Film and television production spending in Hawaii last year declined more than 54 percent from 2010, but local officials say the industry is doing well. In fact, if everything goes as they hope, the industry might expand the Hawaii-based work force this year and add two, maybe even three new TV series.

Productions spent about $184 million here last year, significantly lower than the record $407 million spent in 2010, according to state figures. But the lower number is more typical of the volume of work in the islands, said Georja Skinner, administrator of the state’s Creative Services Division, which oversees the Hawaii Film Office.

Skinner called the 2010 production figure an anomaly.

"This is a cyclical business," she said. "I think 2011 was a very strong and healthy production year."

One could argue that it was unrealistic to expect another year like 2010, when Hawaii hosted "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides," "Battleship" and "Journey 2: The Mysterious Island," "The Descendants" and "Soul Surfer."

Last year the state benefited from three TV shows, "Hawaii Five-0," the CBS crime drama now in its second season; "Off the Map," the ABC show that shot 13 episodes and was then canceled; and "The River," a spooky new drama from ABC that shot last fall and will premiere next month.

A television series is the golden goose that provides steady work for local production crews. In the case of "Five-0," the show shoots 24 episodes over nine months.

Networks will never reveal what an episode costs, but film officials here say the cost typically ranges between $2 million and $2.5 million, with about two-thirds of that staying in the local economy.

"All of it churns the machine," Skinner said. "All of it keeps our people working. It keeps the economy turning, and the trickle-down effect — the services and the families that those people are tied to — gets into households."

TELEVISION could have a greater role in Hawaii this year.

ABC has high hopes for "The River," which features an ensemble cast led by Bruce Greenwood and Leslie Hope. Greenwood plays a famous wildlife expert and TV show host who vanishes in the Amazon.

The first of eight episodes will air Feb. 7, and there is no commitment beyond this season but if it’s a hit, ABC will be back in the summer. After shooting this fall, it put all the props in storage at the state film studio at Diamond Head.

Just as tantalizing is the prospect of a second Hawaii-based TV series from ABC. The network recently approved production of a one-hour pilot about a fugitive crew of a nuclear submarine.

Sony Studios is already setting up camp on Oahu but doesn’t have a shooting schedule yet, a spokeswoman said. The writing team includes Shawn Ryan, creator of the dark FX police drama "The Shield." Martin Campbell, who directed "Casino Royale" in 2006 and last summer’s "Green Lantern," will direct the pilot.

"We are starting 2012 with the possibility of three network series in the islands, and that is huge," said Walea Constantinau, commissioner of the Honolulu Film Office.

That much television offers a tremendous opportunity, she said.

"It’s the most full-time employment of anything in the industry," she said. "It’s a fabulous way to continue to grow the work force. It’s the best opportunity to be able to build and hire local crew because television is such a long run."

AND that’s a wrap …

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.