of Star Waggons. “So we put our heads together and planned to build on the inside a resistance lap pool.

“Fortunately, the actor or the studio decided against it just before we started.”

When his father, actor Lyle Waggoner (yes, the Carol Burnett Show co-star), ran the company, he rented a trailer to the production company of Lois & Clark and Teri Hatcher came back and said she wanted a few things changed, including reupholstering a lot of it, changing the floor plan, and just moving things around to her taste.

Star Waggons, a manufacturer and supplier, has had most of the market on lockdown since 1979, when the elder Waggoner bought his first motorhome to lease out to the producers on his then-hit show, Wonder Woman.

After three years in the rental business, the company began customizing its motorhomes 16

and then building trailers from scratch.

They would build prototype trailers, rent them out, and then bring them back for finetuning based on the comments that they got from the people who used them. Past clients include Universal Studios for the television series Murder, She Wrote and Columbo, Paramount Pictures for Star Trek: The Next Generation, and Fox for True Colors.

Several years ago, Lyle Waggoner handed over the reins to sons Jason and Beau, and today, Star Waggons has trailers from its more than 700-strong fleet in four mainland cities, and a few more in Vancouver, Canada.

In a bold move, the company will now have as many as eight of its motorhomes in Kahului, Maui, at Maui Film Studios. The administration of Maui Mayor Alan Arakawa hopes to create a major production hub in the county. Star Waggons has partnered with actor/stunt person/singer and Maui resident Branscombe Richmond to head the Maui enterprise.

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“My dad and Branscombe have been friends for a long time,” said Waggoner. “It’s a specialized business with special requirements.”

Richmond called Jason Waggoner earlier this year about sending the trailers to Hawaii.

“We had done some work in Hawaii, sending our trailers out and back,” said Waggoner.

“Branscombe said he was working with the new Maui Film Studios, so we decided that it would be a good place to set up shop.”

From a locations standpoint, the Waggoner brothers realized that more productions were deciding to film on the Neighbor Islands.

“We don’t see that stopping anytime soon,” said Waggoner. “We want to have enough trailers in Hawaii to handle two to three features at a time; base camp equipment, including two room trailers, makeup, wardrobe and single cast trailers.”

All of these trailers have to be pretty much identical. If actors on the same show feel that the other actor has a better trailer than they

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do, they’re not happy.

“The key is to keep everybody happy,” said Waggoner.

The company has several models to choose from. In some cases, day players— maybe ones who just got into the business— get a five-room trailer with all of them staying in one. Then there’s the two-room trailer, and single-rooms. All of these are decorated elaborately. That makes it difficult for actors to complain about anything.

The trailers, which are designed and built at the company’s headquarters in Los Angeles specifically for the production industry, are rented on a daily and weekly basis. Typical weekly rate is about $1,500/week for single cast and in the $2,000 to $2,500 range for wardrobe trailers.

In the last few years, production trailers have “gone green,” said Waggoner. “Many of the old trailers contained formaldehyde. We have never used any of those.”

Star Waggons prides itself on green building.

“All the materials we use have been recycled, including the wood,” he said. “We try to use as many LEDs as possible or other low voltage lighting.”

Star Waggons are built to be “user-friend-

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ly” for both transportation personnel and the actor occupants. Each trailer undergoes an extensive checklist to ensure its perfect condition when dispatched to a job, according to Waggoner.

A large staff of service men and trucks stand by to deal with any problem that might occur in the field to resolve it as soon as possible. Since the company’s trailers are built “in-house,” they’re able to make repairs quickly and in many cases make custom changes when requested. Every effort is made to keep “down time” to a

very minimum, if not eliminate it entirely, said Waggoner.

Each month, Star Waggons manufactures or refurbishes between four to eight of its iconic film set trailers. On the more expensive side are the 45-foot makeup trailers, which cost upwards of $350,000 to build. On the inexpensive end are the multi-cast trailers, which still cost between $40-$60,000 to produce. HFV For information about Star Waggons go to www.starwaggons.com.

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SPOTLIGHT ON MAUI

Maui Filmmaker Selected to Direct Film on Jazz Legend

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enneth K. Martinez Burgmaier, a Maui filmmaker, director/producer, and host of Jazz Alley TV & HawaiiONTV.com Networks, was recently selected to direct and produce a film and national TV special on saxophonist Wayne Shorter for the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz.

Shorter, who recently turned 80, was presented with the Institute’s Lifetime Achievement Award on September 16 at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC. Many of the biggest names in the music world attended, including Herbie Hancock, Robin Ford and Roy Hargrove, who all helped pay tribute to the late George Duke.

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Martinez Burgmaier also produced a TV special/film on the Monk Institute’s prestigious jazz competition held at the Smithsonian Institute. This year it featured the saxophone, with judges Branford Marsalis, Jimmy Heath, Brian Blade and others. Fourteen young saxophonists from around the world competed, and Melissa Aldana, 24, took home the title.

Of all the directors and producers in America, Martinez Burgmaier and his Mauibased Jazz Alley TV/HawaiiONTV.com production company were selected. Throughout his career, Martinez Burgmaier has earned many awards, including an Emmy, and has received recognition at events such as the Sundance Film Festival, the Billboard Music Awards, and the Hawaii International Film Festival. His work has been featured on National PBS, HBO, BET, ABC World News Tonight, CNN, ABC, NBC, CBS,

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BRAVO, National Geographic, Showtime, Viacom, A&E, VH1, and Australia TV. His acclaimed Jazz Alley TV series is celebrating 23 years on broadcast TV. HFV For more information, visit www.jazzalleytv.com.

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SPOTLIGHT ON MAUI

Top Chef< to Film on Maui

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his October, Emmy and James Beard Award-winning series Top Chef will do about a week of filming on Maui, including at the island’s newest luxury hotel, the Andaz, in Wailea, where the Mission Productions show will be based.

Filming begins October 3 with the group’s arrival at Kahului Airport, then in subsequent days at Wailea Beach fronting the luxurious Andaz Hotel. Other locations include Iao Valley State Park, Waikani Falls, and in Hana at Hamoa and Waianapanapa state parks.

The Wailea Beach filming will feature as many as four outrigger canoes arriving with what’s needed to do the cooking competition on Andaz Hotel property. The canoes will be rowed ashore either by local guests or hosts, while the main cast waits on shore to greet their arrival.

Season 11 premieres October 2, with the show starting in New Orleans. Returning to the judges table in season 11 are lead judge Tom Colicchio, Gail Simmons, Hugh Acheson, New Orleans’ own Emeril Lagasse, and host Padma Lakshmi. HFV

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Preview: Hawaii International Film Festival 2013

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he 33rd annual Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) returns this month, October 10 – 20, with 211 films and events on Oahu, as well as four days of film screenings on Kauai and Hawaii Island from October 24 – 27. The 2013 installment of HIFF features a special focus on contemporary cinema, beach screenings, and its sixth Student Showcase for filmmakers under 18.

The 15 European films may be HIFF’s strongest ever thanks to the organization’s partnership with EuroCinema Hawai’i. In collaboration with the Vilcek Foundation, the New American Filmmakers section focuses on the contributions of American immigrants to the film world. There’s also an excellent array of films from Asia, as well as a Pacific Islander focus, including the Made in Hawaii section. There’s also a new section for documentary films that makes them easier to find.

Also new this year are screenings at Consolidated Koko Marina 8, free screenings of The Pacific ‘Other’: A Retrospective at the Doris Duke Theater, and the closing night film at the Hawaii Theatre Center. HIFF has also expanded its Creative Lab program with several free events at The Modern Honolulu in Waikiki.

