LIHU‘E — Over the years, Kaua‘i has been marketed to the film industry as a place that can replicate any tropical climate found on Earth. It has been Vietnam, Cambodia, Africa, Mexico, Australia, Tahiti, other parts of the South Pacific,
LIHU‘E — Over the years, Kaua‘i has been marketed to the film industry as a place that can replicate any tropical climate found on Earth.
It has been Vietnam, Cambodia, Africa, Mexico, Australia, Tahiti, other parts of the South Pacific, a remote tropical island where genetically modified dinosaurs roam, “Gilligan’s Island,” and countless other locations.
For “The Descendants,” which wrapped up nearly a month of filming on Friday, Kaua‘i got to play Kaua‘i.
“It’s portraying Kaua‘i for Kaua‘i, Hanalei Bay for Hanalei Bay, the St. Regis for the St. Regis,” said George Parra, co-producer of “The Descendants.”
“It’s exactly what it is,” and the screenplay talks about the character played by George Clooney going from O‘ahu to Kaua‘i to find someone, so viewers of the movie set for release next year will know filming took place on Kaua‘i, said Parra.
“People are going to see that on the screen, they’re going to look at that and say ‘where is that?’ and ‘I want to go there,’” Parra said in a phone interview from O‘ahu, where the crew is shooting the final three weeks of “The Descendants.”
Another way the beauty of Kaua‘i and its people will be spread to influential Hollywood film-makers as a result of the good vibe “The Descendants” cast and crew felt is good, old-fashioned talk story.
“Word of mouth is very important, very powerful,” Parra said.
“They always ask questions,” he said of other industry professionals who query Parra and others about their on-location experiences.
“We were taken aback” at how they were welcomed with “open arms” at the St. Regis Princeville Resort, where Clooney and others stayed and where filming also took place; at the Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas, where around 100 members of the cast and crew stayed and where the film’s production offices were located; the Tahiti Nui, where filming also took place; and at other locations primarily on the North Shore, Parra said.
“Particularly everybody in Hanalei were super warm and welcoming,” said Parra, who has been in the film-making industry for 25 years, including 20 years of filming in Hawai‘i.
“It’s a sleepy little town,” he said of Hanalei. “We try to leave as small a footprint as possible. You’re always going to upset somebody.”
Christian Marston at Tahiti Nui in Hanalei, and Keola Sheehan at the Wilcox estate off Weke Road near Hanalei Bay, which was a location and base camp, were “equally as open arms and just pleasant to deal with,” said Parra.
Titus Kinimaka opened up his heart and surf shop to the cast and crew, and can be seen as an extra in some of the beach scenes filmed on Hanalei Bay, said Parra.
“He was very, very aloha, as a true friend, a new friend. I’m sad to leave,” said Parra.
“People at the St. Regis were incredibly wonderful,” as hosts for not only Clooney and some of the other cast and crew, but also as a filming location for one of the three weeks cast and crew were on island, he said.
Parra said the hotel was “definitely a character” in the filming, and will prove so in the final version of the movie.
Parra was equally impressed with those in the service industries he encountered. “Everyone was so proud of their jobs, and happy to live and work in Hanalei.”
The O‘ahu-based crew members, many of them Native Hawaiians, routinely expressed appreciation for being brought to Kaua‘i, said Parra. Like others involved in the Kaua‘i filming, they too were disappointed to have to leave this island, he said.
Of the film’s total budget of $20 million, Parra said up to $15 million may have been spent on Kaua‘i, a figure he won’t be able to specifically pinpoint until all Hawai‘i filming has been completed.
Upwards of 200 to 300 Kaua‘i extras were hired, with around 45 appearing in the scenes filmed at Tahiti Nui restaurant in Hanalei, and between 30 and 40 in the beach scenes on Hanalei Bay.
“It was good. They were great,” he said of the local extras.
Here is what Parra had to say about some of the local people, and one of the stars, he came in contact with:
— On Angela Tillson, local location manager: “Fanastic.”
— On Lindsay Forman, Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas sales manager: “Fantastic. The resort bent over backwards to accommodate our staff. Just fantastic people. So warm; just happy to have us.”
— On George Clooney: “George is truly one of the premier nice guys, professional, nice to the crew. He’s sort of disarming. He’s just a normal kind of guy.”
— On Art Umezu, county film commissioner: “They were great. They were wonderful.” Umezu brought 2010 Miss Kaua‘i Veronica Pablo to Lihu‘e Airport to meet Parra on his arrival, and brought Kaua‘i hats and T-shirts for many members of the cast and crew. “Art was great. Funny guy. He was helpful.”
“This film was an obvious economic benefit for Kaua‘i, especially for the Hanalei community,” Umezu said. “Some of the cast and crew stayed at the St. Regis Princeville Resort for 18 nights, while the rest of the cast and crew stayed at the Westin Princeville Ocean Resort Villas, and they frequented many of the businesses in the area as well.”
“We certainly appreciate the willingness of our residents to be flexible in the short term so that we can enjoy the long-term benefits of remaining one of the world’s premier movie destination,” he said.
