Transcript

EP 105 Fairai Richmond

From The Big Picture · Episode page · Watch on YouTube

· 1 h 29 min · 16,041 words · 99 timestamped sections

This is the full, timestamped transcript of "EP 105 Fairai Richmond", an episode of The Big Picture published May 11, 2025 (1 h 29 min, about 16,041 words). It mentions 13 people, works and ideas, including Dwayne Johnson, Chief of War, Fi Richmond, Marlon Brando, Baywatch.

What is discussed, and when

  1. – 10:00: Fi Richmond, Marlon Brando, Bransum Richmond, Mutiny on the Bounty
  2. – 20:00: Baywatch, Jurassic Park
  3. – 30:00: Baywatch
  4. – 50:00: Dwayne Johnson, Breaking Bad, Jurassic Park
  5. – 1:00:00: Chief of War, Apple TV, Dwayne Johnson
  6. – 1:20:00: G plus F forever
  7. – 1:28:56: Chief of War

Notable quotes from "EP 105 Fairai Richmond"

  • Behind Hawaii's growing film and TV scene. Today I'm sitting down with filmmaker Fi Richmond, a writer, director, actor, and producer who's been carving his own path in the…
    about Fi Richmond · at
  • Singer, drums, everything. and he was in a mute in a movie called Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando in Tahiti. They shot half the movie in Tahiti, then they shot the rest…
    about Marlon Brando · at
  • Wasn't really into girls or sports at that time. I was like 6 years old and he got on to Baywatch and then he got on to all these different shows and so being a kid, all I like…
    about Baywatch · at
  • Well. Grew up on set. Same you know I was in you know on set for the first Jurassic Park at the big tree stump you know and my dad's doing craft service but it was legendary. I…
    about Jurassic Park · at
  • Industry. But that's all you hear about in the news. All you hear about is Dwayne Johnson, Zenaia, blah. you all you hear that's all you that's our number that's America's number one export is pop culture, right?
    about Dwayne Johnson · at
  • New Mexico, I think they said that their tourism raised spiked up like 600% because of Breaking Bad, right? Like nobody's going to New Mexico or not many people. I'm I'm going…
    about Breaking Bad · at
  • Tell, and I told this to J Jason Mamoa, I so there so Jason Mamoa made this TV show, Chief of War, comes out August 1st on Apple TV.
    about Chief of War · at
  • That's and that's just it. So that's that's what I'm doing next. And it's called G plus F forever. And it's very it's just basically a love story.
    about G plus F forever · at

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

  • Dwayne Johnson — Person · 3 mentions · first at
  • Fi Richmond — Person · 2 mentions · first at
  • Marlon Brando — Person · 2 mentions · first at
  • Bransum Richmond — Person · 1 mention · first at
    While carrying on a powerful creative legacy. He's the son of legendary actor Bransum Richmond. But make no mistake, Fight Eyee's voice and vision are all his own. In this…

Books & papers

Companies & orgs

  • Apple TV — Company · 1 mention · first at
    I so there so Jason Mamoa made this TV show, Chief of War, comes out August 1st on Apple TV.

Places & events

  • Eani — Place · 1 mention

Full transcript with timestamps

Aloha and welcome to the Big Picture, the show where we highlight the voices behind Hawaii's growing film and TV scene. Today I'm sitting down with filmmaker Fi Richmond, a writer, director, actor, and producer who's been carving his own path in the industry while carrying on a powerful creative legacy. He's the son of legendary actor Bransum Richmond. But make no mistake, Fight Eyee's voice and vision are all his own. In this episode, we talk about growing up in an industry, finding purpose through storytelling, and the grind of Hawaii based film making and the importance of using your art to uplift your community. Let's get into it. Here's my conversation with Fi Richmond.

All right, welcome to the Big Picture Podcast. What's up, Fi? What's going on? My good my good friend we got in the house today Richmond in the house. He's u my longtime friend. Let's just start with that. But also I'm going to read down this list of things that you are. Don't blush. Oh boy. Okay. He's a director, a writer, a producer, a actor, a stunt performer, and you work locations. I pick up trash, too. Whenever you're Yeah. Yeah. So, um been in in in the industry for a very long time. Thanks for coming. Yeah. Thank you. Got my SAG card when I was 9 years old and uh I've worked five SAG jobs since then. So, that's uh that's my I'm just kidding. You're still getting tons of residuals. I Yeah. Yeah. Hilariously laughable. Uh no, you've been you're in there on every show. At least one stunt every show, you know. Thank God you your brothers.

Bro, I love bro. Yeah, thank you. I see him in the gym now. Yes. With his gloves on. Yeah, you knew I was going to say that, bro. Sorry. I love you. And he's got a purse for those gloves. Absolutely. Where else are you going to keep that? Um Tani. Yeah, he's actually my favorite. Don't tell bro. Yeah. Yeah. Um the best looking one, too. Probably. I know. He stole all the looks and all the color. Uh, you know, but having said that, I've seen him jumped out of uh jump out of windows in uh Burning Build from Burning Building. This is true.

