My Hawaii On Screen Film Proposal

My idea employs an ensemble cast with characters whose lives intersect and intertwine in a dramatic comedy.

WORKING TITLE:                             "Ohana Means Family"
    This saying is familiar to many because of the success of the Disney movie "Lilo & Stitch", so the appeal to mainstream audiences would be present.

PLOT:  At a large family wedding, various story-lines of different characters whose lives and choices intersect within the state, island and culture of Hawaii.

SETTING:  Hawaii Island, Waikoloa Four Seasons Resort
                     Various home and business locations on the island for different characters (seen
                               during flashbacks)

INTERACTIONS/STORY:  Wedding day of a locally born and raised couple, family and friends have come together to celebrate.  Many local cultural traditions seen at reception (Bonzai, money dance, etc.).  Various guests of the bride and groom have backstories that intersect with each other and are seen through flashbacks for the audience as they spend the day together celebrating the marriage of this young couple.
  Examples: - father and mother of the bride are contemplating divorce, father has had an 
                        affair with his business partner, another man, who is also at the wedding
                     - maid of honor and best man both have feelings for the bride and groom
                     - cousin of bride has been estranged from family since coming out, and shows
                       up at the wedding with his partner
                     - sister of groom and her husband have recently bought a home and now he has
                       lost his job with one of the telescope companies on Mauna Kea

CASTING:  First priority is to actors with Hawaii ties:  Jason Momoa, Tia Carrere, Jason Scott Lee, Bette Midler, Roseanne Barr, Bruno Mars, Kelly Hu, Joe Moore, pretty much any of our local newscasters, radio personalities, entertainers, business owners, elected officials, any of our Miss Hawaii's, and most importantly...the cast of ENG 205!

SOUNDTRACK:  The music of Kuana Torres Kahele, Lito Arkangel, Pomai Longakit, John Keawe, among others

Section 7: Homegrown

I am homegrown product.  One side of my family history can be traced to the Filipino immigrants who came to work on the plantations in Hawaii in hopes of earning money to send home to family in the Philippines as well as the hope of a better future.

Patsy Iwasaki's "Hamakua Hero" is a graphic novel that relays the true story of an immigrant from Japan who came to work a plantation on the Big Island.  Both the encouraging and tragic events of his short life in Hawaii set the foundation not only for the future generations, but also for a community.  In the movie "Picture Bride" by Kayo Hatta, we see plantation life from the perspective of a young Japanese woman who comes to Hawaii in an arranged marriage to work on a plantation with the end goal of earning enough money to return to Japan in the near future.  In the documentary, "Mabuhay With Aloha", we see the same plantation life perspective of the first Filipinos to Hawaii.  The hardships all these people endured are the foundations our generation has built upon and grown from.    

Looking back further in time on film, we have "Hawaii" based on the James Michener novel, and "Princess Kaiulani" by Marc Forby.  These movies show the colonization of missionaries in Hawaii and the dissolution of the Hawaiian monarchy respectively.

Moving forward in time to present day, we have "The Descendants" by local author Kaui Hemmings Hart that relates the story of the heirs descended from the marriage between a missionary and a woman of Hawaiian royalty.  One subplot has the heirs faced with the decision of selling the land that has been passed down through generations for development.  The story also holds themes of anger, infidelity, and power as we have seen in other movies this semester.

Our present has been shaped by our past here in Hawaii.  We have the knowledge of our past to help us define our future.