Maui’s Island Films blog looks at the film industries in New Zealand and Hawaii.
It was created for my journalism course but as an indie filmmaker I wanted to see what makes the New Zealand and Hawaii film industries tick. Not surprisingly, when you take a second to look, you find a lot of filmmaking taking place on these islands.
New Zealand and Hawaii share similarities from culture to environmental features. The name ‘Maui’s Island Films’ comes from the demi-god Maui, prominent in both Hawaiian and New Zealand mythology for fishing up the islands. So the blog was also designed to give an insight into whether similarities appear in the films made in each location.
New Zealand
New Zealand is well known for its film industry thanks to the Lord of the Rings films. However, there is so much more to this thriving industry than just Peter Jackson and Weta Workshop.
New Zealanders love everything to do with films, from donating their time to make a film, helping to get a film off the ground with crowd funding, to watching films in the cinema. There is a vast amount of energy and money going into sustaining the industry.
This year, out of $210 million generated from Lottery profits, $15.9 million will go the New Zealand Film Commission, who is responsible for providing funding to assist filmmakers with a variety of projects.
A PWC report released in July 2014 shows the publishing, music, television and film sectors of New Zealand have the equivalent of 14,000 full-time employers, and the sector contributes more than $3.6 billion to the local economy annually.
However, it’s not only those fully employed in the industry that are out there producing films.
New Zealand communities around the country will come together to create a film simply for the love of it. The 2014 comedy The Z Nail Gang is a great example, as the film was made using only donations.
“Everything on this film was donated, people donated their time, their helicopters, food, wardrobe, make up. We had some wonderful, well-known actors on this film and some incredibly talented crew who would normally charge a lot. Everyone did it for the love,” producer Kylie DellaBarca Steel told Stuff.co.nz
Another New Zealand filmmaker Max Currie, struggled to make his first feature film, Everything We Loved, living off his savings and doing odd jobs over two years. He was so determined that even went as far as to pay a 5 year-old actor with Lego in order to get the film made.
Crowd funding is becoming an increasingly popular way to get projects off the ground, giving the general public an opportunity to be a part of the film. Once Were Warriors Director Lee Tamahori is hosting a campaign on snowball effect to raise the remaining half a million for his second film Bulibasha.
Filmmakers in New Zealand also aren’t afraid to push the boundaries and use their ingenuity. The film Everything We Loved, screened at the New Zealand International Film Festival at the same time as being released online.
Following suit, filmmaker Michelle Joy Lloyd is currently running a crowd funding project to get her film, Sunday, distributed in cinemas, television, online and in airplanes at the same time. This will be a world first!
Apart from making films, New Zealanders love going to the cinema. During the New Zealand International Film Festival, Radio programmer Mike Buckingham aimed to see three films a day (close to 45 films in two weeks).
In Dargaville, through a community initiative a cinema has opened for the first time in 30 years, meaning residents do not have to drive the 45 minutes to Whangarei to see a film anymore.
However, where some cinemas are thriving such as The Roxy in Wellington and the new art house cinema planned for Christchurch, others are struggling to survive. The change in technology has been the biggest barrier for small town cinemas such as Taihape’s Majestic Theatre, and Ohakune’s Kings Theatre who had to close its doors this year after 90 years.
Hawaii
Much like New Zealand, Hawaii’s film industry is flourishing, having tripled in size since 2006 and generating billions of dollars for the state.
It is already well known for its big budget productions, such as Jurassic Park, Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and more recently Hawaii 5-O. However, it too has a local industry dedicated to showcasing its talents, beautiful locations and culture, albeit on a much smaller scale than New Zealand it seems.
With the picturesque scenery, and aloha spirit, independent filmmakers are inspired to make short films that show off these qualities. The Aloha Project is one such short film, which showcases the “majestic beauty of the Hawaiian Islands and the people who breathe life into them”.
Other notable achievements for the independent film industry this year were Get a Job taking out top honours at the Trinity International Film Festival in Detroit, and The Haumana being released on DVD after receiving nation-wide success.
However, many locally made films focus on educating people on the importance of taking care of Hawaii.
Hawaii: A voice for sovereignty is a documentary about the developing social, cultural, and political issues of a sustainable Hawai’i, including discussions around a future native Hawaiian government.