Yeah. Incredible stunt guy. Yeah. He's insane. Yeah. He's got that in. Yeah. He did a 80 foot high descent decelerator on NCIS. Something I would never do. Really? Yeah. Where was that? At the stadium. Dang. Yeah. Into like two into like four feet of pads from 80 feet on a on a string. He's crazy. Yeah. You know what though? You guys come from a bloodline of stunt performers. We We do. Yeah. Yeah. So, we'll talk about that. How you got into the industry and we can't talk about that without I would say starting from your dad, but did your was your grandpa uh in the in the industry? Yeah. So, we have been in the industry uh for over 75 years.

We, my grandfather was um very talented um musical performer, played guitar, singer, drums, everything. Um and he was in a mute uh in a movie called Mutiny on the Bounty with Marlon Brando um in Tahiti. They shot half the movie in Tahiti, then they shot the the rest of it uh I believe MGM Studios. Is your grandpa from Tahiti? From Tahiti. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, was he just so happened there and just so happened to be the one of the guys that could do it? You know, he was a he talked he was a gift to Gab and he was talking and him and Marlon Brando were you know, drinking buddies and um he wrote a song uh while he was on set and um and Marlin really liked it and he said um and he really liked him and and he could speak a little English too. He could speak a little English, a little French, a little Tahesian. So when they brought the movie back to the states, um he brought him back with him

and uh he would help with authenticity and then they recorded his song for the movie and that's how Tahesian people got into uh they they let us in. Wow. Yeah. And that was it. It was Yeah, that was it. It was like uh he was in LA and there was he didn't know how to do anything else. He just knew how to sing and dance and stuff. That was during the time and during that time like the 50s and 60s when like movies had like huge musical numbers and all of that. So he was always singing and dancing and double at four o'clock or whatever that I mean all those movies and like Planet of the Apes and and so um Wow. So yeah, he was in it and my dad knew nothing else. And um so your dad kind of like you grew up in the industry. Yeah, very much so. Yeah. Grew up on movie sets, TV sets, and um my dad was a very um a very good but they were also very poor. Mhm. Um just like all of us in the film industry right now.

I always tell people it's it's feast or famine. You know, I said this in the other podcast, too, but it's like one night we're eating steaks and the next day we're like using our EBT to grab, you know, dinner. So, it's true. I call it the prime rib simon diet. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it's either nothing in between. Yeah, but we're blessed. I mean, we're blessed. I'm very grateful. I did want to talk about that. Like there are pros and cons and I think a a lot of it fits our personalities and lifestyle as far as the job goes. A lot I can't see probably any of us um sitting behind a desk and doing an office job. So, having said that, you know, we're we're out um in the elements for better or worse, right? We hit some beautiful days, then we hit some really ugly days and we're like, what are we doing here? But most of the time, we're in fresh air, different locations every day, you know, we're exercising, we're we're labor,

some of us. Um, and it fits our lifestyle. Like I remember growing up, you know, and a lot of times my dad was really, really busy. Like I had to raise myself probably like you. um a lot of TV dinners, a lot of babysitters, a lot of family, you know, that's how I got my Hana family basically was I was with them so much, you know, they became my my real family. And um but on the flip side of that, my dad was not busy and he was able to come to all my football games. uh he we were able to go surf all the time you know and a lot of parents cannot you know with normal careers nineto-5 30 years they they miss a lot of things you know so yeah I mean dude I mean your dad made good enough money to put you through Eani that's you know what I mean that's it's major it's a miracle yeah it's awesome it's awesome one of the top schools in uh the whole world you know it's amazing yes I'm very lucky somehow I made it through that Um

very blessed. Love my Eil Anani fam. Um but yeah. So how was it for um you have it you have do you relate at all um obviously to your dad when it comes to being a child of the industry ve very much so. So, we were, you know, um, when I was young um we struggled, you know what I mean? To be to to to, um, to be an actor, um, has got to be one of the most insane um, career choices anybody could ever have. You know, my father was a um, a baseball player and he was really good. What happened was I'll just quick story. My father was um he was handicapped as a child. So from the ages of like 9 to 13 he was in a wheelchair. So he went Yeah.

So he went to like a handicap school. Roa Street Elementary I believe it's called. And so he couldn't walk and it was tough on him because he was a boy who could walk then he couldn't walk because of he he had a has a bad hip. And then when he was 13, um, he got a hip, his hip worked on, I believe it was a hip replacement. 13 years old. It's crazy, right? It's crazy surgery. Has a huge scar in his leg. And, um, and so he became like like Forest Gump, you know what I mean? He became like the blind man who could see all of a sudden, you know what I mean? He he when he when he was able to get up and finally walk again, he didn't walk. He just ran. and he became this amazing um athlete and um he was just living in gratitude whereas everybody else was taking it for granted. He was just like not only was he poor but um he just came from being a handicapped kid. So he was he excelled and um in high school he threw uh two um

games nine innings no hitter and he made it onto the cover of the Los Angeles Times um twice. he was like a phenomenon. And then um and then so like right out of high school, the Cardinals um ended up like bringing him into like a junior league or or or whatever it was. I don't really know sports that well, but um but then when they saw that he wasn't that fast, he um he got cut. And my dad's whole thing with sports was he just wanted a way out of poverty. Yeah. Because he was so poor with my grandfather. they were like living in cars at some points of their lives, you know, because of this business, because of the es and flows of this business, you know, and um and so my dad was like at and then like almost simultaneously at the same time my grandfather was sick. So when my dad was like, you know, in his late teens into his early 20s, my grandfather was sick, my dad had nobody to rely on. And so he was like, I'm

