By Alice Keesing

Donne Dawson isn’t even breaking a sweat. At least, it doesn’t look like she is. But it’s with a slightly giddy laugh that she admits that life as Hawaii film commissioner is somewhat hectic these days.

Not surprising given the Hollywood invasion of Oahu. In the last month, the island became ground zero for four new network television shows. It’s an unprecedented score that has industry experts searching for superlatives and counting the ways the state will benefit.

“We’ve got a lot on our plates right now,” says Dawson, mopping her brow theatrically and laughing at the understatement.

The fun started in April when Fox picked up North Shore, an old-hotel-series-meets-Melrose-Place-type drama. Then NBC signed the cop-show Hawaii. Last week, ABC picked up Lost, a plane-crash-and-castaway tale. And just when people were saying it couldn’t get any better, the WB network scheduled its surfer-girl-coming-of-age story, Rocky Point.

Cast, crews and cameras already have begun descending on Oahu, and it falls to Dawson and her understaffed office of four to make sure they have all the help and permits they need to create their TV magic.

Need the perfect cave location? The Hawaii Film Office can help. Need talent, hairdressers, animal wranglers and instructions on pidgin? Check out the film office directory. Need to stage a jumbo jet crash on a beach? The film office can help with the permits.

Last week there was a real buzz in the Hawaii Film Office with e-mails, phone calls and faxes flying as they began to juggle the needs of four needy productions. One staff member wails and threatens to jump from a high window.

He’s joking.

But four television shows at one time is unheard of. It was a big deal when two shows were here in 1998 - and they were on different islands.

“This is the kind of thing you see in places like New York or Vancouver or Los Angeles,” says Chris Lee, chairman of the University of Hawaii’s Academy for Creative Media and a former executive president of production for TriStar Pictures and Columbia Pictures. “I’d be hard pressed to think of a place that has seen four shows launched at the same time.”

Each show is expected to bring in at least $20 million in direct expenditures, not to mention the economic trickle down effect and the priceless showcasing of Hawaii as a destination. The stakes are high. But Dawson is managing to exude a calm confidence in the midst of the frenzy.

“She’s a wonder woman,” exclaims Marsha Wienert, the state’s tourism liaison who works closely with the film office. If anyone can finesse the juggling act of four production crews, Dawson can, she says.

Dawson comes from a line of strong women. Her mother, whom she calls her biggest mentor in life, is Beadie Dawson, a former state deputy attorney general and a leader in the Hawaiian community. Her grandmother was Annie Kanahele, another well-known leader and educator.

The feisty family spirit is evident in Dawson. She’s not shy to use the current boom to point out her office’s need for more money and more staff. Or to push her case that lawmakers need to boost the financial incentives for productions to ensure this year’s boom isn’t just a flash in the pan.

“She’s absolutely the right person for the position she’s in because of her knowledge of the industry and her appreciation for the cultural sensitivities and the professional realities of building this vital industry,” says Lee, who has known Dawson since small-kid times. “She’s a great people person and as someone having worked in Hollywood, I can say that is a great asset.”

A journalist and writer by trade, Dawson got her start in the film industry helping her former husband, John Eddy, produce shark documentaries. Doing everything from catering to interviewing to sound mixing gave her a real understanding of what producers need. She gained a perspective from the post-production side of the business when she served as media consultant to the Hawaii International Film Festival and the Maui Film Festival.

The 43-year-old La Pietra grad took over the helm of the film office three years ago. The common misconception is that she leads a life full of glamour, rubbing shoulders with the rich and famous.

Far from the truth, Dawson laughs.

Rather than hobnobbing with the stars, she is more likely to be dealing with something like quarantine laws or bureaucratic permit procedures. The state film office works closely with the county film offices, running interference for producers and building Hawaii’s reputation as a good place to do business.

“You have no idea how unglamorous it is,” Dawson says. “It is a lot of hard work. The job of a film commissioner is very much behind the scenes. We really only come out from behind the scenes when things aren’t going well.”

Dawson and her staff will bend over backwards to get producers what they need, but there are times when they just can’t help. Like when location scouts for Adam Sandler’s upcoming film The Longest Yard called asking Dawson if there was an empty prison they could film in.

Given the state’s overflowing prisons, “I had to quietly laugh under my breath and say, ‘No.’”

Sex on the beach is another no-go.

“I have two words for them,” Dawson says. “Private property.”

And Dawson also draws an emphatic line in the sand when it comes to protecting Hawaii’s land and culture.

“There was one producer who wanted to shoot in an area where there were known burial sites,” she says. “First, he couldn’t understand why there would be burial sites in a cliffside and, No. 2, what did it matter anyway? And wasn’t it my job as film commissioner to make it happen for him?”

Wrong question to ask Donne Dawson.

Throughout her career, Dawson has championed Hawaii’s people, land and culture. In the last year, she has embarked on a personal journey deeper into her roots, visiting Kahoolawe five times to help with restoration efforts.

This year she was asked to present ho‘okupu (an offering) to Lono in the Makahiki ceremonies. Wearing traditional kikepa garments and speaking only in Hawaiian, it was a moving experience.

“The first time I did it I felt like I was stepping back in time 200 years,” Dawson says. “It has opened up a whole new part of life for me.”

And it’s a part of her that she brings to her job.

“I care deeply about this place and I think that one of the reasons why I love this job is it gives me the opportunity to really share the truth about Hawaii’s history and culture and the uniqueness of this place,” she explains.

Typical Hollywood stereotypes of Hawaii still persist, but Dawson believes that’s slowly changing. She’s often asked for advice on cultural matters and doesn’t hesitate to point out - delicately - if producers are putting too much Hollywood into Hawaii.

Four TV shows in our backyard is an industry dream. But there is a bigger dream shared by people like Dawson and Chris Lee. One day, they say, Hawaii can tell its own stories instead of waiting for Hollywood to come knocking.

“I’ll be happy when we get the industry to the next major level when Hawaii is able to have its Whale Rider or its Dances with Wolves,” Dawson says. “I just believe it’s time for Hawaii’s true stories to be told.”

If it’s up to Dawson, it will happen. No sweat.

 

05.27.04