Another film, part of the series Standing on Sacred Ground: Islands of Sanctuary, puts a spotlight on the Hawaiian Island Kaho’olawe, showing how Native Hawaiian ecological and spiritual practices are used to restore the island after 50 years of military use.
However, a big feature for the islands is the number of film festivals held to showcase both local and international talent.
The Maui Film Festival in particular is said to be by one reporter, “what heaven is like for cinema buffs”. It features movie screenings and premieres under the stars, with the sweet smell of puakenikeni flowers in the air.
New Zealand and Hawaii
As we can see both New Zealand and Hawaii’s film industries are buzzing with activity, but they also share some commonalities in the way they make films.
They actively try to showcase their local talent as well as their indigenous cultures through film.
Māori Television says the demand for Māori films grows every year, and films like Whale Rider and Once Were Warriors are some of the most successful films to come out of New Zealand. Currently in pre-production is a documentary of the story behind one of New Zealand’s most famous Māori songs POI E.
New Zealand’s biggest hit at the moment, The Dead Lands has already received international success and been submitted to the 87th Academy Awards. It tells the story of the young Māori chieftain’s son in colonial New Zealand who must avenge his father to bring peace and honour to his fallen tribe.
In Hawaii, The Haumana, which has received US nation-wide success, was solely shot in Oahu. It showcases the Hawaiian culture, but writer and director Keo Woolford says everyone can relate to it.
Kuma Hina, has been screened throughout the world. The film is about a Native Hawaiian māhū (transgender) school teacher, Hina Wong-Kalu, who struggles to find her identity and inspires a young tomboy to claim her place as leader of a boy’s hula troupe.
The film’s themes in particular touch on those from Whale Rider, which tells the story of a young Māori girl who wants to become the chief of the tribe – a role traditionally reserved for men only. Both films attempt to deal with cultural traditions and identity in the modern world.
New Zealand and Hawaii also give a huge amount of opportunities for filmmakers to screen their films. Some festivals include Big island Film Festival, Honolulu Surf Film Festival, Waimea Ocean Film Festival, and Lanai Documentary Film Festival in Hawaii, Wanaka Mountain Film Festival, New Zealand International Film Festival and Stillness and the Moving Image in New Zealand. In August this year, there was even a New Zealand film festival in Hawaii at the Honolulu Museum of Art.
Hawaii and New Zealand also share controversy over government grants and law changes in attempts to attract big budget films.
New Zealand’s most famous dispute was over what is known at ‘The Hobbit Laws’. Before the election this year the Labour party said they would get rid of the laws, saying the industry is full of talented people but the laws are unfair to workers.
However, the Minister for Labour at the time, Simon Bridges, said the change would threaten the industry as the changes kept The Hobbit movies in New Zealand, saving thousands of high-value jobs.
The New Zealand government also subsidises films to ensure they are made here. In the case of Avatar, the New Zealand taxpayers will be fronting up at least $125m in return for the film producers spending at least $500m to make the films in New Zealand.
In Hawaii discussions are ongoing as to whether film tax breaks benefits Hawaii. PBS recently hosted a discussion with representatives the Hawaii State Film Commission, Island Film Group, Hawaii Venture Capital Association and an economist from the University of Hawaii.
The discussion touched on many things, including how important it is for tax credits to benefit the community and ensuring jobs are available to local talent.
“We generally want to offer tax credits when what we have is a situation where there’s spill overs to the community. When the rest of the community gets positive benefits,” says economist Sumner La Croix.
“Another thing that you need besides the tax credit you need people here that know how to do the job because otherwise they’re saying ‘well we need to fly people in, and we need to put them in hotels and we need to pay them per diem…’ so the tax credit itself isn’t enough it’s the also the workforce,” says Ricardo Galindez from Island Film Group.
Conclusion
Both New Zealand and Hawaii have vibrant and thriving film industries, full of those who love to make and watch films, and with films often receiving international success.
The continued growth of their industries can be seen through the amount of film activity that takes place each year from productions to festivals, and even proposals to expand with new film studios such as in Southland in New Zealand and on Oahu in Hawaii.
The beauty of each location is not only a draw for big productions, but also the land, and its people feature throughout the films made by locals. Hawaiians and New Zealanders proudly showcase their cultures, history and natural landscapes in their films.
I think we can all expect to continue to see great films come out of each in the future.
Maui's Island Films 