going to give this acting thing a try. And um so he started doing extra work and then he started to try and get into stunts and then he started doing stunts here and there, you know, and and and and then he had children. He had my brother when he was really young. He had me when he was really young. And my dad was the kind of guy, he's already a charismatic guy, but he was the kind of guy where like the director would be like, "Okay, um tell the stunt coordinator, hey, line up, line up the 10 stunt guys that we have here, and each one of you say the line." And the line would be like, you know, give me the money or your or I'mma kill your wife. You know what I mean? Right. And my dad where where the rest of these guys were trying to like become famous actors or big- time stunt guys, my dad was just like, I got a dying father at home and two kids. And so he was just outperforming them out of necessity. So

he would just like when it came to his turn to say the line, he'd be like, you know what I mean? He would just like turn on, you know what I mean? He was like locked in. And so, so, but when we were young, he was just struggling, you know what I mean? And my my grandfather died when he was 22 and and um and my biological mother like left him. And that's a whole other story. And so, he was just like just struggling. And then and then I and then I watched him just hustle hustle hustle hustle hustle um until um he found some success. And when his career started to sort of take off, I was still young enough to where I wasn't really into girls or sports at that time. I was like 6 years old and he got on to Baywatch and then he got on to all these different shows and and so being a kid, all I like you, all I wanted to do was be around my father, right? I just wanted to be around my dad. I don't really care. And so um and

so naturally all I you know my dad was always on movie sets and stuff so I just wherever he was was a movie set and so I you know I just fell in love with movie sets where they go to craft service and they have candy and like oh that's Arnold Schwarzenegger right there or you know or whatever it is right you're just like oh and then like it seemed like all these people were playing and they were like playing makebelieve and building really cool things and there was like it just like this artist. It's like it's like where like the outcasts from high school artist kind of weirdos to some degree all come together to like find and they find their place cuz you have to be insane to work in the movie industry. It's it's an insane, you know, feat. Yeah. Every day.

And um only a certain type of person is built for that. And um and so yeah, so so I was hooked um when I was a kid. that I was I was already artistic and I was um and I and I and I I I've always known that I wanted to be in this business since I was like seven years old and um and so even just being around seaands and and lights and stuff it just makes me feel that feeling that I felt when I was a child probably similar to you. It just I feel very at home in in these environments. I mean, I can spot a movie person. Like, if I'm in an airport, I can tell like, "Oh, that guy definitely works in the movies." You know what I mean? They're just a certain type of breed of dog and and those are my people and and I that's what I'll do for the rest of my life through thick and thin. Yeah. I I relate to you on a lot of levels.

Um, same for me. It's like when I when I actually got here like when I actually started working on set because this has been a part of my life my whole life as well. Grew up on set. Same you know I was in you know on set for the first Jurassic Park at the big tree stump you know and my dad's doing craft service but it was legendary. I had no idea about it. It was just I had to go with my dad to work because he's a single dad and nobody was watching me at home. So I had to go. you know, it's not till later on you're like, "Oh, yeah, that was actually pretty cool." Um, but you know, so compared to your dad, he he did it out of necessity, but you were born into it and you knew right away or you you recognized early that, hey, this is this is what I want to do. Yeah. Originally what happened was is I would be on set and I'd always like have a notebook in my backpack and then I would always like

he would be like sit here don't bother anybody and of course I'd wander off and be like hanging out with the grips and hanging out with the teamsters and you know you know sitting in hair and makeup and just just like the crew became my family and they would all be my like babysitters while I was on set you know and um and so at first I wanted to be an actor. Mhm. Um, and I would write down all these ideas of like stuff that I wanted to do. And then as I was as I would witness my father on set, I realized like, oh wait, like the actor is not the guy that makes this. Like I I don't want to be the actor. I want to be the person that makes that makes this.

Um, it's not enough for me to be the person that is just saying the lines and and you know, it's not I want to negate what actors do. Yeah, I love actors can't actors are the king the kings of the business. But no, but you you like the the the the orchestra. That was my sensibility. You love you love it all, right? You like putting it together and so that kind of led you more down to the director path. Well, there was that and then also like my father was very um strict on me. So, um I this is kind of a crazy story, but when I was kid when I was a child, um my biological mother like left and then she came back and then she like she like kidnapped me from my father who had custody over us and um and like a like it was like a while to for my dad to find me. It was just it's a long crazy story, but um anyways, my dad got me back and when he did get me back, he just like never wanted to lose

me again. So he never let me go anywhere. Like he was just so paranoid over me, you know, like like bro Leu and Tani be like, "Yeah, go over your friend's house." I mean, not all the time, but he he's a very strict father as it is, but he was like kind of double strict on me. And um so I never I never like really went over my friends houses or never really um like went to football games and stuff and and um hung out. No, no kid would ever want to come over my house cuz my dad if my dad was there, he was like a workaholic. So he'd like work my friends to like the the bone like like my friend would come over and be like, "Hey, grab that rake over there and come over here. We're painting the house." Like think of things to do, you know what I mean? And just like my friends would be like, "I've never worked 12 hours straight in my life."