Seminars to be held at the Modern include: BROADBAND ACCELERATOR: A CONVERSATION WITH BING CHEN A one-on-one discussion with Chen, who serves as the YouTube Global Creator Development & Management Lead at Google.

BUSINESS OF ACTING: THE INSIDE SCOOP ON CASTING SAG-AFTRA presents a comprehensive workshop on the inner processes of casting diverse projects, starting with a dynamic panel of industry casting directors, producers, directors and actors.

CINEMA AND THE PACIFIC ‘OTHER’ In this special panel discussion accompanying the retrospective film series, the festival 22

will examine 20th century depictions of the South Pacific through a western lens. Panelists will include moderator University of Hawaii professor and filmmaker Vilsoni Hereniko, New Zealand scholar Selina Tusitala Marsh, Los Angeles-based filmmaker Arthur Dong, Hawaii Pacific University professor Houston Wood, and Alice Somerville, assistant professor at the University of Hawaii.

WRITERS ACCELERATOR: A CONVERSATION WITH BOBBY MORESCO A one-on-one conversation with Academy Award-winning actor, director, producer and writer Moresco (Million Dollar Baby and Crash).

HIFF has expanded its Creative Lab program this year. HIFF and the Creative Industries Division (CID) of the Hawaii State Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) have launched new tracks in screenwriting and broadband content as part of Creative Lab, which will hold accelerator programs in each of these two areas during HIFF in order to accelerate the growth of Hawaii’s creative content industry.

Through hands-on mentorship, panels and workshops in writing, acting, music, new media and finance, Creative Lab provides entrepreneurs with the business and creative skill sets necessary to profit from their intellectual property and expand their distribution channels.

“Our vision is to establish Hawaii as a center of creative development, providing business opportunities in media, music and the arts,” said Robert Lambeth, HIFF deputy director.

“The program provides an environment to connect, collaborate and create content for export on multiple platforms, through guidance from industry leaders who are committed to mentoring talent,” added CID chief officer, Georja Skinner.

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An impressive collection of organizations and strategic partners is collaborating to expand the scope of the Creative Lab at HIFF program, which was launched at HIFF in 2012. Leading industry organizations participating in the program include the Writers Guild of America, West (WGAW); Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA); SAG Indie; Hawaii Academy of Recording Artists (HARA); the State of Hawaii Film Office and Hawaii’s county film offices.

For more on the Creative Lab at HIFF program, see Michael Andres Palmieri’s article on page 24.

HIFF and The Modern Hotel Celebrate 100 Years of Film in Hawaii The Modern Honolulu hotel in Waikiki will host an exhibition celebrating 100 years of film production in Hawaii in conjunction with the annual Hawaii International Film Festival.

The exhibit will include movie stills, theatre cards, movie posters and memorabilia from television shows that have filmed in Hawaii. There also will be vintage movie stills exhibited around the Modern Hotel during HIFF. The Hawaii Film Office is partnering with the Hawaii State Library, which is also celebrating 100 years serving the people of Hawaii. The library is sharing photos and artwork to expand the exhibit. In addition, the Hawaii Film Office is working with Hawaii Fashion Incubator, which is celebrating October as Hawaii Fashion Month.

The film office is partnering with the University of Hawaii Costume Collection in mounting an exhibit of vintage costumes that were seen in films highlighting Hawaii. The exhibit is October 2 and 3 as part of Hawaii Fashion Month. The costumes and movie stills will be exhibited at the Outfit Location below the TJ Maxx store at Ward Center.

Both exhibits are being curated by Hawaii Film Office employee Benita Brazier.

The Modern Honolulu is located at 1775 Ala Moana Boulevard.

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Creative Lab at HIFF Launches Broadband, Writing and Producing Accelerators for 2013

BY MICHAEL ANDRES PALMIERI Director, Creative Lab at HIFF

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his year marks the second year for Creative Lab at HIFF, an initiative cofounded by State of Hawaii Creative Industries Division/Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) and the Hawaii International Film Festival to increase opportunities for Hawaii’s filmmakers and creative content industry.

I am thrilled to be working with HIFF, the State of Hawaii, Hawaii’s film offices and our partners and sponsors to fulfill this vision of developing Hawaii as a world-class destination for creative talent in media, content and music seeking the perfect environment to collaborate and accelerate their projects and careers.

Our mission is to generate quality, immersive programs in which local, national and international creative entrepreneurs in the fields of motion pictures, television, new media, music, fashion and technology can connect, collaborate and create in order to accelerate their careers and projects in a collaborative, supportive environment, and be coached by some of the most creative minds in the world. In so doing, creating a community of creative entrepreneurs, whose projects become worthy of further investment by both the state and private sources, will firmly establish the State of Hawaii as the creative nexus of the Pacific Rim. In addition to our general sessions by keynote speakers Bobby Moresco, Academy Award-winning screenwriter/producer, and Bing Chen, global development content director for YouTube/Google, this year we are launching several new tracks.

Our first intensive is the Creative Lab Broadband Accelerator, October 10 – 12. As defined by the Producers Guild of America, “broadband” is the distribution term for programming whose primary delivery is via the Web. This includes fictional stories, and reality and lifestyle programming. Broadband 24

Accelerator is for individuals who have an idea for and/or are already producing content that they are distributing via the Web. Our intention is to provide them with the latest information and training from coaches who have successfully created and made money from their content. Six to eight participants will be selected for this three-day program.

Our coaches include: Bernie Su: Emmy Award-winning creator of the Web series sensation The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, a modern adaptation of Pride and Prejudice. It has generated millions of views and Su has been able to crowdfund over $400,000 for season two and sold thousands of DVDs of season one.

Wendy Jo Carlton: Created the Web series Easy Abby, the story of a young woman in Chicago looking for love and trying to make ends meet. She has generated over 10 million views, she is selling the series on iTunes, and is winning awards and accolades all over the world.

Laura Allen: Head of Production for Yahoo! and is part of a team that regularly vets content and producers for Yahoo! to acquire.

Bing Chen: YouTube Global Creator Development & Management Lead, Google.

Chen will be our keynote Broadband Accelerator speaker for the 2013 Creative Lab at HIFF. He will lead a session for general audiences, and spend one hour with our Broadband Accelerator participants in a small group setting.

Our second intensive is the Creative Lab Writers Accelerator, October 16 – 19. The program is specifically designed for writers with a motion picture, television or Web series script who require support to take their stories and their craft to the next level.

Creative Lab at HIFF has partnered with the Writers Guild of America West, Diversity Department. The WGAW is providing three amazing coaches to work with the writers. They are: Julia Cho: A television writer with stints on HBO’s Big Love and Fox’s Fringe. She is currently writing for ABC’s Betrayal.

Dennis Leone: One of the first Latino writers to develop, sell and executive produce his own series, Resurrection Boulevard. He has worked in motion pictures and broadband, as well. Most recent project was writing a Web series for PBS.

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Ligiah Villalobos: Held several development and production executive positions prior to turning to writing. Her diverse career has had her write on the hit animated series for Nickelodeon called Go Diego Go, and most recently she wrote and executive produced the Sundance Film Festival award-winning film La Misma Luna.

Our keynote speaker for the Writers Accelerator is Academy Award-winning writer and producer for Crash and Million Dollar Baby, Bobby Moresco. He will lead a session for general audiences, and spend time in a oneon-one coaching session with our Writers Accelerator participants in a small group setting.

Our third program is the Creative Lab Producers Accelerator, which includes a case study and screening of Fruitvale Station with producer Nina Yang Bongiovi and executive producer Michael Y. Chow.

