LIHU‘E – “I thought they were going to tell us we broke the cameras,” Justin Thain said following their special meeting Tuesday morning at the offices of Ho‘ike Kaua‘i Community Television, Inc. Instead, Ho‘ike director J Robertson announced that the
LIHU‘E – “I thought they were going to tell us we broke the cameras,” Justin Thain said following their special meeting Tuesday morning at the offices of Ho‘ike Kaua‘i Community Television, Inc.
Instead, Ho‘ike director J Robertson announced that the piece produced by the student and adult volunteer film crew had just been named the national winner in the community events division of the Hometown Video Festival.
“This is quite an achievement,” Robertson told the crew.
“Ho‘ike has submitted videos in the past, but no one has reached this level of accomplishment.”
It was a combination of good camera work, lighting, interviews, and production values, that earned the crew the distinction, he said.
Additionally, Robertson said that the piece produced by the crew of the 2004 Lights on Rice holiday parade topped a field of about 1,500 entries from across the nation.
“Yours was the one the judges thought was the best,” he pointed out to the crew.
“And, these judges come from all parts of the nation. This was the only piece from Hawai‘i to earn this level of accomplishment. There were a lot of winners from New York and Florida, where they put a lot of money into film, but this is the only one from Hawai‘i.”
Robertson said to win in the community-events division is especially difficult, because everyone has a festival, parade, or special event that generates a lot of entries into the competition.
He credits Ho‘ike’s production manager, Jim Lucas, with having the production skills and the ability to communicate well with the crew, so they could deliver the kind of material he needs to put together the video.
Jose Bulatao, Ho‘ike board president, was introduced to the award-winning crew because, as Robertson pointed out, “He allows us to do these types of projects.”
Bulatao will be part of the Ho‘ike contingent that will attend the Monterey Film Festival in July to accept the national trophy.
Robertson added that, while there, the crew’s winning piece will be aired for two days at one of the big-screen theaters in Monterey for anyone who stops in to view it, noting that the local event will also have positive publicity value for the island.
He noted that the segments featuring the lively faces of the Kalaheo School Sunshine Express and the patriotic yellow-ribbon theme of The Kaua‘i Bus was noteworthy, as was the participation of the Ku Kilakila all-Kaua‘i marching band that performed at the 2005 Rose Bowl parade.
Following the announcement, Justin Thain said, “I don’t feel like we deserve this, because we just listened to Jim (Lucas), who told us where to point the camera.”
Lucas responded by saying, “It’s a team effort. Everybody contributed.”
Desiree Vea, who recently graduated from Waimea High School and will be heading for a three-week tour of South Korea, noted that, as one of the interviewers for the project, “It was a fun thing.
There were some shy people, but most of them were really good. It was fun.”
Robertson said that, because this is the first time they’ve won an award of this magnitude, he is planning on getting extra plaques for each of the crew members, as well as having Lucas produce a DVD copy of the piece so they will have it to remember.
The production team members include Thain, Vea, Akira Nordmeier, Nalv Thain, Rebekah Thain, Isaac Worth, and David Martin.
- Dennis Fujimoto, staff writer and photographer, may be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 253) or dfujimoto@pulitzer.net.