And that was and you know, my friends still talk about it to this day. But um so then so I was always at home and so then I was like, "Well, if you're not going to let me go anywhere, I'm going to I'm going to use this video camera right here." And then I would just make little movies um with his video camera. And then from the time I was like uh seven to 18, I had like broken like six of his cameras just like doing crazy stuff like blowing stuff up and and um and dropping it in the pool and like all this crazy stuff. And and that became my best friend and and and making movies was just my way of like out of necessity. It was just like my way of like coping with being alone all the time cuz my brother was like off with his friends or playing sports or with girls or whatever. And and so I'd make movies so much so that I would like I would like show up to school like in like fourth grade, sixth grade, seventh

grade. I'd be like passing out because I'd be like making all these movies and I have like hundreds of like little short films where like it's like my Star Wars toys and my Ninja Turtles and my GI Joes and and I'm like and I'm like whispering and stuff because I was making it at like 4 am in the morning before I had to wake up at like six to go to school. Like it just became my everything. Absolutely. It was my first love and um I mean I named my daughter my three-year-old daughter I named her cinema cuz it's like my first love and then my my daughter's like my last love in my life, you know? So it's just this beautiful name. Yeah, I love that word too. But so movies have just been they've just been my life. Anybody that knows me, even from my childhood, I mean it says in my yearbook, sixth grade to my senior year, it's like I'm going to be the biggest director in Hollywood.

Like that was just my thing. You know what I mean? That was just like my goal all the whole way. Oh yeah. And and that my perspective of you have has always been that from the beginning of time is I knew you always had that in you and and just like your dad's hustle and and how much you put into it trying to make a living and trying to be an actor. I see that inside of you and that every day you hustling every day. And I think we talked about it before is like if you want to make it in this industry, you have to have that type of passion. You have to have that type of hustle, that type of go-getter attitude because it's tough, you know, and um it it's relentless. It's something you have to constantly pursue. Um having said that, you you your dad was providing these cameras that you were breaking. Yeah.

Did your dad It would get less expensive every time, too. Did your dad want you to get into this industry? No. Okay. He did everything he could. I thought so. Yeah. He did everything he could to try and keep all of his children out of it because he knew because he knew the perils and uh of it and and and I I would say like um my brother was going in a different my older brother was going in a different direction. My younger brother was going in a different direction. My sister was going in a different direction as well.

There was nothing else for me. Like he knew he like I you know I was I was you know I was in like film camps. He knew there was no there was no getting me away from this. So he he he actually was super supportive of it and he would like put me in like summer camp like film camps and like and get me the new camera every time it it broke. And then, you know, he got me my first like editing system and and he was super supportive of it and um and I'm forever grateful. And my mom my mom as well, you know. Um and yeah, I mean it's honestly movies have saved my life cuz I I took a detour for uh some years. I was on that detour.

Yep. At some point. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. But, you know, and then but movies actually were the thing that like saved my life because I was, you know, I was going down a dark path and um and um and and I like there were times where I was just like I didn't want to live anymore. You know what I mean? I was like, you know, I was drinking heavily and um and and and going down, you know, that dark road and then but I would be like, but then the the new Darren Arnowski movie comes out in two months, like I got to stay for I got to stay on this planet for that, you know, the new Spielberg movie, the new, you know, Paul Thomas Sanderson movie, the new, you know what I mean? like I would just movies just were like my north star all the time and they really it really like kept me alive and um so for for me um this this this business is is everything to me. It's not like um a vacation or like something that I do.

It's it's sort of like the thing that like gets me excited. It's like the thing that gets me excited about life. It's what I wake up in the morning and I'm thinking about a new project that I'm doing and and I'm excited about it. And then at night time I'm I sleep easy because I because I'm so full of like ideas even if some of those ideas don't even come to fruition. It like it has always given me a sense of purpose and um I just I get more excited about it than than anything. You know what I mean? Other than like my my my my wife and my kids, you know what I mean? It's like it's it's my thing. It's just my thing. I get it, man. and and it's having that passion for something and um having that, you know, in a way it's it's our identity. I say our because for me I feel the same way, you know, it's like I was pretty much born into this.

Um so there's a level of passion and representation, right? Like I feel for some odd reason this responsibility to show should shoulder what someone from Hawaii in the film industry is projecting or projected as. Yeah. So I I'm always at work with this extra pride of of us doing the job correctly right to the best of the abilities that we can. Um, and let me just say this, like you're like a really great I don't want like wax your car or anything, but like you're No, go ahead, please. Yeah. Yeah. Um, I mean, it's going to be 30 minutes, guys.

um at least um no but it's it's you have been like a really great example um um of like how we do things here and and I and I I wouldn't say I wouldn't say I mean every everybody is but you know like on all the shows so there's a so everybody who works in the film industry in Hawaii knows there's like this group of people and they call them the boys right and it's like Brian Justin Fischer, Chris Putt, and maybe a few others, too. And like they're just like they're like celebrities on the set, you know what I mean? And you guys are you guys are you guys are like, you know, you guys really enjoy what you do, you know? You know what I mean? Like like Moku and all those guys, you know?

