Hawaii Film Industry Booming

HONOLULU, Hawaii --

What recession? The movie business is booming in Hawaii.The Department of Economic Development and Tourism said estimates film and TV production will bring in $181 million in 2010. And that’s not counting “Pirates of Caribbean: On Stranger Tides,” which will bring in another $85 million.“It's very, very busy in Hawaii right now, thankfully. I think the film office and our creative industries division is dedicated to making sure we have a vibrant film and television economy and you can see that right now,” said Georja Skinner, chief officer of the Creative Industries Division.“Like any other time, there's feast and famine, but right now we've got a lot of productions coming in. It looks like the tax breaks are going to get put back in by the legislature and that's going to draw a lot more projects to Hawaii,” said Michael Rivero, who was working on Lost, and is now part of the Hawaii Five-0 crew.Last year, the Hawaii Film Office suffered major cutbacks. Now, those who are left are working extra hard to help set things up for big productions. All these productions are great for the state economy. Just the "Hawaii Five-0" production brought about 150 people to Waikiki, where they set up a production office, and house cast and crew in a major hotel.Clint Eastwood was just directing a film on Maui titled “Here After.” Adam Sandler will be shooting “Pretend Wife,” another feature film in April and May.Skinner said it is always good when Hawaii products are featured, like George Clooney in an aloha shirt.“One would hope we would see a lot of local fabrics, local clothing and a lot of local color in films,” said Skinner.