The 2013 Creative Lab at HIFF will also feature a New Media Camp taught by mentors from the YOMYOMF Network; Sound X Vision, which features a collaboration of programs with the Hawaii Academy of Recording Arts (HARA); as well as film screenings, actors workshops, and a director’s session.

Whether you’re a writer, storyteller, musician, actor, producer or YouTube creator, Creative Lab at HIFF brings together industry leaders to mentor our creative entrepreneurs, providing them with the business and creative skill sets necessary to expand opportunities in the global entertainment landscape.

For more information about Creative Lab programs, please visit www.hiff.org or contact me at palmieri@hiff.org. HFV

Creative Lab is led by director Michael Andres Palmieri, a Los Angeles-based producer, writer and instructor, whose executive, producing and writing career spans motion pictures, television and new media. Palmieri has a long history in Hawaii – his first producing credit was on the feature <Six Days, Seven Nights, which was shot on Kauai, and he was the Director of the Screenwriting Program for the Maui Writers Conference and Retreat for five years. He has mentored writers, taught and lectured at USC, UCLA, Chapman University, Columbia College, American Film Institute (AFI), and the University of Texas – Los Angeles.

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HIFF Returns to Kauai I

BY SUE KANOHO Director, Kauai Visitors Bureau

t’s been many years since Kauai has hosted a full schedule of films from the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF). So we were so pleased to hear that this year HIFF will return to Kauai October 24-27.

HIFF was established in 1981 and is a non-profit organization dedicated to the advancement of cultural exchange and media awareness in the Pacific Rim. The organization’s programming has two specific mandates: to be a festival of record for emerging films from Asia and the Pacific, and to present the top festival films from around the world. HIFF annually screens

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more than 200 films from over 50 countries and presents content and panels in film, music, mobile entertainment and gaming.

The 2013 event kicks off with a theme of “Celebrating a Century of Filmmaking in Hawaii” during the dates of October 10 – 20 for Oahu and October 24 – 27 for Big Island and Kauai. With that theme, Kauai reflects on the long history we have had with Hollywood. Some of the many Kauaishot films that have become iconic to our island include: White Heat in 1934, South Pacific, Blue Hawaii, King Kong, Raiders of the Lost Ark, Throw Momma from the Train, Flight of the Intruder, Honeymoon in Vegas, Jurassic Park, Six Days /Seven Nights, and more recent fare such as Tropic Thunder, Soul Surfer, Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides and The Descendants.

“We’re very excited to see HIFF return to Kauai this year,” said Kauai Mayor Bernard Carvalho. “Film is such an important part of

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our culture and our economy, and having a venue where cutting-edge productions can be enjoyed will, among other things, continue to inspire a new generation of young filmmakers here on Kauai.

“We’re delighted to see that the opening film for HIFF on Oahu will be The Wind Rises, the final film by the famed Japanese animation director Hayao Miyasaki.”

Other films being featured are A River Changes Course, a Cambodian documentary directed by Kalyanee Mam, Mt. Zion, a New Zealand film directed by Tearepa Kahi, and others. To view the list of the films being offered, go to www.hiff.org.

Kauai is grateful to the venues that have agreed to show the films from HIFF: Kukui Grove Cinema, Waimea Theatre, and the St. Regis Princeville Resort. Special thanks goes to the County of Kauai Film Commission for their initial support of funding. Stay tuned for more details to come. HFV

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A Kauai Movie Tour JAPANESE MEDIA VISIT SOME OF THE GARDEN ISLE’S FAMOUS FILM SITES

BY ART UMEZU Kauai Film Commissioner

auai’s famous movie locations and its history will be featured later this year in Agora, Japan Airlines’ in-flight magazine for executive class members, which appears on flights and at executive class lounges around the world.

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Tokyo-based photographer Shingi Miyaji and writer Michiyo Tsubota spent four days on Kauai in September covering several accessible movie locations, including Manuwaiopuna Falls in Hanapepe, which was the opening scene of the original Jurassic Park, filmed in 1992.

Island Helicopters, which has exclusive landing rights near the waterfall, provided the complimentary flight and tour.

The helicopter also flew above Honopu Beach on Na Pali News media for Japan Airlines toured Kauai movie locaCoast, where tions including those at McBryde Garden at the National Tropical Botanical Garden in Lawai (above). producer Jerry film, She Gods of Shark Reef in 1956. NearBruckheimer landed via a seacraft on the first day of shooting Disney’s Pirates of the by, the lookout at Wailua River overlooks Caribbean: On Stranger Tides in July 2010.

Kamokila Village, which became an African He later tweeted that these are “some amazvillage scene for Outbreak with Dustin Hoffing locations.” Honopu was also the location man in 1994. for Paramount’s King Kong, directed by The visiting media also traveled to Lawai Dino Laurentis in 1976. to McBryde Garden at the National TropiOther locations covered on the tour cal Botanical Garden, where dinosaur eggs included the historic Coco Palms Hotel in were found amongst giant trees in the dense Wailua, where Elvis Presley’s Blue Hawaii jungle in Jurassic Park. Scenes from Pirates was filmed in 1961, and where night scenes and Honeymoon in Vegas were also filmed with Johnny Depp slinging through the at McBryde Garden. John Wayne’s Donopalms were shot for Pirates. The hotel was van’s Reef filmed at Lawai Kai beach in 1962, also the location for the black and white cult after Blue Hawaii wrapped.

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Further west, the group visited Kauai’s “biggest little town,” Hanapepe, which was the location for the Vietnam War movie, Flight of the Intruder, starring Danny Glover, and the miniseries The Thorn Birds, starring Richard Chamberlain and Rachel Ward. For the latter production, Hanapepe was converted into the Australian outback.

Hanapepe was also home to Disney’s animated movie, Lilo & Stitch.

On Kauai’s north shore, the group visited Hanalei Beach, where Alex Payne’s The Descendants, with George Clooney, filmed in 2010. The media crew met and interviewed musician Koko Kanealii at Tahiti Nui Bar in Hanalei town, where Descendants filmed a scene with Clooney and the Kanealii’s Hawaiian trio.

Near the end of the trip, the group visited Limahuli Garden, where Jurassic Park filmed a scene, and the adjacent Waikanaloa Cave, which became a fountain of youth locale in Pirates. Nearby Ke’e Beach is where Capt. Jack Sparrow and Joshamee Gibbs walked into a beautiful golden auburn sunset towards Na Pali Coast in Pirates’ next to last scene. HFV

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Hollywood Sands of Time

BY PAUL BOOTH Guest Columnist

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he Hawaiian Islands have contributed to some of cinema’s top honored films, including From Here to Eternity (1953 Best Picture), the only Best Picture winner in Oscar history to be filmed in a United States territory; Jurassic Park (1993 multiple Oscar winner), directed by Steven Spielberg; and The Descendants (2011 Adapted Screenplay winner), directed by Alexander Payne.

It was through my experience making films, my love of Hawaii and passion for the movies that led me to being a film historian. I interviewed Marvin Levy, marketing consultant for Amblin Entertainment on Jurassic Park, and Phedon Papamichael ASC, cinematographer for The Descendants, about their experiences working and filming in Hawaii.

In 1992, Kauai was Spielberg’s playground to explore the theme of man versus nature by bringing dinosaurs back to life through groundbreaking computer-generated imagery. It was this technology and the exquisite nature of Kauai that made Jurassic’s story of man’s harm to nature so effective. It must have been intriguing to blend huge animatronics and state-of-the-art visual effects with Kauai’s picturesque landscape. Levy agreed, adding, “Kauai made that movie. It could not have been done on the back lot.”