You guys just like you guys are like this little pack that that like really like is like this like the heartbeat of like the day and you guys are always like having fun and you're making it light and you're like, you know, every everything you do is like a mission and that like rubs off on the rest of the set because everybody's like, well those guys are working so damn hard. Like let's all work freaking hard and and it and it really is like helps to be like the pulse of the set and the actors love you guys and the film and the directors and the producer. you guys are always and and you're kind of at the heart of that and um man, I appreciate you and I and I'm pretty sure like you brought a bunch of guys in with you, you know, even like Ryan Hanaman and all those guys, you know, it's like you guys are like this this this this great heartbeat if you and it's always this thing like if I always know if I if I

get on set and I see you or some people I'm like, "Oh, it's going to be it's going to be a good day today." You know what I mean? Same thing. Same thing. It's like when see you know the fam, right? Yeah, if the fam's there, it can be the shittiest project ever, but as long as we're all together. I say that all the time. It's like, don't matter how low budget, as long as I'm with my boys and we can kind of have fun while we doing it, cuz that's kind of our thing. What we do is not rocket science. Like, gripping ain't rocking rocket science, okay? A lot of people can do it. Everybody probably starts as a grip.

So me as a career grip is like to think of myself as this highly skilled technician, but really it's it's not rocket science, but everybody can do it, but who can do it with style? And that's kind of where we like to come play and have fun with it. It's like everyone can do it, but if you got a little bit style when you do it, it makes it a lot funner, a lot more comfortable for everybody on set. And at the end of the day, we have the experience to kind of back that up that we do it with style, but we know what we're doing and we're we're making things very safe and um we work with everybody. Uh we gel well together. Yeah. And you know, I'll say this. I want to say this. It's like it's like like coming from a director standpoint like like um like even D like David Cray like who is in camera and DIT like there's like there's like certain people like who they really give a you know what I mean?

And and for me as a filmmaker, it's like when I see people who really give a then like that's every that's everything to me. You know what I mean? You you like you're so hyperfocused about the work and then and you do it with a positive attitude. It just it's infectious and it makes the days go by um very quickly. And I and I and I'll say this as a as a whole, as a collective, like the the Hawaii crews are are as they're like at the tippy top of the cruise of the world, right? because they have to work in these insane elements, right? Like you got mainland people that come over here even where people come from other countries and like they're like, "Damn, I can't even deal with this heat or I can't even deal with this humidity or like trudging through the jungle in the mud in the rain or on the side of cliffs while it's windy or the the the waves are crashing.

You you know what I mean? Or on the beach trudging through the sand like all day long. Like nobody nobody can do it as good as the Hawaii people uh do it." And I' and I don't say that as as an as not my opinion. That's like fact because when I see it on set, the mainland crews are like, "Oh these guys are no joke." Like, and they just, you know, for nine months, they'll just they just don't stop. They just keep going cuz they've they've and I think because of the size of the projects that have come here, you know, it's not like they don't they don't come to Hawaii uh to shoot inside of a house. You know what I mean? you come to Hawaii, you're you're going to shoot in the jungle, on top of a mountain, in the water, under the water, on the beach, in the rain, in the wind, right? So, it's like you you see it all the time. It's like the mainland crews are like, "Oh my gosh, it's raining."

Oh, yeah. Get undercover. And the Hawaii crews are just like, "It's going to go away in five minutes, you know, or whatever it is." And they just keep going and it's like no, it's no sweat off their back. And then they just show up every day and you get the aloha spirit along with that. And it's just like this this great positive vibe. Um, and honestly coming from being a Hawaiian from Los Angeles, when I came here, oh man, I didn't I actually didn't come here to work. I came here to visit my grandmother during the recession.

See, this is what I want to talk about. Yes. Let's talk about it. I have been through this multiple times in my life as in what we're going through right now as a business, right? As this this like sort of shifting landscape, right? Like the reason that I came to Hawaii was because my whole family's here. The only reason that I lived in Los Angeles because my father worked in the film industry and my grandfather, but all of our all of my mom my mom's all of her siblings, right? Well, Aahu, Maui, Kawaii, every everywhere, right? I'm I'm like pretty much half Hawaiian, half Tahesian. So, the rest of my family is in Tahiti, but you know, we would come to Hawaii like twice a year every year, right? So I partially grew up like every like three months out of the year for 26 years I would live you know stay with my grandmother here and then every Christmas I would stay here as well and then when I was younger even I would

stay I'd come here with my dad was doing Baywatch and my dad was doing Hawaiian I would just you know come and um and the reason I came here I moved here was because um everything was at a standstill during the recession 2009 2010 in Los Angeles previous to that um the business because of tax incentives and and all that, everybody was moving out of Los Angeles. So like huge stunt coordinators, um huge, you know, directors of photography and and grips and electricians and camera assistants and all these people, they were all moving to at the time it was um New Orleans, right? And then and then New Mexico. So like all these big big big time people. Well, I won't name anybody's names, but all these big-time guys were like, "Hey, I think we're going to go to New Mexico. They're kind of something's going on over there right now. Oh, we're going to go to New Orleans." I don't if you remember like

there was a period around like 2004 to like 2009 like like like 40 to 50% if not more of the movies were made in New Orleans. It was like it was like Yeah. Go ahead. Because they gave incredible tax incredible taxes. Everything moved there, right? So, it was like it was like it was like we love your script. Can it be in New Orleans though? Right? And they're like, "Yes." And they're like, "If it wasn't in New Orleans, if they couldn't make the narrative fit to New Orleans, it would just like shoot New Orleans for like, you know, New York or or or Los Angeles." But you're like, you look at the movie and you're like, there's moss in that tree right there.

