Harry Donenfeld, head of the Maui County Film Office, held an open meeting at the Kahului Community Center on September 26th for all producers, directors, casting agents, location managers, camera operators, and actors involved in our islands' film industry. The meeting was held to discuss the future of the film industry in Maui County and to gather more information about the types of services, equipment and talent that is available for film productions here.
“Maui has had a lot of press lately about being a great location for filming and we’ve been getting a lot of inquiries,” Donenfeld said. “We needed to gather everyone together in one spot and get an idea of what we have that’s available for these productions.”
Mayor Alan Arakawa spoke at the meeting about his intent to expand the film and production industry on Maui and is reaching out to mainland and international production companies to do their productions here. He recently made a trip to Korea to encourage professionals in Korea's fast-growing film and tv industry to bring their productions to the valley isle. The Mayor also announced that the County has recently approved a $7 million dollar fund to promote more production on Maui. Where exactly this funding will be allocated is still yet to be determined. There is discussion that the County will be supporting the development of a soundstage on Maui that will intice professional tv and film production from all over the world. Mayor Arakawa assured the attendees that some of the funding will also go toward local Maui productions.
Teena Rasmussen, Maui's Office of Economic Development Coordinator, praised Donenfeld for the experience and enthusiasm he brings to the Maui Film Office. Donenfeld said he would also like to produce more sporting events on Maui. He is currently working with others to plan an upcoming windsurfing and kiteboarding event on the island.
The meeting was standing room only as Maui's production professionals poured in to hear the future plan's of Maui County's administration. The crowd applauded when Donenfeld said that the goal of Maui's Film Office is to encourage production companies who come to Maui to hire the talented professionals who live here. He added that we have a plethora of videographers, sound engineers, location scouts, editors, grips, producers, scriptwriters and actors have made Maui their home and that the County supports increasing job opportunities for our production professionals.
The meeting included a question and answer session and attendees were asked to fill out a questionnaire to provide the County information about all the crew and equipment resources that are available on Maui. Rasmussen thanked Akaku Community Television for filming the evening's meeting and for providing television production education to members of Maui County.
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