Wednesday, May 23, 2012
Outtakes Premium
There's a point in the new Universal Pictures film "Battleship" where the Navy, under assault from aliens, turns to the only sailors around who can help save the human race: the Old Salts.
Even with a latte in hand, Karl Herlinger looks like a villain or, at the very least, someone capable of extreme road rage. His eyes are set close together, his brow quick to furrow. The television actor from Kailua can wither with a glance.
From the bottom of Kona's Kailua Bay last October, in the shallow water beside the pier, the world above offered underwater cameraman Craig Musburger a magical panorama: hundreds of triathletes treading water at the start of the Ford Ironman World Championship while thousands of akule moved in and around them.
Joel Moffett has seen the same thing happen every time he attends a screening of work by the young filmmakers at the Academy for Creative Media, the film school where he teaches screenwriting and directing.
Kinetic Films, the local production house founded by director James Sereno, has turned to YouTube for inspiration for its Hawaii-based features.
One of the cool features of the DVD release of "The Descendants" is a collection of short behind-the-scenes videos shot by film editor Cameron Spencer.
"One Kine Day," the local indie film from Chuck Mitsui that taps into the rhythms of life in Windward Oahu, is getting a significant boost in exposure thanks to a Hawaii theatrical release and a distribution deal with DVD rental companies here and on the mainland.
The job opening that Wainani Young Tomich advertised a few years ago on Craigslist came with a daunting description: "You will come in before the sun comes up and you will go home after the sun goes down and you will be yelled at by people who have no business yelling at you and they will be yelling at you for things that aren't your fault and you will have to take it with a smile."
Starring in a series about flesh-eating zombies wasn't what initially worried Sarah Wayne Callies when the cable network AMC asked her to audition for "The Walking Dead."
With only two episodes left, no one at ABC is publicly discussing the future of "The River," the creepy drama shot in Hawaii that's told in the style of a dark reality show.
It's one thing to be invited to an Oscar party to celebrate your film's nominations and quite another to sit there and watch the awards go to other people. The thrill can go to "thud" pretty quickly.
The creators of “Last Resort,” an ABC pilot about to start shooting here this week, have gone where no TV drama has gone in recent years. They’re auditioning — and casting — Hawaii actors for potential series regulars.
Hawaii has another contestant on the long-running CBS reality show “Survivor”: Jonas Otsuji.
An untold story is always a powerful lure, especially if it happened in your own backyard. Ryan Kawamoto, a local film and TV director with Kinetic Productions, found one near Kunia, on plantation land used during World War II as an internment camp.
Jimmy Borges is one of the most likable entertainers you'll ever meet — friendly, personable and humorous.
In the last few months, whenever someone from Hawaii praised "The Descendants" for its honest portrayal of island life, producer Jim Burke felt as if it were getting an Academy Award nomination. Now the film really does have some nominations — five.
Film and television production spending in Hawaii last year declined more than 54 percent from 2010, but local officials say the industry is doing well.
Hawaii is a long way from the sands of Arabia, but it's going to be used as a location for "Arabian Nights," a new 3-D action film co-produced by the same folks who turned Lanai into the setting for Shakespeare.
From old television footage to home movies, the moving images of Hawaii's history are in peril. The warm, moist weather in the tropics can easily damage unprotected material, and a lot of the equipment that was used to display each format is obsolete.
Chin Ho Kelly is getting married Monday, but it won't be for the first time. The "Hawaii Five-0" character already has a wife and children — in the original series, which, of course, doesn't count in the rebooted reality of the hit CBS police drama.
When Hollywood knocks on someone's door with the intent to rent a house for a movie, it's not uncommon for a director to replace the owner's furniture with items that better fit the vision or theme of the film.
F or nearly a week, the four women worried about what would happen if their quest failed.
If you ask local film commissioners about next year's industry forecast, they'll tell you a "Star Trek" sequel and "Tomb Raider" prequel and pilots for two new Hawaii-based TV dramas are so far from reality that they are barely worth discussion. They're in development.
Hollywood director Peter Berg brought his "Battleship" cameras back to Hawaii last week to shoot additional scenes with the film's biggest star: the Mighty Mo.
Not long after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, after the radiation had left him weak and depressed, documentary filmmaker Tom Vendetti felt an inexplicable tug on his soul.
For the record, Todd Bradley is not dead. The gunshot wound in his chest just made it look that way as he sank to the bottom of a pool during a scene from last week's "Hawaii Five-0."
In the months prior to filming "The Descendants," director Alexander Payne often found himself crisscrossing Oahu and Kauai in a rental car with the music of Gabby Pahinui as a soundtrack to his Hawaiian immersion.
The case of the kolohe (naughty) jaywalkers is probably the funniest crime spree ever solved by "Hawaii Five-0," but you'll never see those crazy crooks caught on network television.
Anyone who knows even a little bit about the college experience knows it's not strictly about hitting the books.
The vast, empty plains of Inner Mongolia were an amazing sight, but Chuck Boller, executive director of the Hawaii International Film Festival, found something even more startling during a recent business trip to the region.