There's no moss in trees in Los Angeles. You know what I mean? And like, you would just know this. And so I came to Hawaii to visit my grandma, my Tutu, Alice, um, just because it was just at a standstill over there. And um I saw the film commissioner at the time, the Maui film commissioner. Her name was Bonita Brazier who is a script supervisor who made a great film commissioner because she was a frontline worker. Beautiful. And she did all like the uh all the Keen and Ivy Wayins movies like um all those like scary movie and all that stuff. She's a beautiful woman and um she still is. And um and she was like, "Hey, hey sweetie, you want to you want to work?" And I was like, "Where?" She's like, "Oh, there's there's a TV show and if do you want to work on it?" And I'm like, "Sure, why not?" And I and I started to work and I remember sitting on set and I was like, "Holy crap, this is this like Neverland

place that I used to grow up in." Mh. Um and and and and be very sad when I had to leave every time. And and uh just this was a Hawaii is a magical place. And and then all of a sudden I was like on a movie set, the other love of my life, you know what I mean? like Hawaii. Like I felt like I was coming back to the homeland and then and they're like, "And here's a paycheck." And I was like, "Holy crap." Like what an amazing thing. And I'm like and I was I was hooked. And then I met all you guys. Yeah. I met like um Scotty Listister and Robert Campbell and like that whole crew and they just Robert Suka, you know, they all like welcomed me with open arms and um and I just fell in love. I was in love and I and I haven't stopped since.

And um and but I I have seen this happen and I I want to say this especially for on this podcast is like at the time when I was living in Los Angeles, my father was seeing the writing on the wall a little bit because of his agents and because of you know my dad been in the business for 50 years, right? So he's just seen it and then on top of that he watched his father, right? And so, um, I never thought I don't think anybody ever thought that the that where Hollywood film making was created, right? Because the, you know, the Germans invented it, right? And then the the Jewish people figured out, oh, we can like make movie stars and then we can make movies and then we can capitalize on this and then we can outsource it to the, you know, and and spread it around the world and then and not outsource but like um like making moving moving pictures as a as a business that of entertainment which

they make hugely popular. It became part of culture and Hollywood became Hollywood. Nobody ever thought that that there was any chance that it would leave the mecca of where it was created. Nobody. Nobody could have ever foreseen that. And it did. And nobody would have ever thought that it would never be the same again. They were like, "Whoa, it's we're in a lull right now. It's going to come back." Bro, I know I know a handful of people that are working in Los Angeles right now, but for the most part, most of the studios are empty, and most most everybody has is either left, some people are doing different things, and the ones that have that have stayed are struggling to survive. I know people have lost homes. I know people that have gotten divorces over this. I know people that have like lost their identity, right, over this. and they're and they're trying to figure it out. And so, and I say this with great sincerity that

in the state of Hawaii, you know, if there are certain politicians or certain people um in in the state, city, and county, or even the public that thinks, oh, well, the, you know, once we get over this season of this lull, it'll come back. They're always going to come to Hawaii. Dur the new the Jurassic Worlds and the King Kongs and the battleships and the Hawaii 50's and the Magnip. They'll they'll come back. I'm just telling you from personal experience for somebody who went through it, who came from the mecca of Hollywood Hollywood itself, it I don't want to be doomsday or anything, but it could never return Yeah. to where it was. No, I think it's important that you give that honest opinion. I think a lot of people are either afraid or don't get that opportunity to tell the general public or people in these positions um that are able to make some changes that could bring work back here and work here that

if they're not hearing these stories of I'm losing my career like I was born into this um I put all my passion I represented Hawaii to the best of my ability at the front lines in an industry that I thought I could make a career, you know, and unfortunately I did invest everything of me into it. And so when that goes away, my career goes away, my livelihood goes away. um the investments in me, whether it was schooling, other people training me, programs that we've we've um joined that made us better for our career, all that goes out the window, you know, and you get it you get a bunch of people trying to pivot and it's a hard pivot for a lot of people like us. You know, our industry doesn't really translate to a lot of other jobs very easily. Yeah. Um I feel like we're we can adapt well to anything being from our industry, but our our skill sets are somewhat particular, you know. Um there's a lot

of art, there's a lot of technical stuff in our industry that is only used for our industry and then there's artistic value to people in our industry that sometimes has a hard time translating to other jobs, you know. So we get kind of cornered um um and if we don't know how critical this time is for us, it's like that example that you pointed out, you know, we always think that somebody always going to come Hawaii, you know, like let's keep um uh our tax credits where we're at. We don't have to change that. We don't have to become keep coming becoming competitive in that.

Hawaii will sell itself. And yes, everything that we're doing, I'm going to say Hawaii is the selling point. It people come here because they want to shoot here because of Hawaii. And um that's great, but the way this industry is going with the technology with, you know, the money being saved um for the incentives that these states are getting, they're creating our look. They're creating our story. they're they're creating their narrative of our culture. So, it it has the bigger picture of the damage that it's it's actually doing of not trying to keep up with this with this race with this industry investment, you know, cuz at the end of the day, it is an investment that the state basically has to make to keep our industry going here. And um it is very critical. I know a lot of people they're applying for jobs, they're out of they're out of EBT. They ran out of EBT. They ran out of health care.

