LIHUE — Rumor has it the second Jurassic World is set to begin production in February 2017 in Hawaii, with much of production happening in London, most likely at Pinewood Studios, but the details are hazy. Kauai Film Commissioner Randy
LIHUE — Rumor has it the second Jurassic World is set to begin production in February 2017 in Hawaii, with much of production happening in London, most likely at Pinewood Studios, but the details are hazy.
Kauai Film Commissioner Randy Francisco said he hasn’t heard anything about the news that broke on the online fan site Jurassic Outpost on Thursday. He said he’s hopeful producers plan to film on Kauai.
“At the end of the day, we’re always trying to ensure the success of whatever project comes to Kauai,” Francisco said. “Clearly the first one was done here and the last one.”
He said he’d most likely find out if the producers are planning to film in Kauai if they need to use places on county or state land.
“They’ll give me a call and say that they want to use the county facilities, or if they’re using state land, I’ll send them over to the state,” Francisco said.
The other possibility is that the producers would use private land, which he would find out about only if they contact him for inquiries and location options.
The movie is set for release June 2018.
Francisco said Kauai has seen more than 80 years of filmmaking history and “we’re fortunate to be able to continue that.”
One of the ways the Kauai Film Commission is ensuring the island’s success as a prime location for silver screen sets is by completely reworking their website, and amping up their online presence.
“Generally, it’s our business card for production companies and others considering doing a project here on Kauai,” Francisco said.
Some of the changes include sorting the more than 900 photos into a directory that’s easy to navigate, reworking the online film permit application form, and setting up a cleaner resource directory.
“If someone wants waterfalls, we’ve got lots of waterfalls here on Kauai, so it would help them if we get them place names and put them into categories,” Francisco said.
He said the film industry on Kauai has helped the economy in many ways, but one of the big effects of using the island as a set is film tourism.
“In films, that’s how some people get their first glimpse of Kauai and there are movie tours that show you Bali Hai or Elvis Presley at Coco Palms or South Pacific,” Francisco said.
He explained any productions that come to Kauai and are successful also help out the film industry by allowing them to build upon the success of previous accomplishments.
“I hope when the next one comes along they will definitely look at Kauai because we’ve had a track record of success,” Francisco said. “We’ll do whatever we can to support the industry.”
