Hollywood Finding Hawaii a Good Stand-in
Posted on Wed, Jun. 11, 2003 MATT SEDENSKY Associated Press
HONOLULU - In the beginning, Hawaii was Hawaii. Think Burt Lancaster and Deborah Kerr on a deserted beach in 1953's "From Here to Eternity," or a surfboard-straddling Elvis Presley in 1961's "Blue Hawaii."
These days, though, this Pacific paradise is used less often for classic island images of breeze-tickled palms and gem-blue waves lapping a pristine beach. Instead, it's posing as a wide range of locales, from Nigeria and the Congo to Brazil and Venezuela.
Since 9/11, film and TV casts and crews have increasingly avoided foreign locations perceived as dangerous.
"Every month, people become more reluctant to go to more exotic, less secure places," said Bill Bowling, a veteran Hollywood location manager who has scouted in Hawaii. "Hawaii is situated just extremely well right now."
Hawaii also is more convenient to Hollywood. And for the island itself, playing various roles is good business.
"Hawaii - for it to be a player in this business - has to represent itself as more than just Hawaii," said Chris Lee, a former studio executive and producer who is now overseeing a new University of Hawaii program including film and digital arts. "If you said we're only going to be Hawaii, it's very limiting."
Since the beginning of film, moviegoers have seen Hawaii act as an impostor, from 1958's "South Pacific," in which Hawaii posed as an unnamed Pacific island, to 2000's "Jurassic Park III," which cast the state as Costa Rica.
Last year alone, the islands saw the filming of "Tears of the Sun," the Bruce Willis flick set in Nigeria; "Die Another Day," the James Bond film set off Korea; and "Welcome to the Jungle," the forthcoming movie with the Rock starring as a bounty hunter in Brazil's Amazon. Films generated an estimated $135 million for Hawaii's economy last year.
The islands have also played Tahiti ("Six Days/Seven Nights"), New Guinea ("Krippendorf's Tribe"), and Venezuela ("Dragonfly"), among other places.
"It's kind of limitless," said Timothy Hillman, another veteran location manager whose most recent project brought him to Hawaii for "50 First Kisses," an Adam Sandler/Drew Barrymore romantic comedy set on the island. "There's jungles where you can pretend you're anywhere in South America and Africa. There's places downtown that can pass for middle America."
To be fair, Hawaii does continue to play itself, as in last year's "Blue Crush" and "The Big Bounce." But, more and more, productions that might have previously ventured farther from home are ending up in the central Pacific.
The hit NBC show "ER," for example, first filmed on the islands in 2002, for an episode chronicling Dr. Mark Greene's final days in Hawaii before succumbing to a brain tumor. This year, the drama returned to film two more episodes - both set in the Congo.
"They were all determined that they were going to go to South Africa" to film, said location manager Ginger Peterson. "I was able to take pictures of (Hawaii) locations that nobody's ever shot at before and they were kind of blown away."
For years, the state-run Hawaii Film Office has been trying to spread the message that Hawaii offers a window into faraway worlds.
The office has run ads and inserted posters into trade magazines such as The Hollywood Reporter, billing the islands as "As close as faraway gets." After the Oscars, it ran an ad with an image from "Tears of the Sun," that read: "We've landed the roles of the Brazilian jungle, the Korean peninsula and war-torn Africa, not to mention Venezuela, England and Mars. Is there an Award for Best Location Double?"
The efforts, industry leaders say, appear to be working.
"You're seeing Hawaii being doubled for other locations more than Hawaii playing itself," said Donne Dawson, manager of the state-run Hawaii Film Office.
The reason: "A production was scouting Hawaii and another location in South America at the same time. The production crew that was out scouting actually got hijacked in the jungle," Dawson said. "They ended up saying 'That's it, we're going to Hawaii.'"
Hawaii still faces stiff competition from other locales, including Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Fiji and the Bahamas. Those places can sometimes offer similar settings, security, and better financial incentives. But they can't always duplicate the convenience.
The distance of the islands from Los Angeles means a weekend at home is not out of the question. And the small size of the islands means the commute time between accommodations and sets is relatively short.
Bowling, who has worked on productions in more than 70 countries in his 20-year career, said there are some drawbacks to filming foreign-set shots in Hawaii rather than on-location.
"Looks get used up," he said. "Everything's good about it but you've just sort of seen the place in many movies. You don't want the audience to think they've seen it before."
Still, many producers have been able to pull off unique looks. And they say the benefits are incomparable.
"I think it was the logical choice," said Chris Chulack, the producer of the "ER" episodes in which Hawaii shed its idyllic image to become a war-torn country in which the show's doctors risk their lives. "And it works out wonderfully at the end of the day when you get to go take a dip in the ocean."
ON THE NET
Hawaii Film Office: www.hawaiifilmoffice.com