They've had to sell their house. You know, it it it's um it's real life. It's what's really going on right now. And I think you see a lot of people very passionate for the first time even maybe because we have been um stringing up a pretty decent career. I think for the first time is like you see how how passionate people are about speaking um to the support of our industry you know it's it's it's it's really sad actually um that you know a guy like you I'll say like who worked his whole adult life um honing his craft working his tail off I mean we do we work in the film industry we don't we don't know how to work an eight hour day, you know what I mean? We only know how to work 12 to 16 hour day in extreme conditions, you know what I mean? And um with extreme pressure. So, putting a person like that in a normal job. Not a normal job. I wouldn't say anything. I'm just saying in a different

job, man, we're not built for that. We're built to we're built to go to war, you know, um to make art, you know. It's just very specific, you know. We're not like military or anything, but we work in a military fashion. Yeah, we do. And and it's it's sad that the system failed us. The system failed you. You know, you like you work so hard to get to a point and you've given it your all. You've given the the the system your life and then the system just spit you out and and and and you know, and there and and there's and there's and there's a lot of there's a lot of v variables to this. you know, it's it's not you can't just you can't just blame you can't just blame like one thing, you know, it was this whole this whole situation that we find ourselves in, which I can which I can kind of elaborate on. You know, the the Hollywood system right now is um is is is in a crisis state right now as far as

films and television shows and other projects being filmed in America, right? and namely here in Hawaii. This is a national problem we're encountering right now. Yeah, this is a federal issue. And I and I'll say this much like I say this is a federal issue because you know like 7% of the American population works for Walmart, right? Wow. But you don't have you don't ever see Walmart on the front page news, right? Barely unless there's a scandal or something, right? less than like a percentage of a percentage probably works for the film and television industry. But that's all you hear about in the news. All you hear about is Dwayne Johnson, Zenaia, blah blah. You know, you all you hear that's all you that's our number that's America's number one export is pop culture, right?

We controlled it forever. We still some somewhat do. I mean, everywhere you go in the world, somebody's drinking a Coke with Levi's jeans, listening to Taylor Swift, watching a Dwayne Johnson movie, right? That's just how it is. But for because of tax incentives and because of so many different things which I can elaborate on as well films have been moving abroad to different countries like Budapest, New Zealand, Canada, all these other places and also to other states right so what we've essentially been doing for these past years is is training other countries on how to build Holly Hollywood films, right? To a point where they we've trained them so well. I mean, even China, right? I know a lot of stunt coordinators who do a lot of movies in China, in India, right? And they've learned everything they needed to know and then it's like the art of war, you know what I mean? And then and then and now now they don't need us,

right? And it's it's it's a it's a federal problem. It's an American problem because if we keep making movies and television shows and other art forms in the in the in the um in the moving picture medium, not in the United States, then that will slowly or quickly not we will not control or not have influence influence and and and and basically our number one export will not be pop culture anymore. We we will as a country we will lose our our identity in that space because they won't be watching our movies in anymore and they won't I mean already a lot of things are happening right now where they're not watching our movies but that's a that's a political thing but um but it's it's it's true and so I think you know we as an as a country really need to pay that pay great attention to that and and and especially um when it when I when we narrow down to us here in Hawaii, we especially need to to to pay a lot of

attention to that because, you know, think about think about Hawaii and the relationship between the the state of Hawaii and and film and TV, right? Film and TV is is is a is for the like the last 50 years, it's a big part of of what we do here, right? I mean, every time I mean, people people go to New Zealand just to see where the hobbits were were lived in Lord of the Rings. They only go there for that specific reason. They don't give a two shits about the mountain or or the the ocean over there. They just want to go see where hobbits. People don't go to Kuoa Ranch.

I mean, not Yeah. Well, no. I love Kulaoa Ranch and shout out to Jason Morgan and Doug Sanchez and John, you know, all those guys, but people go to see where Jurassic Park was made, right? where King Kong and all these shows were were were uh um were were were made, right? They're not the majority of the people aren't going there to go look at the mountains, right? As beautiful as they are. And so, um it's it's hard to quantify, you know, the impact that that has. I mean, if you look at a place like New Mexico, I think they said that their tourism raised spiked up like 600% because of Breaking Bad, right? Like nobody's going to New Mexico or not many people. I'm I'm going to get skewed for all these things I'm saying, but there are people that are going in the thousands to New Mexico to see the strip mall where Saul worked and to see the house where the where Walter White lived, right? And that's and that's the

same thing with Hawaii. If you look at a place like let's say Green Bay, Wisconsin, you know, if you were to take away the Packers, what would people be motiv what would what would stimulate that economy over there? they have the Packers, so they have something to talk about, there's something going on in their town all the time other than cheese, right? Whereas in Hawaii, even if there's traffic on the on the on the road, and people like, "Oh my god, I was in traffic today. Uh, you know, Mary, I was in traffic today. Oh, why? Oh, the new Dwayne Johnson movie was filming. I You know what I mean? It's like there's just something going on. It's stimulating the economy." And and trust me, man, I'm from Los Angeles. Like when we were when the movie business basically like got up and left Los Angeles, like all my friends who worked in like retail and like the restaurants and like you know the valets at the

hotels and like they all took a huge hit like it was bad for everyone because there was that that big influx of cash flow that was flowing around the community was now gone. Right. Right. And so I'm not saying that film making and movies and television is our is our sport here. We don't we don't have a national team over here. But it is a big part of the culture here and and what's going on and it and and the public even. I mean obviously the state and the cities and the counties are they're going to feel the hit once those when that when that money leaves, but also it's like you know you can have a you can have a people are going to come to Hawaii regardless, but you can have a a a commercial that that says come to Hawaii and come to the beaches or whatever. You can you can play that commercial and and you know and people people will probably come because of that commercial, but you show a show

like Y50O or a show that like Wrecking Crew that's about to come out or all these other shows, it's like it's like when you're sitting at home in Chicago and you're freezing and you're watching Hawaii 5, you're like and it's and it's being viewed by millions of people around the world or wherever it is, Germany or wherever it is, people it's just it's just part of that the their identity. And they're like and and you know you and I have been on set where we're we're like we're filming in Wy Ki and there's like hundreds of people that we meet every day and they're like oh like where are you from? Oh we're from Germany. Oh right on. Uh what are you doing here?