“It was the experience of Raiders of the Lost Ark and the people of Kauai that brought us back,” said Levy.

Spielberg and crew did return to make a breakthrough in cinema, but there were minor details that stood in the way, like dealing with “real,” not simulated, rain.

Levy said it was “a challenge” having all the 30

electrical equipment in a rainy jungle area.

“That part of the challenge was what any film (production) would deal with,” he said. The real challenge was “there were a number of times we’d stop filming to dry the texture of the (sick triceratops) dinosaur. The skin would change because of water or humidity. It would start to look fake.”

I found it to be amazing that these filmmakers had pushed filmmaking and computer technology this far, but that the skin of a dinosaur would cause delays!

What did working on Jurassic Park give Levy?

“It was nice to be part of a breakthrough,” he said. “To be involved with a movie that had a great story, broke boxoffice records and was an adventure for the crew and audience. That’s a good feeling.

To be part of something that is a win for everyone, that’s special. It also introduced me to Kauai; I’ve returned a few times.

Again, Kauai is the star of the movie.”

The film’s team would return to Hawaii for two sequels after the aloha spirit helped catapult Jurassic Park to become one of the top grossing films of all time.

The Descendants is one of the few films that have a story line actually placing it in Hawaii. Most films use Hawaii to portray another country, like Costa Rica in Jurassic Park.

I told Phedon Papamichael that I thought The Descendants captured Hawaii and its imagery like no film to date.

“That is the biggest compliment we get,” said Papamichael. “For me, it seemed like this movie was made by someone born in Hawaii. The photography of the Pali on Oahu and Hanalei Bay on Kauai astonished me when I saw it in theaters.”

I was taken back to how well Papamichael controlled Hawaii’s weather in his images. How did rapid weather changes affect his job?

“We had to move quickly,” he said. “I realized Hawaii had micro-climates. The weather lent to the mood of the story, but there is only so much you can plan. You have your toolbox and do your best, that’s all any filmmaker can do.

“Every film has different challenges.

With this one, Alexander (Payne, the film’s

HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

director) wanted realism. So my job was to keep the camera out of the way, be flexible. Alexander’s films are more about story than drawing attention to the shots. In this film, it made some shots easier.”

Had Papamichael and Payne watched any Hawaii movies prior to filming here?

“We didn’t watch any Hawaii films,” said Papamichael. “We wanted to have our own look. The images (of Hawaii) are there; we didn’t need to create them. We didn’t say, ‘let’s use this shot for this reason.’ If anything, we’d look at movies about nature and discuss ways to capture nature.”

The Descendants was not just to show another postcard of Hawaii, but gave audiences an authentic portrait of life in Hawaii. Papamichael agreed.

“Exactly, I think people from Hawaii see that more than anything—like the shots of downtown and other images we wanted in the movie that showed Hawaii’s realities,” he said.

I had the good fortune to work on The Descendants. On set I noticed Papamichael and Payne were in perfect sync. So what was their shooting plan like?

“Alexander knows what he wants and doesn’t do a lot of coverage,” said Papamichael. “Sometimes a director wants coverage of a performance for technical reasons, but Alexander gets what he needs.

I like that. Plus he’s very collaborative.”

Papamichael emphasized that Hawaii is “a special place.”

“I hope the people who live there take the time to look around and really understand the beauty,” he said. “There is a lot of land, so take the time to cherish it. It’s so beautiful; all you have to do is just be there. It was an honor to capture Hawaii in a way it had never been captured before.” HFV Contributing writer: Erin Sneath Paul Booth is an award-winning film producer with two nationally released features. His work has screened in festivals and venues around the world. As a film historian, he has curated film series in Hawaii and California. He has published theatrical and DVD reviews, film festival coverage, and filmmaker interviews.

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Jurassic Park IV News The good news for Jurassic Park fans is that there will be a fourth installment of the franchise, titled Jurassic World.

The still-up-in-the-air news is whether Hawaii will be one of the film’s locations, as it has been in two of the last three JP films.

What the production industry here does know is that back in June, JP scouts took serious looks at Oahu and considered Kauai, and then quietly shut down the Oahu production office. Originally scheduled for a 2014 release, the film has been pushed back to June 12, 2015.

Sources say naming the film Jurassic World strengthens the rumors that the film returns to Isla Nubar, the site of the original Jurassic Park, and presents a story in which the dinosaur theme park is actually up and running again. Sources say there will be at least one new dinosaur in this film.

According to sources without authority to talk on the record, Jurassic World will film in Louisiana, Kauai, and in Baton MRouge’s Raleigh Studios. Universal Pic-

tures officials were not available for comment.

Jurassic World is being directed by the film’s co-writer Colin Trevorrow and produced by Steven Spielberg, who directed the first two installments. In addition to Spielberg, producers are Patrick Crowley, Frank Marshall, and Thomas Tull. The Universal Pictures film will be shot in 3D. In other sequel-related news, Universal Pictures at one point selected Matthew McConaughey for the lead role in its bigbudget Magnum, P.I. movie. The studio reportedly offered him $15 million, plus 15 percent of all profits. But the actor turned it down.

Really?

The producer of the film, if it ever gets made, is Brian Grazer. Rawson Marshall Thurber wrote the screenplay. The film has been in development since 2006.

“If I could make any movie next it would be Magnum, P.I.,” said Thurber. “I wrote a script that I love at Universal—the tone was very much Beverly Hills Cop—there were no short shots, no cameos, no moustaches.

International Productions Locations & Production Management Print • Video • Film

It’s an action movie that’s funny and I’m very, very proud of the script.

“I got close a couple of times with some pretty good actors and it just never quite came together. I couldn’t seem to convince Universal to roll the dice on it. I think it’s a big hit just sitting there and I wish I could convince them.”

It appears also to be rough waters for Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales, the fifth appearance for Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. The film has clearly missed its target 2015 date and now will shoot for a summer 2016 release, according to producer Jerry Bruckheimer.

The producer told the Hollywood Reporter that “we have an outline everyone loves but the script is not done. We want a script that everyone’s signed off on and a budget that everyone’s signed off on.”

The first Pirates movie debuted in 2003, with the next three released in 2006, 2007 and 2011—all from Disney. Joachim Ronning and Espen Sandberg will co-direct the new installment in the fifth highest-grossing franchise of all time.

Alas, Pirates, which filmed the majority of its fourth installment on Oahu and Kauai, is headed for the Virgin Islands for the fifth installment.

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Cell: (808) 368-1303 Email: AhunasSpecialEffects@yahoo.com ISSUE THREE 2013 HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE

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Updated Version of Kauai Movie Book Set for Release

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he New Kauai Movie Book, by Chris Cook, is an updated version of The Kauai Movie Book, originally published in 1996. The new version runs 168 pages, including 40 added pages of Kauai films made between 1996 and 2012.

The full-color book, from Mutual Publishing in Honolulu, features dozens of Kauai film photos and is a complete look at major movies that were filmed on Kauai, beginning with the classic Lois Weber-directed White Heat, filmed on the west side of Kauai in 1933, through the most recent Kauai-made films: Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, the Bethany Hamilton biopic Soul Surfer, and the Academy Award-winning film The Descendants.

The theme of the original book, and of the update, is the story of filmmaking on Kauai told mainly from the viewpoint of Kauai’s people. Expanding on this theme led Cook to add a couple interesting film projects produced locally, including the Ke Kula Ni’ihau O Kekaha Learning Center’s student film The True Story of Kaluaiko’olau, and the post-Iniki island recovery Kauai Aloha music video.

