Hawaii Film Blog: 2006 Was a Very Good Year

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

2006 Was a Very Good Year

2006 was a very good year for Hawaii's film and television industry. Here are some highlights:

A new 15-20% refundable tax credit for film, television, commercial, and digital media productions finally passed, after having being proposed and rejected for the past 4 years. The new law took effect on July 1st, 2006.
The $7.3 million Phase II renovation construction of the Hawaii Film Studio was completed on May 15, 2006. The facility now has a new production office building and technical building/construction mill.
The popular downtown indie filmmaking event "Showdown in Chinatown" was launched and continues to draw more and more crazy local filmmakers who are masochistic enough to complete films in 24-48 hours.
Oahu hosted the third season filming of ABC's "Lost." The fantasy drama continues to be a commercial and critical success, having just gotten a Golden Globe nomination for Best TV Drama.
The Dog is still at it catching local criminals for A&E's "Dog: The Bounty Hunter."
Two new MTV reality series shot their pilot seasons on Maui. "Living Lahaina" and "Maui Fever" (formerly known as "Island Fever") are scheduled to air in early 2007.
The second season of the popular Discovery Kids' show "Flight 29 Down" shot on Oahu in early 2006, as did the second season of another teen-targeted show, The N's "Beyond the Break."
Episodes of popular TV shows visited the islands, including NBC's "Las Vegas," PBS's "Antiques Roadshow," HGTV's "House Hunters," and Bravo's "Top Chef."
Feature documentary "Morning Light" began filming in November. Roy Disney's pet project trails a crew of youngsters preparing to sail from L.A. to Honolulu.
Sci-Fi channel telefilm "Supergator" shot on Kauai this past summer. The film stars Kelly McGillis and was exec produced by Roger Corman.
Hawaii continues to be very popular for commercials and catalog shoots. This year, we hosted brands such as American Eagle, Kellogg's Rice Crispies, Shiseido, Japan Airlines, Eddie Bauer, REI, Roxy, Self Magazine, Nautica, Macy's, Vanity Fair, Good Morning America, InStyle, Land's End, and CDW.
The Hawaii Film Office said goodbye to a longtime staffer (Jackson Bauer) and hello to a new staffer (Kevin Inouye).