Two Hawaii series
get the green light
'Fantasy Island,'
By Tim Ryan
'Wind On Water' get go ahead
but ABC won't pick up
'Honolulu CRU'
Star-BulletinTwo prime-time television series will begin filming this summer in Hawaii.
ABC announced today that "Fantasy Island," based on the classic TV series about a tropical island where dreams are brought to life, has been picked as a series with an initial 12 episodes to be filmed primarily on Oahu. Some photography also will be done on Maui, where much of the pilot was filmed. The show stars Malcolm McDowell.
Although the pilot featured the Hotel Hana Maui as the "Fantasy Island" resort, a facade and other sets are expected to be built at Oahu's Kualoa Ranch, the most popular private film location on the island, sources said.
Sets and props from the pilot are being stored on Oahu.
"Wind on Water," starring Bo Derek as the mother of two world-class surfer-skiers who are helping to run the family's cattle ranch on the Big Island, has been given the green light by NBC for 12 episodes plus the pilot.
Both series are expected to begin filming here in July.
The bad news is that ABC's cop-buddy pilot, "Honolulu CRU," filmed on Oahu last month, will not become a series. But that means a sound stage at the Hawaii Film Studio, which had been leased for "Honolulu CRU," is now available for "Fantasy Island." Producers are deciding whether the old sound stage is big enough or if they need to rent a larger, private facility.
Meanwhile, celebration was guarded on the Big Island, where the "Wind on Water" pilot was filmed. It hasn't been determined if the series will be filmed there, Oahu or Los Angeles, -- said Georgette Deemer, Hawaii Film Office manager.
"Wind on Water" producer Zalman King's preference is to film on the Big Island, Deemer said. But the determining factor is cost. The most expensive location would be the Big Island; Los Angeles is the least costly. If L.A. is chosen, second unit photography -- scenes without the major stars -- will still have to be shot in Hawaii, she said.
Oahu would probably serve as primary location for the surfing scenes, a source said.
The "Wind on Water" production would include about 100 crew members, with key crew being brought in from L.A. and Oahu, said Marilyn Killeri, Big Island film commissioner.
"They have promised to hire as many Big Island people for crew as possible and have talked about training crew here," she said.
Each episode will cost between $1.5 million and $2 million, with "no less" than $800,000 being spent in Hawaii, Killeri said.
Big Island and state film officials are putting together a financial incentive package to ensure the show is based in Hawaii.
Ocean drama films
episode on Big IslandThe series 'Baywatch' returns
Star-Bulletin
to Hawaii for a second time"Baywatch," one of the world's most popular television dramas, next week will film part of an hourlong episode on the Big Island.
The production will spend two days, Monday and May 27, filming at the Hilton Waikoloa and two days, May 28 and 29, at nearby locations, said Shannon Cobleigh, the show's publicist.
The Los Angeles-based production will bring to the Big Island about 50 actors and crew members.
The episode -- tentatively titled "Dolphin Quest" -- is about an autistic boy whose illness is eased when he's around dolphins. He comes to Hawaii -- and the Hilton Waikoloa specifically -- to swim with the dolphins in the hotel's Dolphin Quest program.
The autistic character is played by Miko Hughes, 12.
David Chokachi, who plays Cody on "Baywatch," stars in the episode as will an as-yet-unnamed actress who will be the show's new female lead this coming season.
Star David Hasselhoff will not be part of the Big Island filming.
The Hilton Waikoloa is providing the production with 47 rooms -- worth about $100,000 -- in exchange for not only visual publicity but dialogue mentioning the hotel, a Hilton Waikoloa official said. Hawaiian Airlines is providing free transportation from Los Angeles. In the episode, a Hawaiian Airlines plane is seen when the "Baywatch" characters are boarding at Los Angeles Airport.
To ensure that the public is not misled about the help the dolphins provide the fictional autistic child, the script specifically includes dialogue that says the marine mammals cannot provide a miracle cure for the illness.
The "Baywatch" production office at the 1,240-room Hilton Waikoloa was set up yesterday
The production also will bring six inner-city children from Los Angeles homeless shelters as part of its Camp Baywatch program. The kids will be taken on a tour of the Big Island and be used as extras in a scene where the autistic character swims with the dolphins.
This is the second "Baywatch" filmed on Hilton property in Hawaii. In 1994, the production filmed a two-hour season opener on Oahu when the cast and crew were based at the Turtle Bay Hilton.
Also at the Hilton Waikoloa, the Jantzen sportswear company will photograph six models, including Miss USA Shawnae Jebbia, May 28-June 3 for its 1999 swimsuit calendar and advertising campaign. This is the third consecutive year the swimsuit company has used the Big Island as a calendar location.
