I keep hearing the same story from my film and TV colleagues in Hawaiʻi: They’re not working. They’re broke. Many are selling their cars or homes just to stay afloat. Others are leaving or looking for new careers.

This wasn’t just a job — it was a legacy passed down through generations.

This is coming on the heels of a number of boom years in Hawai’i where we had so many productions going at once that we had trouble keeping them all properly staffed. Nor did we have nearly enough stages.

Because of this, productions like “Doogie Kameāloha, M.D.” and “Lilo & Stitch” were forced to shoot in repurposed locations like an old Sack N Save or climbing gym. Developers were scouting for new studio sites to meet rising demand.

Yet all of this has now come to a screeching halt. Today, all eight of the islands’ stages — real and retrofitted — sit empty. Without swift legislative action, Hawaiʻi’s century-old film industry could vanish.

To understand how we came to this perilous point, we need to rewind.

Hollywood first came to Hawaiʻi in 1913, with productions like “The Shark God” and “Hawaiian Love.” In 1918, “The Hidden Pearls,” starring Sessue Hayakawa, was filmed here. From the start, Hawaiʻi stood at the forefront of representative and visual storytelling.

Since then, the islands have hosted over a hundred iconic productions, including “South Pacific,” “Jurassic Park,” “Lost,” “Pirates of the Caribbean” and two iterations each of “Magnum, P.I.” and “Hawaiʻi Five-0.” Recent projects include “NCIS: Hawaiʻi,” “Moana,” “Lilo & Stitch,” “Chief of War,” and “Rescue: HI Surf.”

While Hawaiʻi’s natural landscape is the obvious star, the real turning point came in 1997 when state lawmakers enacted Act 107, one of the first tax rebate programs in the country for film productions. This program offered a refundable income tax credit of up to 4% on qualified production costs and up to 6% on transient accommodation costs for productions filming in the islands.

But the real game changer happened in 2006.

To make Hawai‘i more competitive with other U.S. jurisdictions and Canada, the Legislature passed Act 88, one of the country’s first refundable production tax credit programs, initially offering 15% for productions filmed on O‘ahu and 20% for those filmed on the Neighbor Islands. And unlike a rebate program, only  production expenditures subject to income and excise tax could qualify.    

Seeing that the program was rapidly growing Hawai‘i’s film industry and the overall economy, the Legislature approved several measures over the last decade to increase the 15-20% credit to 22%-27%. They also increased the per production credit limit from $8M to $17M and extended the sunset date multiple times.

Combined with the aloha spirit the islands are famous for, and a skilled, diverse and growing local workforce, Hawaiʻi soon became a top-tier production destination.

The results were impressive. In the last two decades, Hawai’i has more than quadrupled the size of the industry and the jobs created. And the yearly boost to Hawai’i’s GDP grew to up to $148 million a year.

An Economic Driver

But perhaps more important than the money was the transformation of our workforce. In the early days, crews were mostly flown in. Today, most productions, like “Rescue: HI Surf,” employ crews that are over 90% local—many of them of Hawaiian descent. At last count, the industry supported an estimated  2,100 jobs in Hawaiʻi, with at least 750 full-time, high-paying roles.

And now? Most of those workers are unemployed.

What happened?

Part of the answer has to do with Hollywood’s broader slowdown. But Hawai’i didn’t help its case. While other states ramped up their tax incentives, Hawaiʻi fell behind.

Georgia (30%), Louisiana (40%), New Mexico (40%), and New York (30%) now offer better rebates. Even California is getting more aggressive.
But the biggest blow came in 2019 (fully implemented by 2023), when Hawaiʻi reclassified film work for tax purposes. Previously, producers paid a 0.5% general excise tax.

Now, they — and anyone paid through loan-out companies — must pay the increased 4.5% rate (4% on the neighbor islands), on top of all state and federal taxes. Payroll providers were also impacted. The fall-out from this new tax language was quick and severe.

Imagine you’re a producer deciding between filming in Hawaiʻi and Georgia. In Hawaiʻi, you’ll pay significantly more in upfront taxes, on top of the higher base costs of shooting here.

Georgia, on the other hand, does not have a spending cap nor sunset date on its tax incentive program, so the industry can rely on the stability of that program for their production planning. Nor does Georgia have an additional GET, which producers have nicknamed a “paradise tax.” 

So, while productions continue to flock to Georgia to the tune of 17% annual growth and $8.5 billion in annual economic activity, productions have all but given up on Hawai‘i.

Where does that leave us now?

The answer is tragic and simple. Productions are fleeing the state. Thousands of union members are out of work. And when we pitch Hollywood executives, we all hear the same thing: “We love Hawaiʻi, but it’s just too expensive … and besides we can do a lot with green screen and plates these days.”

And that’s the reason, in recent years, that the live-action “Moana,” “Wrecking Crew” and “Chief of War” all filmed the majority of their productions outside of Hawaiʻi.

We’ve shared these concerns with lawmakers. We’ve proposed restoring the 0.5% GET rate, modestly increasing the credit, and allowing streaming shows to qualify. None of these proposals have advanced. One bill even proposes eliminating the credit entirely.

Opponents argue the tax credit doesn’t pay for itself in direct revenue. But this ignores the multiplier effect. A dollar spent in Hawaiʻi flows through vendors, landlords, and restaurants, returning to the state via many channels.

In 2022 alone, Hawai’i productions brought in $333.65 million, the majority of expenditures on goods and services, $118.3 million, or 35.4% of production expenditures, were paid directly to Hawai‘i-based businesses.

And then there’s tourism. After ‘The White Lotus’ aired, Four Seasons Maui saw a 386% spike in availability searches and launched themed guest experiences. ‘Hawaiʻi Five-0’ boosted visits to the USS Missouri by 25% and Waiola Shave Ice sales by 30%. Kualoa Ranch, home to Jurassic Park, remains one of Oʻahu’s top attractions.

According to a 2022 Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism study, 8.2% of visitors were influenced by Hawaiʻi’s on-screen presence, and 4.8% came solely because of it — totaling 190,500 tourists, 4.5 million visitor days, and $1 billion in spending.

The film industry also diversifies Hawaiʻi’s economy at a time when over-reliance on tourism is a known risk. It offers high-paying jobs, often without requiring advanced degrees. It’s environmentally gentle. And residents overwhelmingly support it: A 2024 study found that 87% believe the industry is vital to Hawaiʻi’s economy, and 88% think state officials should help it stay.

Also overlooked is the cultural and social value of the film industry. These are local jobs, held by kamaʻāina, often passed down from generation to generation. This is not “outsider Hollywood” swooping in — this is us.

As months go by without work for our local crews, it’s becoming increasingly apparent that the only way we can stave off total collapse of our film industry is to pass legislation that makes Hawai‘i competitive again. Hawai‘i’s natural beauty, inherent spirit of aloha, and amazing local crews will do the rest.

To paraphrase a line from the movies: I’m just a Hawaiʻi filmmaker, standing in front of his legislator, asking him to believe in us again.

Don’t let Hawaiʻi’s story fade to black.