According to Cook, the update would have been impossible to compile without the ongoing assistance of Sue Kanoho, Kauai Visitors Bureau executive director; Art Umezu, Kauai film commissioner; Angela Tillson, a location filming coordinator with A Whale of a Time Productions; and Ken Levine and Judy Drosd, former Kauai film commissioners.

“Judy’s expertise now runs through the entire book, as she aided me back in the mid-

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‘90s throughout the writing and image gathering for the first edition,” said Cook.

Mutual Publishing’s publisher Bennett Hymer and his able assistant Jane Gillespie returned, too, “nurturing” the new book along during the months of production work, Cook added.

“I count all as long-time friends and associates, which added that extra touch of aloha throughout the project,” he said.

Sadly missing from the Kauai ohana this time around is David Boynton, who died tragically in 2007 after falling from a trail in remote Miloli’i Valley on the Na Pali Coast on his way to photograph sea turtles.

“Dave’s contemporary landscape photos grace the pages of the original section,” said Cook.

An amazing aspect of both editions is the multi-threaded web of connections between the Kauai-made films. For instance, Steve Stafford, owner of Studio Wings in Camarillo, California, served as aerial filming coordinator for the Harrison Ford film Six Days/Seven Nights, based at Lihue Airport in 1998.

“Steve provided many of the photos for that film appearing in the new edition,” said Cook.

“In interviewing Steve, I discovered he is the godson of renowned director John Ford, and that he was on location with Ford in 1962 at Nawiliwili Harbor and elsewhere during the filming of John Wayne’s Donovan’s Reef.”

Then going through Donovan’s Reef stills, Cook spotted Stafford and his brother in a one-of-a-kind Lawai-Kai filming overview

HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

photo, which the author sent to Stafford. The stills were provided to Cook by Akiko Senda, the daughter of renowned Kauai photographer W.J. Senda, in a stack of vintage yellow 8x10 Kodak sheet film boxes crammed with his Kauai location filming stills from 1933 up to the 1960s.

“I could write another book detailing just these intriguing Kauai movie connections,” said Cook. “They reaffirm the unique ways Kauai-style aloha reaches out to on-location filmmakers and stars, making Kauai filming much more of a rewarding experience than just employing an island with spectacular backdrops.”

Cook’s life has been woven into the Kauai filmmaking web, as well, and is reflected in this new edition.

“My family has known Bethany Hamilton’s family since the late 1970s; in fact, I was there the day her photographer brother, Noah, was born,” said Cook. “Now Noah’s photos are featured in the Soul Surfer section.”

Now that the new version has been completed, Cook has moved on to a new endeavor.

“I hope to add my own contribution to the world of Hawaii filmmaking through my current project, an expanded biography of the Native Hawaiian youth Opukaha’ia-Henry Obookiah, who initiated the Sandwich Island Mission in the 1810s,” he said. “I’ve been traveling to New England following his path.

I have hopes for a documentary film, and to write a screenplay based on my non-fiction book.” HFV

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Grace Under Pressure

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ardrobe stylists coordinate outfits from an array of clothing and accessories. They may work as freelancers, acquiring clothing from wherever they can to meet the needs of a film set or photo shoot.

The work environment is always fastpaced, and stylists must keep up with frequently changing fashion trends.

But wardrobe stylists are also confidantes and counselors that on occasion “must be a shoulder to lean on and ears open to just listen,” explains the Big Island’s Connie Cappos—by way of Los Angeles and Paris—a 20plus-year veteran of “the business.”

A short list of her clients includes Reese Witherspoon, Carmen Electra, Kobe Bryant, Roseanne Barr, Fleetwood Mac, Black, Margaret Cho, Prince, Nikon, Hilton Resorts, Bank of America, and still shoots for People, Spin, Rolling Stone, TV Guide, Newsweek, Sports Illustrated, and Entertainment Weekly.

Cappos and her husband moved to a very rural area of Hawaii Island more than a decade ago because she wanted a better quality of life than what she was experiencing on the mainland.

“My mainland experience in this business and in France, where I was a dresser, was a great, great time for me,” she says.“I learned a lot, but I wanted more serenity than I could get being in the middle of things.”

After moving back to L.A. from Europe, Cappos started a clothing design that became popular with celebrities, catching the attention of the Bangles in 1985. The group would be Cappos’ first tour experience, followed by a stint with Prince’s Love

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Sexy Girl tour.

These days Cappos’ primary and preferred business is doing commercials.

“I am such a good stylist I can make anybody look good,” says Cappos, laughing.

Part of her success is her tenaciousness to always be prepared.

“I can’t just run down to some Melrose Avenue boutique on the spur of the moment to buy clothes I need for a shoot,” she says.

“So I have to know what’s out there and hip and be ready to order at a moment’s notice, hopefully well in advance of the shoot.”

But there is one thing Cappos can’t always plan on in Hawaii: good weather.

“There are always challenges anywhere, but especially in Hawaii,” says Cappos. “I admit, I do love the challenges…

“I am never ripping my hair out because I can’t find something or control something.

I always find a way to get through it.”

It’s called grace under pressure.

“The challenge for me is when I have a lot of talent on set and it’s pouring rain and we’re knee-deep in mud, which is also pig poop,” she says. “I have to keep the wardrobe clean and in order.”

But Cappos’ job is also to keep the talent happy.

“You’re not just dressing people,” she says.

“You’re working very, very close to talent.

And the bigger the celebrity, the more they like to be comforted when they’re out in elements that are not comfortable.

“We’re mostly on locations since (Hawaii Island) doesn’t have stages or photo studio.”

Cappos also develops rapport with talent, a must for working so closely with them.

“If the talent doesn’t like you, you better

HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

Wardrobe stylist Connie Cappos huddles under an umbrella at a Big Island location for an Indiana Jones film.

believe you’re gone…really fast,” she says.

“Sometimes they just need me to hug them or tell them they’re fabulous.”

Cappos’ projects include ABC’s LOST, and the features filmed in the Hilo area, Predators and Indiana Jones.

On these two features, Cappos remembers sitting in the studio “aging and drying all the costumes.”

“People would say ‘what are you doing?’ and I would say ‘aging and drying.’ And I thought, ‘I have got to get back to styling,’” she says. “Styling really is the creative part.”

Cappos continues, “Styling is when you tell the world who you are; when people look at you. You give the talent that look that talks to them, takes them to the next level. We take an ordinary person and make them look like a rock star.” HFV For more information, contact Connie Cappos at 808-966-4890, condrew@hotmail.com or www.conniecappos.com.

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SAG-AFTRA Looks Toward a Bright Future for Local Talent

BY DAVID C. FARMER President, SAG-AFTRA Hawaii Local

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rofessional talent is alive and well and flourishing in Hawaii.

The two rival performing artists unions (Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists) finally merged in 2012 to become SAG-AFTRA, a far more powerful bargaining force on behalf of its members than its formerly individual parts.

In the Hawaii local, our 900-plus active members enjoy film work opportunities as a result of the passage of Act 88 in 2006, the refundable production tax credit enacted through the efforts of the local film industry unions, film offices and industry groups. In addition, Act 88’s economic benefit to the wider community is substantial and invaluable.

Since Act 88’s passage, Hawaii has seen an

increase in production activity, most notably in the banner year 2010, which brought in more than $300 million in film work.

This year alone, in addition to the ongoing Hawaii Five-0, we have hosted numerous projects such as The Hunger Games, Parenthood, Godzilla, Big Eyes, My Own Guide to Hawaii, Deep Tiki (formerly known as The Untitled Cameron Crowe Project), and national AARP commercials. And the year is not over.

