HomeMy WebLinkAboutCOM 0420.003 2020-2022 From: Janice Glennie
Sent: Monday, October 18, 2021 9:20 AM
To: Council Testimony;Villegas, Rebecca
i
Subject: Film industry, Communication 420
Attachments: testimony film industry 101921.pdf, ATT00001.htm
i
Aloha committee chair and council members,
I
Attached please find my testimony regarding the disruptions to our island and its people by the film industry. I look
forward to the upcoming conversation regarding this topic.
3
Mahalo and sincerely,
Janice ralma-61,fnnie:
3
CO
Y
� 3
jII
s
I
i
3
I
I
3
1
Comm.N . L
Ref.To:
1 Chef.Date
Film industry testimony Comm. 420
Aloha committee chair Kierkeiwitz and council members,
You might remember the disaster that was NBC`s "Wind on Water"TV series -- filmed in large part
at our island's only designated noncommercial, wilderness park in the1990s.
If you've been led to believe that the film industry leaves no lasting footprint, the truth is that it can
run ramshod over the lives of local residents and the natural environment and that it can, and
does, ignore or get around regulations meant to protect the public's right to use and access their
wild and recreational spaces as well as neighborhoods and urban areas.
During the TV series Wind on Water, the beaches and nearshore waters were off-limits to the
public for much of the filming. Special Management Area (SMA) shoreline protection rules were
flouted, view planes were dramatically changed including excessive lighting and set paraphernalia
so imposing that we could see it from our house at 1800' elevation over a mile away.The
atmosphere was of the public intruding on a private domain. (Plenty of"quiet on the set!" and
"Time is money!")The only reason the debauchery didn't continue is that the series was so junk.
Many of the places film companies choose to use for their profit-making ventures are inhabited
and/or visited and depended upon not just by humans, but by precious and endangered native
species like monk seals, honu and sea birds. Even the use of drones and strong lighting in places
otherwise off-limits to those manmade devices can have unintended, harmful consequences on
animals already threatened by changes in their environment.
One thing the county must make clear is where drones can and cannot be operated around the
island. From my research, it appears that the law says that drones can't be used in any county, state
or federal park. Airport areas that include nearby parks like Kekaha Kai State Park, Kohanaiki and
O'oma and as well as those on the east side near Hilo airport— including the Banyan drive area
where filming is currently being done—are apparently off limits to drone use as well.
Another question is enforcement. Back in the bad, old Wind on Water days, DOBOR seemed more
like it was guarding NBC than monitoring them. It was said that at least one DOBOR employee
was employed by NBC during the filming to control the public, not vice-versa including letting us
know that the park was closed on normally open days.
The State and County seem to bend over backwards to mega-rich film corporations with no
expectation of payment. Damage, displacement, and inconvenience from filming aren't always
quantifiable and not always immediate, but can be costly nonetheless. Consequences like
spreading invasive species (like Little Fire Ants) from an urban space to a wild space, damaging
critical habitat, or taking up a critical space for an endangered species that comes to shore during
filming can be huge. Who pays for the possibly years-long eradication of those pests and
rehabilitation of a species that might be undermined by corporate film use?The illegal wall built at
Mahai'ula during Wind on Water was never removed and is still crumbling into the sea over 20
years later.
The film industry in New Zealand created a slew of exclusive areas in a country that was far more
egalitarian prior to embracing Hollywood. Land and home prices have been driven through the
roof where Hollywood moguls have bought up entire shorelines and agricultural lands for their
private use; and a Hollywood set is about to be constructed in a pastoral and beyond gorgeous
area of the South Island —a set that will replicate— not a hobbit domain, but New York City!
Hawaii doesn't need advertising. We don't need to ask people to come here through brain-dead
movies and TV shows like "Love Island" that do nothing but diminish and make a mockery of the
intrinsic value of Hawaii's land and people.
As much as I care deeply that our young people have creative outlets for their talent, it's clear that
the film industry in hawaii has been a shadow of sustainable. Until and if it can be made more
islander-friendly through strict, enforceable and enforced regulation, it should be regarded as far
better suited for places in the world that are less prone to being as socially, culturally and
environmentally damaged by it.
i