With its lush vegetation and world-class beaches, Hawaii has long been known as “Hollywood’s tropical backlot." The 50th state has been the location and setting for films ranging from South Pacific to Jurassic Park and television productions such as Lost, Magnum P.I. and Hawaii Five-O have taken advantage of its outstanding scenery. But Hawaii has a lot more to offer than just spectacularly lush tropical settings, fabulous weather, and golden light. The state offers three different tax incentives that may be applied to film and television productions: A 15 to 20 percent motion picture, digital media and film production income tax credit. This is a refundable tax credit based on a production company's Hawaii expenditures while producing a qualified film, television, commercial, or digital media project. The credit equals 15 percent of qualified production costs incurred on Oahu, and 20 percent on the neighbor islands (Big Island, Kauai, Lanai, Maui and Molokai). On top of its competitive tax incentives, Hawaii has the only state-owned and operated film studio in the country, a growing list of production facilities, an experienced pool of crew and talent, a comprehensive local inventory of state-of-the-art equipment, a well-established one-stop process for state film permits, and a film-friendly government and community.

Hawaii Film Office

Since Hawaii’s new refundable production tax credit Act 88 went into effect July 1, 2006, there has been a significant increase in production activity across the islands, notes Hawaii state film commissioner Donne Dawson. The credit, which provides 15 percent back on all eligible production costs incurred on Oahu, and 20 percent for all those incurred on neighboring islands, has generated more than $250 million since it began.  Some of the more visible productions that have taken advantage of the credit include two episodes of NBC’s Las Vegas series, Touchstone’s Lost television series, Disney’s Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End, Universal’s Forgetting Sarah Marshall, Paramount’s Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, DreamWorks’ Tropic Thunder, and several national and international commercials. Adds Dawson, “More than 75 percent of the labor necessary to support these productions are local hires. Since the WGA (Writers Guild of America) strike began, production has slowed somewhat, but Hawaii expects 2008 to begin with at least two movie of the week projects, an independent feature film and Lost to resume shooting its fourth season on Oahu.  The show anticipates a 2010 end date. Beyond the productions that are accessing Act 88 there are several reality based projects that have shot in Hawaii including the season finale of Bravo’s hit show Top Chef and the two-hour season premiere of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, both of which brought tremendous primetime exposure for the state.