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Reel News Tim Ryan |
‘Rocky Point’ pilot likely
to be set on OahuOdds are the WB's pilot "Rocky Point" will film on Oahu, not a neighbor island. Production offices will be at Turtle Bay Resort. Show creator John Stockwell and company scouted Kauai last week, which was especially difficult because there's no film commissioner in place to assist with locations and other matters. According to Stockwell, Kauai remains a "consideration." Filming begins somewhere around Aug. 31.
Stockwell's hesitance to pick Oahu is because of over-saturation caused by three network productions already here. He's concerned North Shore residents are weary from inconveniences caused by so much filming ...
The "Hawaii" series' soundstage in Mapunapuna (formerly the Hopaco warehouse) may have cost NBC as much as $2 million to retrofit with sound insulation, set building and other improvements. The two-year lease agreement between the studio and property owners -- like ABC's "Lost" leasing the former Xerox building -- is how Vancouver, B.C., started its ascent as a production hub.
"Hawaii" has hired two interns from the UH film school, under Chris Lee, to learn the business first hand.
Hawaiian Airlines is providing discount airfares to the "Hawaii" production ...
Fox's "North Shore" will be pre-empted for three weeks during NBC's Olympics broadcasts beginning Aug. 16 and returns Sept. 6. The network is mum on whether the summer drama will get an additional nine episodes after the original 13, scheduled to end in September. But producers have gotten additional script orders.
Actors Kris Polaha and Jason Momoa are getting high marks for their work by critics, despite the drama's dreadful writing. Some mainland TV critics have wondered if the writers have ever been to Hawaii ...
"Lost" star Matthew Fox's character died in the original pilot script because series creator J.J. Abrams wanted to set up a heroic character and then kill him after the pilot's second act. Fox plays the lead role of Jack, a surgeon trapped on a remote island after surviving a plane crash. Those who read the script lobbied that Fox's character not be killed. The two-hour pilot will be shown as the first and second episodes of the show.
"Lost" premieres Sept. 22 in a time slot opposite "Hawaii" on NBC ...
Banyan Productions will bring its latest show "Nice Package," a home renovation show where things go wrong, to Hawaii later this year ...
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Contact Tim Ryan at tryan@starbulletin.com.