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http://www.kauaiworld.com/articles/2006/06...news/news01.txt
Kaua‘i film industry about to take a bite out of competition
by Ford Gunter - THE GARDEN ISLAND
WAILUA — The scene calls for the killer alligator to bust up a lu‘au, sending hapless tourists and hula dancers screaming for the hills. The alligator, in fact, is not on set — he will be added later by the miracle of computer-generated images. In the meantime, extras and production hands start their Friday slowly, setting up cameras, snack tables and coolers, and ushering extras onto the set.
The only person moving with any pace is producer Roger Martin Corman, arriving on set at Smith’s Tropical Paradise in a rented Cadillac and his customary island attire: shirt sleeves, shorts and white sneakers.
Though his current project won’t qualify, Corman couldn’t be more excited about Hawai‘i’s new film incentives package Gov. Linda Lingle signed last month, Act 88, granting 20-percent tax breaks to movies shot on the Neighbor Islands (and 15 percent to O‘ahu productions), a welcome relief to a statewide industry that, with the exception of ABC’s O‘ahu-based “Lost,” has largely dried up.
“Every movie that could be shot on Kaua‘i, now we’re going to consider it,” Corman said a month earlier at the Lihu‘e Pizza Hut.
Hardly his first rodeo on-island, Corman, the son of legendary Hollywood B-movie king Roger Corman, who struck gold in 1960 with “The Little Shop of Horrors,” loves Kaua‘i and speaks with far more passion about it than his own B-movies.
Corman and crew decided to shoot their alligator flick here anyway, largely because Mexico wasn’t working out and Kaua‘i hotel rooms hadn’t yet taken their 30-percent summer hike. They are hoping for a limited theatrical release and cable television deal some time in December.
Even with Hawai‘i’s current incentive package — a minimal hotel tax rebate and production cost kickback, Corman came here anyway.
“You’ve got every kind of look here,” he said. “Dry side, tropical side, rivers, jungle, mountains ... We never even shot the ocean except for one little scene.”
The film was mainly shot on the Wailua River, with stops in the arboretum and Waimea Canyon.
“Kaua‘i has a big-picture look — prehistoric,” said director Bryan Clyde, quietly surveying the setup for rehearsals. “For variable conditions in the terrain, you don’t have to go very far.”
Largely for this reason, Kaua‘i once enjoyed the reputation as the go-to movie island, playing home to films set in the paddy fields of southeast Asia (“Uncommon Valor,” “Flight of the Intruder”), the jungles of Latin America (all three “Jurassic Park” movies, “Raiders of the Lost Ark”) and the mountains of Africa (“Outbreak,” “King Kong” (1976), “Mighty Joe Young”), not to mention Pacific Rim shoots like “South Pacific,” “Lord of the Flies” and “Gilligan’s Island.”
But states like New Mexico, Louisiana and South Carolina recently ratcheted up their efforts to attract major Hollywood productions, and their offers of 25-percent kickbacks proved too much for Kaua‘i — already expensive, remote and without an established film industry infrastructure — to compete with.
The last major motion picture filmed on the island was “Dragonfly” in 2002.
“Our so-called ‘renaissance’ in the film industry spurred other states to step up their incentives,” said county film commissioner Art Umezu.
After Act 88 kicks in on July 1, though, Hawai‘i could be back in the game.
“All (film) offices in the state have been getting more serious phone calls,” Umezu said.
A Tokyo native who ran his own production company for 16 years, Umezu found his calling when he realized how the government could work in favor of the film industry and, ultimately, the island’s bottom dollar.
“I think you’re going to see a big spike in production,” Corman said.
“I hope so,” said Michael Gregg, whose Kapa‘a-based Work Horse Productions has worked on everything from summer blockbusters to local theater. “It would be great for the economy.”
Umezu said the movie about Hanalei surfer Bethany Hamilton, set to begin shooting on O‘ahu’s North Shore, might move more of its scheduled production to Kaua‘i, and earlier this month the script for the fourth Jurassic Park installment had recently been approved. Since Kaua‘i was home to all or most of the previous three shoots, it was only logical that producer Steven Spielberg would scout here.
On the set of Corman’s yet-to-be-titled monster movie, there were whispers of Spielberg already being on-island to scout for his own monster franchise.
While huge blockbusters like “Jurassic Park” can often afford to shoot wherever and whenever they please, the likely beneficiaries of the tax break will be the mid-level productions and small fish, all the way down to commercial shoots, so long as they spend the $200,000 minimum.
“If I can come to Kaua‘i and shoot for 20-percent less ...” Corman said, trailing off as he imagined the possibilities.
For Umezu, Kaua‘i’s biggest cheerleader, it’s about more than just the money.
“I’m at an age where I really want to do good for the community,” he said. “It’s my thirtieth year on the island and I don’t have one relative here, but this is my home.”
Come July 1, with the help of the new incentives, Kaua‘i could be home to much, much more.
Including, more than likely, another Corman joint.
“It’s my favorite island by far,” he said.
And it’s not just the topography. Corman, and fellow producer Rob Polgar, as well as the director, all gushed at the cooperation of the community.
“There’s a reason why when Spielberg wanted to shoot a movie here, he came over and over,” Corman said.
The question is then, will Kaua‘i next see a new Roger Corman production instead of a sequel since his giant alligator met with an unfortunate ending along the banks of the Wailua River?
To this Corman smiled.
“There’s always an egg.”
JPIV script approved, Spielberg scouting Kauai?
Last edited by Oviraptor on 27 Jun 2006, 08:39, edited 1 time in total.
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Interview: Producer and Director Frank Marshall
Producer/Director Frank Marshall
Photo Credit: Scott Holleran
by Scott Holleran
June 24, 2006
Box Office Mojo: Jurassic Park 4?
Frank Marshall: That's starting to percolate. Still working on that script.
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Interview: Producer and Director Frank Marshall
Producer/Director Frank Marshall
Photo Credit: Scott Holleran
by Scott Holleran
June 24, 2006
Box Office Mojo: Jurassic Park 4?
Frank Marshall: That's starting to percolate. Still working on that script.
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