At 68, Don Stroud thought he had pretty much retired to a life of surfing and hanging out with his friends at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki. The Hawaii-born actor had been a Hollywood tough guy with parts in more than 100 movies and 175 TV episodes dating to the late 1960s.
The list of films that screen at the annual Telluride Film Festival in Colorado is always a secret until opening day but it's no secret that audience members loved the slice of Hawaii in Alexander Payne's new movie, "The Descendants."
Imagine the temptation for anyone with a smartphone sitting in the audience of Saturday's "Hawaii Five-0" Sunset on the Beach celebration. After waiting four months since the season one finale — an episode packed with mayhem, murder and lots of cliffhangers — they'll get to see an advance screening of the season two kickoff nine days ahead of the network premiere.
For the second time this year, Maui County officials have reshaped their film office, hiring local underwater cinematographer-photographer Harry Donenfeld to help create a more indigenous film industry.
For a lot of Hawaii residents, even kamaaina, the Kamehameha Schools song contest is a notable event, but it isn't something they know much about.
The world will surely forgive Kelly Hu for skipping the season one finale of "Hawaii Five-0." It didn't end well for the Honolulu-born actress when the show's writers swapped the air bag in her convertible BMW for a claymore mine that exploded when she turned on the ignition.
On the surface, "White Frog," the indie film being produced by Hawaii's Chris Lee, appears to be a niche story that would appeal only to an Asian-American audience. That would be a case of mistaken identity.
The waiting continues for Hawaii's Anthony Ruivivar, who's hoping A&E will order a season of "Big Mike," a police drama that shot a pilot this past spring.
Audiences are generating buzz for a small independent movie from Maui called "Get a Job," which is on the film festival circuit.
When it comes to television reruns, the checks are always in the mail. It's like winning the lottery. The royalty checks — commonly called residuals — can arrive long after a series has left prime time, a surprise delivery that keeps on paying for decades.
As she read the script for a guest spot on ABC's new war drama, "Combat Hospital," Tia Carrere felt like she was holding a gift in her hands. "I flipped," she said. "It was awesome."
The idea sounded simple enough to Rachel Sutton, the local casting agent for the CBS hit "Hawaii Five-0." She wanted to minimize the time background actors spend waiting at casting calls by creating an online database.
Those were real flames, but the car spewing them wasn't really burning in the parking lot of Aliiolani Hale last week, thanks to the special-effects crew with "Hawaii Five-0.
Even with a latte in hand, Karl Herlinger looks like a villain or, at the very least, someone capable of extreme road rage. His eyes are set close together, his brow quick to furrow. The television actor from Kailua can wither with a glance.
From the bottom of Kona's Kailua Bay last October, in the shallow water beside the pier, the world above offered underwater cameraman Craig Musburger a magical panorama: hundreds of triathletes treading water at the start of the Ford Ironman World Championship while thousands of akule moved in and around them.
Joel Moffett has seen the same thing happen every time he attends a screening of work by the young filmmakers at the Academy for Creative Media, the film school where he teaches screenwriting and directing.
Kinetic Films, the local production house founded by director James Sereno, has turned to YouTube for inspiration for its Hawaii-based features.
One of the cool features of the DVD release of "The Descendants" is a collection of short behind-the-scenes videos shot by film editor Cameron Spencer.
"One Kine Day," the local indie film from Chuck Mitsui that taps into the rhythms of life in Windward Oahu, is getting a significant boost in exposure thanks to a Hawaii theatrical release and a distribution deal with DVD rental companies here and on the mainland.
The job opening that Wainani Young Tomich advertised a few years ago on Craigslist came with a daunting description: "You will come in before the sun comes up and you will go home after the sun goes down and you will be yelled at by people who have no business yelling at you and they will be yelling at you for things that aren't your fault and you will have to take it with a smile."
Starring in a series about flesh-eating zombies wasn't what initially worried Sarah Wayne Callies when the cable network AMC asked her to audition for "The Walking Dead."
With only two episodes left, no one at ABC is publicly discussing the future of "The River," the creepy drama shot in Hawaii that's told in the style of a dark reality show.
It's one thing to be invited to an Oscar party to celebrate your film's nominations and quite another to sit there and watch the awards go to other people. The thrill can go to "thud" pretty quickly.
The creators of “Last Resort,” an ABC pilot about to start shooting here this week, have gone where no TV drama has gone in recent years. They’re auditioning — and casting — Hawaii actors for potential series regulars.
Hawaii has another contestant on the long-running CBS reality show “Survivor”: Jonas Otsuji.
And, yes, he’s from the same family that farms on the slopes of Koko Crater, just behind Kaiser High School in Hawaii Kai.
An untold story is always a powerful lure, especially if it happened in your own backyard. Ryan Kawamoto, a local film and TV director with Kinetic Productions, found one near Kunia, on plantation land used during World War II as an internment camp.
Jimmy Borges is one of the most likable entertainers you'll ever meet — friendly, personable and humorous.
