Reel News
‘Crush’ director polishes
pilot for cop showJohn Stockwell, "Blue Crush" writer-director, has set up shop at a friend's Sunset Beach home to polish the pilot script for "The Break," the Fox TV show he's producing with Imagine Entertainment's Brian Grazer and Imagine's television president David Nevins. Stockwell expects "The Break" pilot to film on Oahu in January, though some pre-production work -- such as casting in Los Angeles -- is being done elsewhere. Production offices will be in Haleiwa. Stockwell, who has finished the script and is making revisions, wants to air the series during the summer of 2003 rather than the fall.
"The Break" is about a former Detroit cop who grew up on Oahu but left 10 years ago. He returns here with his troubled 14-year-old son. The story, in part, is about the father adjusting to the world he left behind and dealing with issues he tried to escape, including his imprisoned father. Both the cop and his son move in with his sister on the North Shore. The father begins working with HPD's Crime Reduction Unit. A subplot includes "a beach-culture-surfing component," but it won't be as prominent as it was in "Blue Crush," Stockwell said.
He got the idea from his time here on "Blue Crush," when some police officers hired for security would surf during breaks or after work. The story chronicles the new breed of officers, Stockwell said.
For research, Stockwell has been riding along with CRU members on the North Shore, west side and Chinatown, and has visited Halawa and the Oahu Community Correctional Facility to see first hand "the underbelly of Hawaii that most tourists don't."
"There's a pretty dark honesty to the show that deals with issues that Hawaii is struggling with," Stockwell said. "It's not 'Baywatch.' "
"The Break" title came from an Imagine exec and refers to an isolated North Shore surf spot where the CRU group gathers, rather than the stereotypical doughnut shop.
The main reason Stockwell and Grazer, both surfers, wanted to bring another show to Hawaii is that the "crews here are so professional," Stockwell said.
The production is trying to lock in key Hawaii crew (including water safety expert Brian Keaulana and water photographer Don King, both "Blue Crush" vets) soon because so many studios are filming in Hawaii that crew ranks are growing thin, Stockwell said.
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Contact Tim Ryan at tryan@starbulletin.com.