save the hawaii film office

Recently heard from Mynette Louie, producer of Children of Invention, who informs me of some not-so-cool economic happenings in Hawaii. Basically, due to the state's struggling economy, the Hawaii Film Office is slated to shut down after 31 years in operation. This will make Hawaii the only state without a film commission.

That means in a few weeks, there will be no one to help guide
filmmakers through film permitting, scouting, tax credit applications, etc. Filmmakers, can you hear me on this? Can you imagine stumbling your way through the civil servants of the various state divisions and departments trying to figure out who you need to get permission from to shoot in a particular place? Not to mention how to fill out a production tax credit application?

Filmmakers who have shot in Hawaii know what I'm talking about. And those who hope to shoot in Hawaii in the future, without the specialists in the Film Office, you could be looking at some serious roadblocks for your production. There's a currently an online petition trying to stop the Film Office from shutting down: Save The Film Specialists Of The Hawaii Film Office.

The petition notes that the collective salaries to save current Hawaii Film Office staff amount to less than 1% of the annual revenue the film industry generates for the state. That doesn't seem like much for the survival of Hawaii's film industry. Sign it here and spread the word.