As a result of this activity and the opportunities it provides, SAG-AFTRA membership continues to grow.

The Union, together with the UH Academy for Creative Media (ACM) and many independent coaches, teachers and an active theatre community, provide a training ground for actors who want to take their work to the next level. Ongoing training and skills development are critical to nurture and maintain for professional credibility in a competitive environment.

Hawaii actors continue to make impressive showings in work that was once the sole province of L.A. actors. With expanded training and opportunities for experience, our employed actor ranks will only grow.

As a result of technology, more local projects are being generated using the Union’s low-budget and new media agreements.

Recent examples include short films The Fishing Club and Angel By Thursday, and new media project To Be. Our local SAG-AFTRA prides itself on serving its members in an extremely user-friendly way. Although we have only one full-time professional staff member, executive director Brenda Ching has admirably served our members and the community, as well as both SAG and the new SAG-AFTRA boards, since 1985.

What remains ahead for our SAG-AFTRA local—in addition to our ongoing service to our members and to our community and the facilitation of major film projects—is the organizing of local commercial work that has for many years suffered from a lack of professional quality. The payoff is win/win: Advertising that is effective and work for our professional actors.

The future, in short, is extremely promising. HFV

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Hawaii Talent Spotlight NICHE MODELS AND TALENT

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iche Models and Talent is one of Hawaii’s most reputable and prestigious boutique agencies. Founded in 2009 by former model Shawna Erickson, the agency is built on the Greek ethos that “the individual is highly valued,” and is dedicated to finding and developing young talent, as well as guiding more established ones. This young company has seen exponential growth and huge success within the entertainment industries.

Erickson, who is CEO and president of Niche Models and Talent, is an industry veteran with over 20 years’ experience in both the national and international markets. Erickson’s experience and knowledge, coupled with the overwhelming wealth of talent on the island, has greatly contributed to the company’s rapid growth and success.

Niche has a broad spectrum of talent ranging from zero to 80 years, of all ethnicities, shapes and sizes, making this agency versatile and full of culture.

Niche has been involved with major productions, including Academy Award-winning film The Descendants, starring George Clooney, Godzilla, Planet of the Apes, as well as the hit shows LOST and Hawaii Five-0.

Niche’s objectives are simple. They’re a boutique style agency with an emphasis on quality and a commitment to helping models and talent achieve their goals.

The Niche team looks forward to continued success as a growing and fervent agency.

ADR AGENCY

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stablished in 1983, the ADR Agency has been servicing Hawaii’s film and video professionals for three decades!

As one of only two union signatory agents in Hawaii, the ADR Agency represents the best in both union and non-union talent in the Hawaii and Los Angeles markets.

Representing children and adults, clients who work with ADR talent can trust that they are working with professionals who understand the importance of keeping their skill and abilities at its very best.

ADR’s agents are the most experienced in our market. We understand the process and most importantly, we know our talent. We save our clients time and money in making sure that our efforts help to execute an efficient casting experience. And, ADR offers the most advanced and interactive talent website to help our clients get the information and submissions they need fast.

Our client list is extensive and includes every major project, campaign and production that has worked in Hawaii for the past 30 years.

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HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

Contact the ADR Agency at 1-888-902-3414 or visit our website at www.adragency.com!

CHAMELEON TALENT

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stablished in 1994 by agent Cynthia Clark, Chameleon Talent is unique in that it is the only talent agency on Maui.

Chameleon Talent is a full-service agency representing models and actors of all ages for film, television, video, commercial and photographic assignments. The agency also represents makeup artists, hair stylists, and wardrobe/costume departments.

Chameleon Talent even provides casting services!

Credits include films such as Clint Eastwood’s Hereafter and Blue Lagoon, TV hits such as ABC’s Modern Family and NBC’s Parenthood, and commercials for WestJet, Allegra and Kia Motors.

Whether you’re looking for talent in front of or behind the camera, you will find what you’re looking for here on Maui at Chameleon Talent!

For more information, visit www.chameleontalent.com or call 808879-7817.

CASTING*KAUAI

K

auai-based casting director Angela Tillson, owner of Casting*Kauai since 1997, is the only talent and model company offering professional, experienced and talented models, actors, artists, athletics, extras, voices and musicians. Before owning Casting*Kauai, she worked as the casting assistant for the previous owner for over 10 years. Tillson has over 24 years’ experience in the film industry in Hawaii, California and Europe, and she knows how to make your project run smoothly, within your budget and time frame.

Tillson prides herself on accomplishing clients’ set goals in finding the best available talent, whether it’s feature films, national commercials, TV shows, still shoots, fashion catalogues, documentaries, travel shows, music videos, resorts, or international projects.

Casting*Kauai’s client list includes: Commercials: Chase Sapphire Card, Hawaii Japan Tours, Land Rover, Hawaii Visitors Bureau, The Grand Hyatt Kauai, Kauai Visitors Bureau, The St. Regis Princeville Resort, American Girl, Kukuiula Development Company, Kauai Marriott Resort.

Features: The Descendants, Just Go With It, Jurassic Park, Jurassic Park: Lost World, Jurassic Park III, To End All Wars,

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Los Angeles • New wY York ork • Miami • Hawaii New Toll Toll Free Free Phone: one: 1-888-907-3557 New T Toll Free oll Fre Free Fax: Fax: 1-888-337-3454 info@wilhelminahawaii.com info@wilhelm minahawaii.com wilhelmin nahawaii.com wilhelminahawaii.com ISSUE THREE 2013 HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE

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Outbreak, Dragonfly, Blue Crush, North.

TV shows: Dinocroc vs. Supergator, Japan HVCB, The Discovery Channel, Japan Peace Wave Show, The History Channel, Baywatch, Manhunt, Moolah Beach.

WILHELMINA HAWAII

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art of the Wilhelmina global network, Wilhelmina Hawaii is Hawaii’s only internationally affiliated agency with offices in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Thailand and over seven other markets worldwide.

Whether your needs include booking a top model from the Hawaii market, or flying in a Wilhelmina model from one of our larger offices. Wilhelmina Hawaii provides all of our clients the personalized service they can expect from a boutique agency, with the highest caliber of models that can only be found from our Wilhelmina brand.

Visit www.wilhelminahawaii.com or contact us at 1-888-907-3557 today!

LARSON TALENT

L

arson Talent is Hawaii’s n e w e s t agency representing hand picked models and actors in Maui, Oahu, Big Island, and Kauai. With over 22 years in this industry, owner and president Dawn Larson-Lord has launched her own agency. She has graced magazine covers, TV commercials, runway shows and held multiple pageant titles like Miss Honolulu. Dawn has worked in casting and as a booking agent, thus giving her experience both in front of the camera and behind the scenes. Dawn’s talent for selecting models to represent her agency has brought her in front of the top casting directors and talent bookers. Her extensive experience behind the camera has also brought her the ability to have a “trained eye” in scouting and preparing new faces and talent for the entertainment industry.

Larson Talent’s many clients include: Apple, Disney Aulani, Adidas Neo, Ala Moana, HiLuxury Magazine, Royal Hawaiian Center, Hawaii Five-0, Queens Marketplace, This Week Magazines, SeaHawaii Ocean Apparel, and many more.

We have top caliber models that are trained in promotional, commercial, print and fashion runway. Representing Hawaii’s top models, actors, and voice over talent available for print, runway, and local, national and international Japanese commercial film and TV shows— Larson Talent is the “go to agency” for all of your production needs!

