Latest news with #DeCoite
Yahoo
27-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Film industry workers ‘devastated' after measure to bring more work deferred
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Hawaiʻi's film industry received a huge setback after a bill that could have boosted the struggling industry died in committee on April 25. TV and film industry workers say they are stunned and one lawmaker says people's livelihoods are at stake because of political back and forth. Bill to give tax credits to film industry for local productions deferred Sen. Lynn DeCoite fought tirelessly to help the struggling film industry thrive once again by looking to raise the total cap on credits per year, expanding streaming productions, tax incentives and adding bonuses for local hires, just to name a few. 'It is unfortunate that we do not have an agreement as we've been back and forth working on the different conference drafts and the changes we have made,' DeCoite said. 'I have tried my best along with some of my colleagues and at the end of the day, it was the tax credits that was not liked by the House. It is unfortunate and I am very saddened that this is where I'm at today.' Senators Donna Mercado Kim and Samantha DeCorte commended DeCoite's hard work on the measure. DeCoite couldn't be reached for comment following the said the senate tried everything they could to get the measure passed and even had support from the senate president as well as the chair of Ways and Means. 'The saddest thing about this whole situation is that there are real lives effected because this bill didn't pass,' DeCorte said. 'The film industry brings millions if not billions of dollars here to Hawaii, but most importantly, they put to work thousands of our local workers and this means those workers are out of a job entirely. The lawmakers that are responsible for not being cooperative with this bill are literally taking food off the plates of these workers.' Workers like Ralph Malani, who has done hair for about 40 TV and Film productions including 'Lilo and Stitch' and 'Rescue: HI-Surf,' says that the bill's deferment is a major loss for himself and his colleagues.'[Hawaii] is where I'm from, it's just so sad to me that the powers that be don't seem to care that local people are losing out big time and we're going to have to leave, and I never wanted to leave,' he said, referencing how the mainland has more job opportunities than in the islands. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news This is the first time in two decades that there are no active productions filming on the islands. 'I have friends going to the foodbank because they can't feed their kids, people are selling their homes because they cant pay mortgages, they are taking kids out of schools because there is no work here,' he added. He also worked on the film 'Finding Ohana,' which was shot in Thailand. 'It was supposed to be in Hawaii and it looked just like Hawaii and for one of me they could hire five in Thailand, so why wouldn't they go there?' he said. 'And that's exactly what's going to keep happening, they're going to go to New Zealand and other places.' 'Duke's Law' one step closer to reality in win against agricultural land crime For Malani, the deferment left him questioning the actions of the legislators who opposed the bill. 'If those people who voted against this are watching, just why? What did it threaten you with to give us a good job? It's so sad. Think about the local people who grew up here, who are raised here, have families here, think about us before you sign off a piece of paper and destroy everything we had,' Malani said. The final draft of SB 732 had 367 pages of testimony, and not a single agency or person testified against it. 'The truth of the matter is this bill died for political reasons, and the House wasn't compromising with the Senate and we did everything we could, we gave in to a lot of the things we were asked for on the Senate side,' DeCorte said. 'They made it so much harder and again these are lives that are at stake, real families that rely on this income to pay their bills and now what is going to happen?' TV and Film Producer Eric Hays moved his family to Hawaii a few years ago after wrapping up filming NCIS in New Orleans. HPD searching for attempted murder suspect 'When the show here shut down, we chose to stay here because we love the people, it's a privilege to shoot on the island here and we respect the culture and everything about it,' Hays said. 'We could have went back to New Orleans but we decided to stay here, and my daughter is graduating from Mid-Pacific next month and we made the right decision to stay.' Despite his happiness with living in the islands, the reality is that Hays may have to consider relocating. 'I'm worried that we may have to go to back to New Orleans because right now, I have three to four shows I'm trying to bring here as an independent producer and financially it doesn't make sense,' Hays said. They can be written for here or New Orleans, but let's shoot it here, and rebuild the industry and make it thrive.' He said when people come to Oahu they come to visit Waikiki, the beaches, Diamond Head, and also Kualoa Ranch. Merrie Monarch boost Hilo businesses like Ola Brew 'They want to see fake dinosaur footprints and to see where King Kong fought Godzilla and all the other movies out there, and guess what? That is the film industry impact on tourism,' Hays said. He said the tax incentive motivates productions to come to Hawaii and film while also pushing money into the economy. 'We could put $60 to 80 million into the economy in this county in over one year,' he said. 'And combine that into three years or another show that's here and four other movies and the next thing you know, you're putting a billion dollars into the economy.' The state's Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism wrote testimony stating support for the legislation, citing the economic impacts film has had on the islands. Puna woman arrested following deadly domestic dispute 'The film industry has provided hundreds of jobs, launched careers and resulted in long term employment for residents at a better than average living wage,' the testimony said. 'Together with the Legislature, we have an opportunity to restore our production activity, turning around the current 50% decline in production here through maintaining a viable tax incentive, putting our residents and vendors back to work.' Hays cited other states' tax credits as a reason why films that have ties to Polynesia shoot on the mainland. ''Moana' was shot in Atlanta, but came here for exteriors. Why wasn't it shot here the whole time? Because producers chase the money they chase the tax credit,' Hays said. Industry professionals say Georgia is leading the way when it comes to the film industry by offering many incentives and bonuses. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
26-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
No online sports gambling coming to Hawaii, bill deferred
HONOLULU (KHON2) — Online sports gambling won't be coming to Hawaii anytime soon. A bill that would have made it legal died in the state legislature April 25, the last working day of the session. HB1308, introduced by Rep. Dan Holt, would've made online sports betting legal. Bill aimed at inflation could make shoreline development easier with no public say 'We just haven't come to an agreement on the details with number of operators, tax rate, fees and those kinds of things,' Holt said. 'And there's still some kind of questions left unanswered by some of the members who have concerns about sports betting.' The big question is the estimated $10 to $20 million in revenue gambling could bring in, worth the problems associated with it like crime and addiction.'It's a good chunk of money,' Holt said. 'It wouldn't fix all our problems, but it is a sizeable amount of money that we could've had to address some of our issues.' 'This is the fifth state in 2025 that said no to expanding online gambling,' said Les Bernal, Stop Predatory Gambling national director. 'Because other states have seen the harm, both financial harm and public health harm that predatory gambling has inflicted in the states that have legalized online gambling.' Sen. Lynn DeCoite introduced the senate's version of the bill. Download the free KHON2 app for iOS or Android to stay informed on the latest news 'For me, I was asked to introduce that, introduce the bill, which is why it brought a lot, it brought a lot of information,' DeCoite said. 'People came out and then like when I go home, a lot of people I talked to were like 'you know we should have gambing.' I'm like 'well where are you when we're testifying.'' DeCoite says she's actually against legalized gambling. Although these bills started a good dialogue, they're putting the cart before the horse, and the state should have a working group first to understand all the potential effects before making gambling legal she said. 'I think it is where it should have been–right here dead,' DeCoite said. 'So that we can come up with the right information to make better sound decisions on whether this is what the community wants.' Gamblers know there's no such thing as a sure bet. But gambling supporters say there's one thing that is guaranteed–they will fight for legalized gambling again next year. 'Do you think sports gambling will ever be legal in Hawaii? You know, we'll give it another try next year and we'll see how it goes,' Holt said. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
10-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Big changes could be coming for Hawaii's film industry — and they aren't good
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. HIFF Opio Fest: The Future of Film '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 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. Can Hawaiʻi's legislature save our film industry? 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. Check out more news from around Hawaii 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). Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
