A 36-day shoot on Oahu is a sweet proposition by any standards. Richard Vane, executive producer of Universal's upcoming release "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," couldn't be happier with the production's North Shore digs at the Turtle Bay Resort, where much of the comic action takes place. He also knows that until Hawaii increased its production tax credit last year, such a shoot was, for many projects, an impossible dream.
The "romantic disaster movie" is the first narrative feature by a studio to take advantage of Act 88, the enactment of which capped a concerted, years-long campaign by the local industry and film commissions to increase the state's 4 percent refundable tax credit.
In more than 20 years as a producer, this marks Vane's first time shooting on the islands. But it wasn't for lack of trying. "We budgeted for Hawaii, and we budgeted for Mexico," he says of 1996's "The Phantom." "We eventually shot in Thailand because it was cheaper."
By all accounts, the new 15 percent rate (for Oahu; 20 percent for production on the Big Island, Kauai, Lanai, Maui and Molokai) is making a crucial difference for productions large and small. "Act 88 is really designed to move things forward across the board -- television, features, commercials and everything in between," says state film commissioner Donne Dawson, whose Hawaii Film Office administers the new credit.
Dawson noticed a "swift change" in both the level of inquiries and the number of actual applications after the incentive went into effect July 1. Between then and May 1, approximately 25 registrants for the credit indicate total anticipated production expenditures of nearly $102 million. Factoring in the credit and the direct and indirect taxes that the production activities would generate, the state economy would receive that infusion at a cost of less than $2 million.
"This is a very good return on the state's investment," Dawson says.
Competitive Player
After years of losing business to states with more aggressive incentive packages, Hawaii stands well-positioned in the increasingly competitive locations game. Soon after the incentive passed, the state rocketed onto P3/Production Update's list of the top 10 places to shoot, securing the No. 5 slot. And within a month of the act's adoption, Oahu was hosting its first episodes of NBC's "Las Vegas," which cast the Turtle Bay Resort as a casino.
Honolulu Film Office commissioner Walea Constantinau points to those episodes of "Las Vegas," along with "Sarah" and the upcoming documentary "Morning Light," as projects that might have landed elsewhere if not for Act 88.
The tentatively titled "Light," under the executive producing helm of Roy E. Disney and Leslie DeMeuse, will chronicle the recruitment, training and competition of the youngest crew ever to sail the 2,225-mile Transpacific Yacht Race between Los Angeles and Honolulu. Director Mark Monroe will wrap principal photography on the Pacific High Prods. docu at the finale of the 2007 race in July.
The project, which Buena Vista will release theatrically in 2008, is a particular success story for Hawaii, Constantinau says. "They could have based everything in California," she says. "They didn't have to do it here."
Disney, a veteran not only of filmmaking but of competitive sailing, clearly preferred Hawaii to California as a training site for the 15 sailors -- some as young as 18 -- who were handpicked for the team. But, he says, "had it not been for the rebate, it would have been a real question as to whether we should come over here."
Boosting Confidence
When even studio-backed projects must weigh budget considerations, the effect of tax incentives on smaller productions can be profound. And because Act 88 is available to projects with production expenditures as low as $200,000, it "has definitely opened things up," Dawson says.
"People have become more confident," says Brenda Ching, executive director of SAG's Hawaii chapter. "Local filmmakers are looking at it seriously and starting to venture out and have their projects done."
At the same time, well-established players in the local production industry get to use more of their budgets onscreen.
"The easier the process, the more money we get to put in the picture," says Bryan Noon, head of finance for ABC Television, whose hit series "Lost" is going into its fourth season on Oahu.
"Lost" increasingly has ventured beyond its Hawaii Film Studio headquarters, located near Honolulu, to use other Oahu sites for expanded flashback story lines. "The tax incentive helps," Noon says. "It allows us to do bigger and better things."
ABC's pop-culture phenomenon is the highest-profile TV series currently produced in Hawaii, but it's far from alone. A&E's "Dog the Bounty Hunter" and Discovery Kids' "Flight 29 Down" both shoot on Oahu, as do surfing series "The 808," upcoming from Fox's Fuel TV, and the N's "Beyond the Break," which was developed by local company TalkStory Prods. And MTV has picked up two reality series set on Maui: "Living Lahaina" and "Maui Fever."
Homegrown Industry
With their long-term commitments, TV series play an important role in developing infrastructure and a crew base. And as Ching points out, Act 88 was intended not only to bring in productions but also "to stimulate and grow the local film industry."
To that end, Constantinau stresses the need to "get enough work in the pipeline" to encourage private industry to build infrastructure.
Likely to lead the way on that front is a proposed studio complex on Oahu that would significantly increase the state's soundstage capacity. Plans for the tentatively named Kapolei Studios predate Acts 88 and 221, but developer Steve Smith of L.A.-based SMH Partners is pleased that the incentives are in place.
"There's no question that 88, in the current competitive environment, is pretty critical to keeping a studio busy over there at this point," Smith says. "We're bullish on prospects for filming in Hawaii. The problem that they have right now is they don't have the capacity."
Kapolei Studios, which would occupy a 22-acre site on the island's fast-growing southwest corner, would go a long way toward solving that problem. The first phase of construction, which Smith hopes to begin this year, calls for four soundstages. The state-owned Hawaii Film Studio, by comparison, contains only one soundstage, and there are no expansion funds on the horizon.
The crew base seems to be less of an immediate issue. Both Disney and Vane found no shortage of skilled locals for their crews. "I had budgeted more people to come from L.A. than it turned out I needed," Vane says.
He adds, "This incentive is going to make a huge difference, as the one in New York did. People used to shy away from New York because of how expensive it was to house people and do stuff there. But now, (the state's) going through a boom. And I think Hawaii will go through one, too."
Sheri Linden writes for The Hollywood Reporter.
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