ABC TV photo
Malcolm McDowell stars as Mr. Roarke in the ABC television
series "Fantasy Island." A large part of the show is being
filmed in a Halawa industrial park.
‘Aloha Night’
hits prime time
Hawaii scores two series on network TV
By Tim Ryan
this fall, bringing in $27 million
Star-BulletinJust mauka of the Crazy Shirts factory, Diamond Head of Frito-Lay of Hawaii offices, makai of the xeriscape gardens, and Ewa of H-3, a fantasy has been created that may be seen by millions of television viewers this fall.
Odd that in this Halawa industrial park a large portion of ABC's "Fantasy Island" television series is being filmed.
Just imagine Mr. Roarke -- now played by Malcolm McDowell instead of Ricardo Montalban -- standing outside the former Ferragamo warehouse, greeting visitors: "Welcome to Fantasy Island."
And at the Big Island's Kawaihae Harbor, the facade of a paniolo town has been built next to the breakwater that once sheltered the enormous artificial island in the movie "Waterworld." This is serving as the set for many of the 12 episodes of NBC's hourlong drama "Wind on Water."
This fall, Saturdays will be "Aloha night." For the first time in Hawaii history, the state is the background for two primetime network TV series in the same season.
" 'Wind' shows and identifies the beauty of Hawaii," said Walea Constantinau, film liaison for the city. "And 'Fantasy Island' represents a fantasy world that has to be the best of the best. And it's Hawaii."
Filming of both shows has been underway for several weeks. "Fantasy Island" will cost about $2 million an episode, or $24 million for the season. "Wind on Water," the first series based on a neighbor island, will cost $1.75 million an episode, or $21 million for the season.
Of the total $45 million in production costs, about 60 percent, or $27 million, will be spent in Hawaii, said Georgette Deemer, Hawaii Film Office manager. The two series also employ about 200 crew members and hundreds of extras.
It's all about money
The "Fantasy" pilot was filmed on Maui, Kauai and Oahu, but producers were considering working the series in Los Angeles. "Wind" could have ended up on Oahu, but its creator, Zalman King, fought for the Big Island.It's all about money. Barry Josephson, executive producer with Barry Sonnefeld of "Fantasy Island," estimates it costs about 20 percent more to produce a show in Hawaii than in Los Angeles. And it's even $80,000 more than that to film on a neighbor island, Deemer said.
"Fantasy" is especially expensive because of multiple story lines in each episode, Josephson said. It means "lots of new sets and lots of guest actors" for every episode, he said.
"Fantasy" producer John Flynn said filming here "is a real challenge logistically and financially.
"The challenge is that people's fantasies are often about a mainland kind of world; not everything in the show can look like the tropics," Flynn said during a break in filming at Rumours nightclub. "In an upcoming show we need a ballroom, and the choices are far more limited in Hawaii."
Producers decided to film in Hawaii because, for the first-year series, they're "looking for impact."
"We decided to make the investment to exploit the visuals as much as possible," Flynn said. "Audiences like the look here, and everyone who watches movies or television likes to be taken somewhere they're not."
"Fantasy" has two main sets that cost a total of between $500,000 and $800,000. The most elaborate is the "resort" constructed on the shoreline near Kualoa, made to resemble the Hotel Hana Maui where the pilot was filmed. The spacious 40,000-square-foot, $24,000-a-month Halawa warehouse contains the "Fantasy" travel agency where people go to arrange their trip; a 1,200-square-foot "Fantasy" resort bungalow; Roarke's inner sanctum; and a tiny room with bunk beds for supporting characters Harry and Cal.
The decision not to make "Fantasy" this season on Maui, where the pilot was filmed, was creative as well as financial. Flynn cited a lack of crew members on the island.
Producers had also hoped to use the state's sound stage at Diamond Head, but that has been leased to a Japanese company producing an animated feature. Flynn is unhappy that "Fantasy" is not in the state facility.
"The purpose of a studio is to encourage American productions, not an animation company that really doesn't need that much space. Sound stages are made for a television series, not a feature film.
"I'll spend about $26 million here in the next five months, and if I come back next year and film 22 episodes, that's another $35 million for this economy. The state was wrong to rent that studio for this (animation) project."
"Fantasy" and "Wind" received some financial incentives to film here, mainly tax credits that Deemer called "very significant." Each production receives a 4 percent credit on all production costs, including labor. The productions also receive a 6 percent hotel room tax credit.
The Hawaii Visitors and Convention Bureau gave the productions $100,000 to help offset costs.
The publicity generated from the shows is expected to attract visitors to the state, said Tony Vericella, HVCB president. "We wanted to do what we could to ensure these productions filmed in Hawaii," he said. "They bring dollars to our economy."
The bureau also plans to work with "Fantasy Island" for other yet-to-be-determined "promotional ideas" to help Hawaii, Vericella said.
Flynn said the tax incentives are helpful, but not enough to guarantee the show's return next season. Producers are prepared to ask the bureau for more money next year -- as much as $100,000 an episode, Josephson and Flynn said.
"Truthfully, if the show goes well, we'll be back here with our hands out," Flynn said. "We'll look at the difference in costs between filming in Hawaii and Los Angeles, and see if (the state) can step up further."
NBC TV Photo
Bo Derek co-stars in "Wind on Water."
