Big changes could be coming for Hawaii's film industry — and they aren't good

Yahoo

10-04-2025

HONOLULU (KHON2) — A bill meant to boost the film industry in Hawaii, now threatens to do the opposite according to an industry expert. The lawmaker who introduced the bill said the changes are sending the wrong message.
'Rescue HI Surf,' 'Hawaii Five-O,' 'White Lotus,' 'Magnum PI' and countless other series and movies have been filmed in Hawaii.
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'They continually marketed Hawaii the best way they possibly could,' Sen. Lynn DeCoite said.
But in recent years, there have been fewer productions.
DeCoite, who chairs the Senate Economic Development and Tourism committee, had hoped to change that. So she set out to support the industry she said helps generates income, promotes tourism and creates jobs for local residents.
'Our investment of $50 million has come back to us in about $116 million in taxes,' she explained. 'About a billion dollars in spend, take less to $50 million, and you got about $66 million in monies back to our general budget.'
DeCoite introduced SB732, meant to sweeten the pot and encourage productions to film here, with additional tax incentives.SB732 initially increased the tax break from $50 million to $60 million, had language to include streaming productions, and would redesignate the industry as manufacturing, which lowered the GE tax from 4.5% to .5%.
Tui'ana Scanlan, the IATSE president representing production crew members, said recent amendments to the bill stripped it bare.
'If it is passed in its current form, it may be devastating towards our industry,' Scanlan said.
According to Scanlan, the amendments made by the House Finance Committee, would now repeal the tax program, add a1/6 annual reduction of the $50 million spending cap, and took out language allowing streaming productions.
'It makes it so that we are out of the global competition for filming location,' he explained.
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Scanlan said it would mean fewer jobs for hundreds of local residents who rely on productions for income and it would also impact the tourism industry.
'There is a ripple effect that this industry has on the rest of the ecosystem, the economic ecosystem of the state that I don't think gets as much attention,' he added.
'This sends a completely different message to the very thing we should be marketing. We always talk about marketing our people, marketing our culture, but that's a funny way of showing it,' DeCoite said. 'If we ain't going to promote our very own what are we doing?'
SB732 now goes to the full Senate floor. If it passes, it will head to the Governor for his signature. If it doesn't, it will go into conference.
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Other bills also advancing through the legislature include a bill to add a new cruise ship tax (HB504), one to increase the state vehicle weight tax (HB1231) and another to allow sports betting online (HB1308).
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