Locations/Production Management Production Coordinator Features • Commercials • T.V. Music Videos

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H AWAII film & video M A G A Z I N E

Check us out online hawaiifilmandvideo.com ISSUE THREE 2013 HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE

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HAWAII TALENT AGENCIES

ADR Agency Oahu 888-902-3414 www.adragency.com

Chameleon Talent Maui 808-879-7817 www.chameleontalent.com

Encore Talent & Model Agency Big Island 808-326-1636 www.encoretalent-hawaii.com Focus International Hawaii Model & Talent Agency Big Island 808-326-1108 www.focushawaii.com Hawaiian Island Models Kauai 808-652-7111 www.hawaiianislandmodels.com Larson Talent Oahu, Maui & Big Island 808-347-3604 www.larsontalent.com Kathy Muller Talent & Modeling Agency Oahu 808-737-7917 www.kathymuller.com Niche Models & Talent Oahu 808-734-4941 www.nichemodelsandtalent.com Outlaw Agency Oahu 808-345-8930 www.outlawagency.com Premier Models and Talent Oahu 808-955-6511 www.premiermodeling.com Wilhelmina Hawaii 888-907-3557 Oahu www.wilhelminahawaii.com 40

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HAWAII CASTING DIRECTORS L P IVE MUERF EV SI OR EN CI M T T AN AN AL S/S CE/ EN PE T CI AL

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Brent Anbe Casting Oahu 808-728-3026

Big Island Casting Big Island 808-326-1636 www.encoretalent-hawaii.com Casting*Kauai Kauai 808-823-0105

Chameleon Talent Maui 808-879-7817 www.chameleontalent.com Anna Fishburn Casting Oahu 808-227-6150 Focus International Hawaii Model & Talent Agency Big Island 808-326-1108 www.focushawaii.com Larson Talent Oahu, Maui & Big Island 808-347-3604 www.larsontalent.com North Shore Casting Oahu 808-783-5533 www.minnoweleven.com Outlaw Agency Oahu 808-345-8930 www.outlawagency.com ISSUE THREE 2013 HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE

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Using Real Life in Acting

BY ARLENE NEWMAN Guest Columnist

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y first look at a television set was when I was five years old and all ready to go on â&#x20AC;&#x153;liveâ&#x20AC;? television.

I looked around and saw two large floor cameras much taller than me, TV monitors all Actors Kevin Sorbo around, and, suddenly, I froze. and Arlene Newman â&#x20AC;&#x153;Theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re ready for you, Miss Newman,â&#x20AC;? said a appeared in>Soul beautiful and kind woman, as she approached me. Surfer together.

I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t do it. I was supposed to make my first TV appearance on a local New England show and I couldnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t move. My legs felt like lead drilled into the floor. â&#x20AC;&#x153;Your grandfather is on set waiting for you,â&#x20AC;? she said. My grandfather was a wonderful Irish musician. They had asked us to come and perform on the show. He played the Irish accordion and I danced. I was all dressed up, ready to go, but being so small, and everything looking so big, it was more than this five-year-old could take.

I decided that day that I would never let that fear paralyze me again. I found in myself a realization of a dream I wanted to pursue. I loved dancing, acting, singing and performing.

Growing up in a very musical family, performing was a part of everyday life. I enjoyed dancing and performing for any relative or neighbor who would watch. My sisters would play a number of instruments. The neighborhood kids got together and we started a â&#x20AC;&#x153;theatre group.â&#x20AC;? Yes, it was started by kids. We wrote, directed, sang and danced. We would get together to rehearse our latest production. It was so much fun and I loved it!

The applause and laughter were addicting.

As I got older, I found it very helpful to reflect on my past experience when acting in a role. Now I have a toolbox of acting tricks Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve learned over the years. Inside that toolbox are other boxes filled with different emotions: happiness, joy, sadness, grief, anger, etc. Death is one of those unfortunate things in life, but it can really help an actor because the emotions are so real.

I was devastated after having a third miscarriage. It took time, but after I felt I could handle the emotion, I would use this pain to help me in a scene when I needed it.

On a movie I recently worked on, I had to cry several times in one day.

I didnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t want to overdo it, yet I knew there was a long day ahead. Crying is one of those emotions that has to be done well and in as few takes as possible. (Especially for the make-up artist.) I had to nail each one. I would think back at a painful experience to get my mind and body mentally prepared.

Anger is another one you want to control. I was the victim in a hit and run car accident. A young man in high school hit me with his car, then left me and my six-year-old son injured on the side of the highway. I was in the hospital in great pain with a lot of glass in my face and eyes. The young manâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s father brought him to the police station after seeing his sonâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s car. As anyone can imagine, I had a lot of anger.

Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;ve been able to forgive this person and move on. But when I need to be angry in a scene, I just go to my toolbox and dig this one out.

In acting I have found something I love and am so passionate about.

I feel honored to still be able to work in a craft where there are so many talented people. And where there is always a new challenge!

Just always remember your toolbox. HFV Arlene Newman is an actress and producer, currently doing both tasks on the indie feature Angel by Thursday.

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HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

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Indie Beat: An Angel Descends on Kahuku Jeff Wallace, producer, director, screenwriter and fireman, watches a scene being shot at his Kahuku, Oahu, home.

BY TIM RYAN, PHOTOS BY LAURA METZGER

A

change has been in the making in Hollywood for several years.

It might be termed a revolution, but for the gradual manner in which it came about. As things are, however, it’s merely a revolutionary change that is coming about so gradually that the movie-going public, far removed from the scene of the action, isn’t likely to be fully aware of its force and significance.

Perhaps you’ll be leaving your neighborhood theatre complex and tell your friend, “Haven’t we been seeing an unusual number of good pictures lately, different from the typical Hollywood product?”

You’ll become aware that the pattern of sameness is no longer present. The pictures are different. They have individuality. It’s about the story, not special effects or blood and gore. It’s about real emotions, not, perhaps, meant for the escapist but a thoughtful reflection of each of our lives. It’s the growing number of independent motion pictures where the story clearly is the star.

For many years, independent producers were people with little more than an idea

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and a determination to gain a foothold.

Today, their ranks have been swelled by producers and directors and writers who have decided to break away, take the risk, and strike out for themselves.

Meet Jeff Wallace, a 16-year North Shore, Oahu, firefighter veteran, who discovered he liked to write, dropping the novel genre for screenwriting.

“The novel thing just wasn’t for me,” he said from his rural Kahuku home, where the production of his so-very-human story Angel by Thursday is based. “I like being able to describe something in a sentence or two, which screenwriting requires. I used to think, ‘how do you do that?’ It’s very challenging…to get your message across in just a few words…a huge learning curve.”

In Angel, Julia and Clint are strangers, each successful in their chosen paths but struggling with the scars of childhood tragedy. They don’t know it, but they’re about to meet through a series of uncanny events. Their lives–and their healing–are connected, but can they get past first impressions to realize it? With wit and heart, this touching drama is about the power of family, forgiveness, closure... and destiny.

HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

Jennifer Kinsey in three stages of transformation: from a young, vibrant woman to a dying 60-yearold. (See page 46)

The film stars Ken Matepi, Olga Kalashnikova, and Russell Subiono.

“The story at its essence is about

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redemption and acceptance,” said Wallace.

Working as a firefighter provides Wallace with lots of time to write. He and his wife Claudia made three 15-minute short films before deciding to bite the bullet and go for a feature film. That decision came after a visit to Hollywood, where Wallace pitched his script ideas that fell on deaf ears. But the trip opened his eyes that he really wanted to make movies.