The effort to land 'Wind'
There was a concerted effort on the Big Island by the business community to ensure "Wind" filmed there, said Deemer and Marilyn Killeri, Big Island film commissioner. The production is getting "greatly reduced rates" at the Hilton Waikoloa for cast and crew, and discounts from Hawaiian Airlines and Matson, said Deemer.The state also is renting to "Wind" a vacant two-story office building, two warehouses and some adjacent land at Kawaihae Harbor for $500 a month, Deemer said. The production has spent about $500,000 building sets, sources said.
Zalman King, the series' producer and creator, said it is "imperative" the show be filmed on the Big Island.
"It's a place that most people don't know what it looks like," he said. "For what this story required, there was really no other place."
King, who also produced the surfing-themed feature "In God's Hands," said filming on the Big Island is easier than on Oahu.
"There's very little traffic, so it's easier to get from one place to another. Ultimately, I think it'll be less expensive than Oahu.
"Everyday I film two more hours here because of the ease of logistics."
King is happy with the cooperation the show has received from the state and county.
"As for next year, I would just like to keep the status quo," King said.
‘Wind on Water’
Big-wave surfing powers a Big Island
By Tim Ryan
TV family led by Bo Derek
Star-Bulletin"Wind on Water" is packed with Hawaii. The pilot for the new NBC dramatic series opens with aerial shots of the erupting volcano, flowing lava, the snow of Mauna Kea in winter, sprawling cattle ranches and rocky shorelines. "Wind," which debuts Oct. 17, screams Hawaii without the hula skirts and mai tais.
And if the scenery doesn't make it clear, a brief voice-over provides a geological and cultural history of the Big Island, where the series is based.
In contrast, "Fantasy Island," the ABC program that will debut in September, never mentions Hawaii as the site of the resort, although the series is being filmed on Oahu.
"Wind," which stars Bo Derek and Lee Horsley, has been described as a combination of "The Big Valley" and a surfing film.
Derek, 41, plays Ciel Connelly, the mother of two teen-age boys (William Gregory Lee and Brian Gross), whose skills as surfers and skiers on the extreme-sports circuit keep the family cattle ranch in business. Derek also is the matriarch of the sprawling ranch, which extends from the Waimea-Kamuela area to the ocean -- actually, Kekaha Kai State Park.
The ranch, near bankruptcy, is fighting over water rights with a neighbor, Horsley, who wants to buy the property to develop a resort for a Japanese investor. To make matters worse, Derek is widowed in the pilot; Horsley is decidedly the bad guy.
Connelly family members and friends hug a bit too much for an hourlong show, and the surfer characters hoot and cheer more than surfers in real life do. Derek seems a bit understated in the pilot, and Horsley's character is a bit too slippery and complete in the sleaze category.
Locals will recognize Kawaihae Harbor, Kekaha Kai State Park -- the site of the Connelly beachfront home actually is the Magoon estate -- and Parker Ranch country. Surfer Brian Keaulana plays a prominent part in the pilot as a sort of lifeguard for surfers competing in a big-wave contest, though the huge swells are really on Maui.
The story line is simple and youth-oriented -- there are lots of scenes of extreme sports, from snowboarding out of a helicopter on Mauna Kea to big-wave surfing.
"Wind" creator Zalman King, who produced the recent surfing epic "In God's Hands," seems to have used lots of outtakes from the filming at Jaws, a Maui surf site.
The pilot will surprise some mainland audiences with the diversity of geography and activities on the Big Island.
"Wind" clearly shows King's love of Hawaii, certainly the Big Island, and his fascination with surfing.
‘Fantasy Island’
Danger and darkness lurk in
By Tim Ryan
Malcolm McDowell's sunny Oahu resort
Star-BulletinThere's a new Mr. Roarke on "Fantasy Island," and he isn't a knight in a white suit.
And if you think of the original series as sort of a land-based "Love Boat," the ABC revival, which will debut on a Saturday late next month, is part "X-Files" and part "Twin Peaks."
In the pilot for the new series, there's morphing. The weather changes at the snap of Roarke's finger. A character may appear on land and in the air at the same time. There's time travel. And it appears Roarke can bring back the dead.
The music is an eclectic selection from Harry Belafonte to Louis Armstrong to Martin Denny's classic "Quiet Village."
This is a place where things are not always as they seem, and the welcoming staff, particularly Malcolm McDowell as Roarke, have their own mysteries and background stories.
Producer John Flynn says the new "Fantasy Island" is "a much darker look at humanity."
The theme of the show could be, "Be careful what you wish for."
Departing guests, met by Roarke, are told this is a resort "where no one wants to come back."
McDowell is decidely unlike the Ricardo Montalban character in the original series. When his Roarke looks in an armoire for a suit, all he sees is a dozen white jackets. But in a dark corner, he spies a black Armani suit. Cradling it, he slowly turns to the camera, smiling devilishly, and says, "Here we go again."
People book trips to the island through a city travel agent, played by veteran actor Fyvush Finkel, who seems to know all about them. When they express their surprise, he tells them, "Amazing, isn't it." (Academy Award nominee Sylvia Sidney is cast as the agent's assistant).
The white-haired McDowell, 55, may be most vividly remembered as Alex, the sadistic gang leader in the dark classic "A Clockwork Orange." He brings part of that personality to "Fantasy."
When a "guest" angrily asks Roarke, "Do you enjoy ruining people's lives?" he responds effortlessly: "No, I find it unsettling."
Is Roarke good, evil, God, the devil?
In the pilot, Roarke and Madchen Amick ("Twin Peaks" and the short-lived "CPW") watch a reunited married couple walk hand-in-hand down the beach. She asks him plaintively: "Do you miss it? The desire, the need?"
"I've forgotten," Roarke says, with his first real tone of emotion in the show.