In the last few months, whenever someone from Hawaii praised "The Descendants" for its honest portrayal of island life, producer Jim Burke felt as if it were getting an Academy Award nomination. Now the film really does have some nominations — five.
Film and television production spending in Hawaii last year declined more than 54 percent from 2010, but local officials say the industry is doing well.
Hawaii is a long way from the sands of Arabia, but it's going to be used as a location for "Arabian Nights," a new 3-D action film co-produced by the same folks who turned Lanai into the setting for Shakespeare.
From old television footage to home movies, the moving images of Hawaii's history are in peril. The warm, moist weather in the tropics can easily damage unprotected material, and a lot of the equipment that was used to display each format is obsolete.
Chin Ho Kelly is getting married Monday, but it won't be for the first time. The "Hawaii Five-0" character already has a wife and children — in the original series, which, of course, doesn't count in the rebooted reality of the hit CBS police drama.
When Hollywood knocks on someone's door with the intent to rent a house for a movie, it's not uncommon for a director to replace the owner's furniture with items that better fit the vision or theme of the film.
F or nearly a week, the four women worried about what would happen if their quest failed.
If you ask local film commissioners about next year's industry forecast, they'll tell you a "Star Trek" sequel and "Tomb Raider" prequel and pilots for two new Hawaii-based TV dramas are so far from reality that they are barely worth discussion. They're in development.
Hollywood director Peter Berg brought his "Battleship" cameras back to Hawaii last week to shoot additional scenes with the film's biggest star: the Mighty Mo.
Not long after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2008, after the radiation had left him weak and depressed, documentary filmmaker Tom Vendetti felt an inexplicable tug on his soul.
For the record, Todd Bradley is not dead. The gunshot wound in his chest just made it look that way as he sank to the bottom of a pool during a scene from last week's "Hawaii Five-0."
In the months prior to filming "The Descendants," director Alexander Payne often found himself crisscrossing Oahu and Kauai in a rental car with the music of Gabby Pahinui as a soundtrack to his Hawaiian immersion.
The case of the kolohe (naughty) jaywalkers is probably the funniest crime spree ever solved by "Hawaii Five-0," but you'll never see those crazy crooks caught on network television.
Anyone who knows even a little bit about the college experience knows it's not strictly about hitting the books.
The vast, empty plains of Inner Mongolia were an amazing sight, but Chuck Boller, executive director of the Hawaii International Film Festival, found something even more startling during a recent business trip to the region.
At 68, Don Stroud thought he had pretty much retired to a life of surfing and hanging out with his friends at Kuhio Beach in Waikiki. The Hawaii-born actor had been a Hollywood tough guy with parts in more than 100 movies and 175 TV episodes dating to the late 1960s.
The list of films that screen at the annual Telluride Film Festival in Colorado is always a secret until opening day but it's no secret that audience members loved the slice of Hawaii in Alexander Payne's new movie, "The Descendants."
Imagine the temptation for anyone with a smartphone sitting in the audience of Saturday's "Hawaii Five-0" Sunset on the Beach celebration. After waiting four months since the season one finale — an episode packed with mayhem, murder and lots of cliffhangers — they'll get to see an advance screening of the season two kickoff nine days ahead of the network premiere.
For the second time this year, Maui County officials have reshaped their film office, hiring local underwater cinematographer-photographer Harry Donenfeld to help create a more indigenous film industry.
For a lot of Hawaii residents, even kamaaina, the Kamehameha Schools song contest is a notable event, but it isn't something they know much about.
The world will surely forgive Kelly Hu for skipping the season one finale of "Hawaii Five-0." It didn't end well for the Honolulu-born actress when the show's writers swapped the air bag in her convertible BMW for a claymore mine that exploded when she turned on the ignition.
On the surface, "White Frog," the indie film being produced by Hawaii's Chris Lee, appears to be a niche story that would appeal only to an Asian-American audience. That would be a case of mistaken identity.
The start of a second season for "Hawaii Five-0" arrived earlier this month with a big media splash and a lot of face time for the show's major actors. But the smiles have been just as big off camera.
The waiting continues for Hawaii's Anthony Ruivivar, who's hoping A&E will order a season of "Big Mike," a police drama that shot a pilot this past spring.
Audiences are generating buzz for a small independent movie from Maui called "Get a Job," which is on the film festival circuit.
When it comes to television reruns, the checks are always in the mail. It's like winning the lottery. The royalty checks — commonly called residuals — can arrive long after a series has left prime time, a surprise delivery that keeps on paying for decades.
As she read the script for a guest spot on ABC's new war drama, "Combat Hospital," Tia Carrere felt like she was holding a gift in her hands. "I flipped," she said. "It was awesome."
The idea sounded simple enough to Rachel Sutton, the local casting agent for the CBS hit "Hawaii Five-0." She wanted to minimize the time background actors spend waiting at casting calls by creating an online database.
Those were real flames, but the car spewing them wasn't really burning in the parking lot of Aliiolani Hale last week, thanks to the special-effects crew with "Hawaii Five-0.
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