Production spending on film and television projects in Hawaii last year dropped slightly despite an increase in tax credits, according to data released last week by the state film office.
From a Calvin Klein commercial to "Hawaii Five-0" to the big-budget dinosaur sequel "Jurassic World," productions spent $223 million statewide in 2014, said Film Commissioner Donne Dawson.
Although it was the second straight year that spending declined, Dawson still felt 2014 was "a good year." Productions spent $228 million in 2013 and $245.6 million in 2012.
"I don’t think there’s a way to explain (the drop), really," she said. "We did have a project that was slated for 2014 that pushed to 2015. If it hadn’t, the figure would have been significantly higher. These things happen for a variety of reasons. It’s the nature of the industry."
And no, she won’t say what movie project was postponed.
Dawson had hoped that a 5 percent increase in the state’s tax credit — which took effect in July 2013 — would bring an increase in spending. Production tax credits are a proven incentive for film and TV projects. In Hawaii, qualified productions are eligible for a refund based on what they spend here: for Oahu productions, 20 percent of what the production spent, and for neighbor island productions, 25 percent.
Dawson does not anticipate much growth in spending for 2015.
"Until we put some meaningful marketing dollars behind Hawaii’s film industry to promote the credit and the increase we received in 2013, it will probably remain the same," she said.
Meanwhile the state is moving ahead with plans to replace four wooden bungalows at its Diamond Head film studio that date from 1976 and the original "Hawaii Five-0." The bungalows need to go because they have extensive termite damage, as well as carpenter ants in the electrical systems, and have had rats in the attics, air-conditioning vents and sewage systems.
Current plans call for a 7,000-square-foot building that will give productions flexible workspace, Dawson said. Designed to be about 1,000 square feet larger than the bungalow space, the new building will be tucked into the sloping corner of the studio lot along Diamond Head Road.
The anticipated cost is $3.9 million, which is a half-million more than what the state received from
lawmakers. Dawson said the film office might ask lawmakers for more money this year.
Group 70 International, the engineering-architectural firm working on the project, will give area residents a preview of the project when the Kaimuki Neighborhood Board meets Wednesday. (The board will meet at 7 p.m. at Kaimuki Christian Church.)
The presentation is an important update for the community because the last time the state wanted to replace the bungalows — in 2009 — plans called for a three-story, 47,729-square-foot building costing $50 million. At the time, the state wanted to build a film and digital media center that would have served as a high-tech digital media incubator as well as an educational resource for University of Hawaii film students.
That project would have eliminated Soundstage 1, which was used by the original "Five-0" series and by the current version of the crime drama, which rents the state studio complex for production. The current show spent about $242,000 to air-condition and insulate the old soundstage, and under current plans it remains intact.
Construction won’t begin until summer 2016.
And that’s a wrap. …
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Mike Gordon is the Star-Advertiser’s film and television writer. Read his Outtakes Online blog at honolulupulse.com. Reach him at 529-4803 or email mgordon@staradvertiser.com.