“I told my wife, let’s just try this and make our own film,” he said.

The Tight Spot Production is a family affair with wife Claudia operating B camera and doing the film’s editing, while his professional photographer daughter, Laura, does the publicity stills.

On this Sunday morning, Jennifer Kinsey, one of 30 cast members, is sitting in a chair, where she will be for a couple of hours while veteran key makeup artist Chantal Boomla transforms this beautiful woman with blazing red hair into a dying, bald old lady. It’s an arduous and tedious process, but through it all, the makeup team, Wallace, and even Kinsey are smiling, laughing, telling jokes. The relaxed atmosphere is infectious and a welcome departure from mainstream productions. Kinsey asks Wallace about a certain scene to be filmed later, and then studies her lines while Boomla prepares the actress for a skullcap.

The idea for Angel came from the title, so Wallace developed the story around it.

“In Hawaii, ohana is everything,” the director said. “In hanai families everybody takes care of each other and that was the seed of how the story started.”

The film’s $20,000 budget covers the 27 production days with filming only done on weekends to accommodate the cast and 20 crew for their weekday jobs. Filming began July 13 and should wrap November 16. The final cut will take as many as eight months, meaning Angel will hit the film festival circuit–including the Hawaii International Film Festival–in 2015.

Wallace seems the ultimate multi-tasker, never stopping this morning, meandering around and between the crew. Not fearful of being cliché, Wallace admits with a wide smile that doing Angel by Thursday is a labor of love.

“I’m tired, my wife is tired, we’re all tired,” said Wallace. “We’re always gearing up for the next weekend. Got to get the food, the props, the wardrobe…

“What’s made the effort so worthwhile is the enthusiasm of everyone involved in the production. We’re so blessed to have this fantastic group.”

Gathering the cast and crew is a story in 46

Page 46

itself.

“When this started, it was just me, my wife and daughter,” said Wallace. “So we reached out to (talent) agencies here to see (what actors) were available.”

One important agency connection was acting coach and script supervisor Barbara Logan, who’s associated with acting coach Scott Rogers.

“That started the whole thing” in attracting actors, said Wallace.

Then actor/producer Arlene Newman, a United Airlines flight attendant, heard about the auditions being held in Waialua, so she dropped in. Newman joined the team and was able to “put a lot of pieces together from the producing side,” said Wallace. “She knows a lot of people.”

There are six SAG actors on the film, and under union rules, SAG actors must be paid. According to Wallace, the six SAG actors are paid a day rate based on the ultra low budget of the film, “so it’s a minimal amount of money.”

Why would a SAG actor opt for such low pay?

“They liked the story and loved the title,” said Wallace. “Morgan Hill is a HPD officer but he loves to act... Lisa Romano is on the local SAG board but also just wanted to work.”

Wes Cortez, the director of photography, 1st AD Jesus Basuel, and Marcos Lewis, sound, all agreed that the story attracted them.

“This is a good team and I want to attach myself to a good team for future work,” said Lewis. “We work well together and that’s how you keep working, when you’re part of that successful team.”

Cortez said he likes working on Hawaii

HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

stories because they’re “so fresh and so few of them.”

“One day Hollywood will wake up and see Hawaii as more than just a backdrop,” he said.

Regardless of the film’s level of success, Wallace said nothing will deter him from making more films, all in Hawaii.

“Our whole goal is to showcase Hawaii stories,” he said. “No matter what happens, I’ll stay here because my roots are here.”

Other cast members include: Alicen Nielsen, Andrea Fiegle, Arlene NewmanVan Asperen, Barbara Bonura, Barbara Logan, Hans Bruz, Jackie Tufa-Marques, Jennifer Rothchild, Jock Armour, Kekoa Olmos, Lara Palafox, Morgan Hill, Myhraliza Aala, Sebastian Casady, Maxamus Miller, Z Zoccolante, Paul Klink, Ryan Lager, Ange Kokkivos, Lisa Romano, and Lila Quitt. HFV

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Oahu DP Keeps Busy with Multiple Projects irector of photograp h y Sh awn Hi att h as kept busy this year working on TV shows like Ha w a ii F iv e-0 , as we ll as in die films, live broadcasts a n d c o m m ercia ls.

D

Director of photography Shawn Hiatt films a scene for the short film Awaiting, directed by Walter Dodds Jr.

One such commercial project brought Hiatt to Chicago in September to work on a campaign for Swedish American Health Systems. The spots, shot with the RED Epic 5K, were directed by Honolulu’s David Rosen for Shooters Film Production.

“It’s always a challenge to cover all the shots we need for any commercial, but when you need to ship your camera package 4,300 miles from Honolulu to Chicago, and then on to Rockford, Illinois, well, that made our camera prep in Honolulu critical,” Hiatt setting up the angles for his two RED cameras in a behind-the-scenes shot from The Fishing Club.

Time Lapse Slider for Swedish American, set up by Shawn Hiatt to catch the changing light.

said Hiatt.

The hospital has built a state-of-the-art cancer center, and Hiatt and company were tasked with showing the high-tech equipment, techniques and beautiful new facilities. To capture the stunning architecture, Hiatt brought along a Timelapse camera slider, which gives movement to already dramatic timelapse shots of light and clouds changing over a day or night.

“I like to maximize my time when shooting timelapse,” said Hiatt. “When I find a dramatic angle, I like to set up multiple 48

timelapse cameras to run up to three separate versions with three separate cameras, each with different intervals, different camera moves, etc.”

Also directed by Rosen this summer was The Fishing Club, a film about a group of good friends who fish and talk story in a location that is about to be bulldozed to make way for a hotel/resort. They take matters into their own hands with unexpected results.

“We had a lot to shoot in just a few days,” said Hiatt. “Shooting with my two RED

HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

cameras was the only way to cover all the dialogue and angles of the large cast in the time we had to work with.”

Hiatt also recently finished up the indie movie The Haumana, which will be the closing film for the 2013 Hawaii International Film Festival, and The Awaiting, a short film by director Walter Dodds, Jr. that will be released soon.

In November, Hiatt will be filming the movie Under the Blood Red Sun, for director Tim Savage and producer Dana Hankins. HFV

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Hawaii-based Director Wins Best Drama Award at L.A. Fest

T

he juror panel at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival announced that the 2013 Best Drama Award went to Hawaii-based director Brett Wagner for his film Care.

The film’s synopsis: Drea is a young woman whose life is just about to happen.

But she is starkly alone in caring for her father, who has Alzheimer’s and mistakes her for his wife. When his confusion turns to violence, Drea must confront the limits of her ability to care for him.

This year’s award winners were announced September 12 at the weeklong LA Shorts Fest, where 280 films were screened from a variety of filmmakers worldwide.

“We are extremely proud of the films

50

that have been selected by the jurors, and hope the win furthers the careers of everyone involved,” commented Domenic Yovina, the director of operations and programming.

The jurors appointed by LA Shorts Fest choose the festival winners—the jurors for this year’s festival included Dave Bossert (creative director, Walt Disney Animation Studios), Derek Connolly (screenwriter), Philip d’Amecourt (partner/agent WME), Mike Simpson (partner/agent, WME), Stephen Stanley (head of acquisitions, Ketchup Entertainment), and Daniel Vang (manager, Benderspink).

Winners in six categories automatically become eligible for consideration by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for a possible Academy Award nomination. The festival is accredited by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts. HFV

HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013

Director Brett Wagner (center in orange shirt) accepts the Best Drama Award at the Los Angeles International Short Film Festival.

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HAWAII FILM & VIDEO MAGAZINE ISSUE THREE 2013