TheBuzz
TheBuzz
BLOCKBUSTER MOVIES such as "Pearl Harbor," "Planet of the Apes," "Jurassic Park" and "Final Fantasy" make a lot of noise due to their sheer size. However, county film offices do much work that doesn't draw the attention of the general public. Blockbusters not
bread and butterBig Island Film Commissioner Marilyn Killeri said while the main desire is for a TV series or big project that goes on for a length of time, "What really does sustain us are our smaller productions, but I don't even consider them small."
She said commercials and television projects make up the bulk of the 150 productions that come through the office annually. "About 30 percent of our business comes from Japan," Killeri said, and Kilauea Volcano brings much of the documentary work to the island.
Recent weeks have revealed the slow, steady work the film industry has brought through the Big Island Film Office.
The week of May 18, TV Food Network chef and culinary celebrity Emeril Lagasse was traveling the island for his show. He and local celebrity chef Sam Choy are friends.
Chicago-based SCPTV Worldwide was filming "Extreme Homes" for Home and Garden TV. Los Angeles Video Productions Inc. went to the Big Island for a documentary on the Subaru Telescope, called "Shigotology." Florida's Pineridge Film & Television returns to the island for its series "Great Hotels," and just Thursday, a British and Canadian co-production called "$100 Taxi Ride" finished shooting.
Killeri said seven women taxi drivers were interviewed for the $100 cab ride on film, but she'd not yet learned the destination. "It'll have more of an international showing, as an England co-production."
The Hawaii shoot will be show No. 6 in the series, she said.
She said the popularity of reality-based shows, which grew with the possibility of a writer's strike earlier this year, resulted in the filming of a pilot on the Big Island.
She's not allowed to name it because "they're in the midst of selling it, and they're planing to come back here and do it. They'd do 40 shows."
Erika Engle is a reporter with the Star-Bulletin.
Call 529-4302, fax 529-4750 or write to Erika Engle,
Honolulu Star-Bulletin, 500 Ala Moana Blvd., No. 7-210,
Honolulu, HI 96813. She can also be reached
at: eengle@starbulletin.com