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Wednesday, August 8, 2001



University


Plans for UH
film school praised

But an accredited film school
is still years off, says an observer

Studio home to several TV series


By Treena Shapiro
tshapiro@starbulletin.com

HAWAII FILMMAKERS are eager to hear more about plans for a film school at the University of Hawaii, an idea they have been pushing for years.

State film commissioner Donne Dawson said she was pleasantly surprised to hear that UH President Evan Dobelle had announced that the university was committed to a degree program in film and television production.

"I think the industry has been talking about this for a while, the need and desire to have a four-year film degree in Hawaii," Dawson said. "I'm enthusiastic that he's taking an interest in the film and television industry here right away."

While delivering the keynote address at the city's Islandwide Vision Meeting on Saturday, Dobelle said that instead of having Hollywood studios coming to film in Hawaii, Hawaii should be showcased in locally produced films and television programs. He said UH should use the Hawaii Film Studio at Diamond Head.

Dawson said that while the 7.5-acre film studio next to Kapiolani Community College could not headquarter a film school, the studios could be used to provide some educational aspects of the school by "getting students intimately involved with productions that are going on there."

The Hawaii Filmmakers Initiative already has started groundwork for a degree program on Maui by offering noncredit courses and workshops in all areas of digital film production, in partnership with the University of Southern California School of Cinema-Television, American Film Institute, the Maui Writers Foundation and Pacific Islanders in Communications.

"HFI felt the need for better education in film and digital arts, especially," said Executive Director Georja Skinner.

For three years, USC has had summer production workshops in Maui Community College's facilities.

While some students do not need a degree to do the type of film work they want to do, several of the about 150 students that have gone through the program are leaving to pursue degrees at USC or the American Film Institute, Skinner said.

"It would be much nicer if they could stay home to do that."

Hawaii Filmmakers Initiative is looking at starting a degree program as early as next year, but "an accredited film school is a few years away," Skinner said.

"It's not a simple process, but nothing is impossible, and it's about time we had one."

Jaymee Carvajal, 24, who is finishing up a communications degree at UH this summer, said she would have liked the opportunity to pursue a film degree. Dobelle's announcement is "kind of a bummer to me because I'm going to graduate soon."

"There is a lot of demand (for a film school)," Carvajal said.


Studio home to
several TV series



Star-Bulletin staff

The Hawaii Film Studio was built in the mid-1970s near Diamond Head. The studio has been home to long-running television programs "Hawaii Five-0" and "Magnum, P.I." The studio also has been headquarters to "Jake and the Fatman," "Raven," "The Byrds of Paradise" and "One West Waikiki."

Feature films, movies-of-the-week, documentaries and commercials also have been filmed in the studio.

In 1989, the state Film Industry Branch took over management and operation of the facility and developed plans to modernize and expand it. In 1994, a 16,500-square-foot sound stage was added to the original facility.

In October 1997, it was leased to Square USA for motion capture work in the motion picture "Final Fantasy."

In April 1999, The Baywatch Hawaii Production Company leased the original facility and became the first series to do post-production work in Hawaii.



Ka Leo O Hawaii
University of Hawaii



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