Like we just came here because we watch Hawaii50. Like that was the sole purpose. And they're like we're huge fans of the show. We cannot even believe that we're here. Oh my gosh. That's McGarrett. You know what I mean? Like Oh yeah. Yeah. Yeah. No, I totally I I I mean firsthand see people who come here strictly for the movies. I just wanted to you know I want I did want to you're you're telling us you're telling me basically that Hawaii has an identity in the film industry and and whether you know it or not it's a big part of our identity or a bigger part than you think. There is a lot of people who and could be the general public, maybe even the state or counties that feel like this industry is just Hollywood, right?

That when we talk about the Hawaii film industry, there's this connection in their head just hearing film industry and then they're making a connection to Hollywood, the biggest film industry, and feeling like we don't we don't want Hollywood here. We don't want to be like Hollywood. We don't we don't really want to invest in this industry that would that would infiltrate us, you know, but without them kind of realizing that there is a Hawaii film industry, there is a community of Hawaii filmmakers um that are trying to make a living for it. So, I feel like there is a little bit of a um disconnect between Hollywood and Hawaii and is there a difference between between those two people?

I don't know what I'm trying to ask, but but what what I'm trying to say is like just like you're passionate about voicing your opinion of we got to be careful because Hawaii is a big uh the film industry is a part of Hawaii and if we're not careful about that, we're going to lose it and we're we're all going to feel it. Oh, we've lost it. It's lost now. I mean, I hate to be the guy that says that, but it's we lost it, right? I mean, we we had a chance, and I know this has probably been said on this podcast, but I'll say I'll say it again.

You know, we Hawaii had a chance to tell, and I told this to J Jason Mamoa, you know, I you know, so there so Jason Mamoa made this TV show, Chief of War, comes out August 1st on Apple TV. They some somebody was trying to people have been trying to make the story of Hawaii King Kamehameha and all all of that. People have been trying to make that story since like the '9s, right? I mean probably before that even too, but like you know at one point I think it was like Rob Cohen, the director of Fast and Furious. He had that script, King Kamehameha. Then he couldn't get it he couldn't get it off the ground. Then finally, we had the biggest movie star in the world, which was a Polynesian person who has roots in Hawaii with Dwayne Johnson. And then he had Robert Zmechus, and they were going to make it.

And then they they couldn't get it off the ground. And lo and behold, um Jason Mimoa comes along and he risks everything to to puts it all on the line and says, "Apple, please give us hundreds of millions of dollars to tell the story of Hawaii." And only because of his success with shows like C and obviously his stardom with with movies like Aquaman and everything was he able to to pull that off and and Hawaii will be the great benefactor of that. But it was it was years of notice that that that um he had his his people had given Hawaii to try and make sure that um they could shoot that that show here. you know, they it wasn't like uh hey, I need a tax incentive uh next month. It was like it was years in advance for us to try and and you know, I don't I don't want to I don't know. I I I I can't name names, but apparently there wasn't a sense of urgency by some parties for that. And when it came around to the

show actually going into production, which is always a miracle, um we lost it. and and and 10% of it was shot here and the rest was shot in uh ita New Zealand and so I mean the first time in history did we have the chance to uh to tell our own story and and and we lost that and so you know w with that said you know we we we lost chief we lost Chief of War right we lost the story of Hawaii right which is like you know if it's like if if uh the Native Americans lost dances with wolves with dances with wolves or the last of the Moheakans to uh Budapest, you know what I mean? And like they had um non-native Americans uh uh doing their part. I mean, obviously in the Maui and all them, and I have mad respect and love for all them, there's all my brothers and sisters. I'm just saying like this was a story of of specifically Hawaii and and and and we lost that and and then and then we just watched the

dominoes fall right with NCIS and Magnum and um and other and other and other shows, you know, and then they come over here and Phil Moana for couple weeks it's done. um um and and and other other shows of that sort, you know, and that's just I mean what what a what a great what a great tragedy. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's I mean it's um it's it's a tragedy and and um and so I'm grateful to everybody that rallied together at the Capitol the other day and um you know for Angela Pre and um and and Robert Suka and Uncle Brian Carolana and and every and all the other 400 people that showed up like yourself you know to to because this is like a we're in a crisis situation And obviously we are passionate about it because we we are feeling it firsthand.

But you're going to you're going to feel it. Everybody else is going to feel it when it's just when it's just dead here and and the only thing that's going on is is tourism. You know what I mean? Which which everybody else already has a problem with as it is. You know, it's a necessary I mean that that evil that's where I find it kind of crazy. It's it's almost like the same people who are against um Hawaii film industry and the industry growing and those influences, they hate tourism with a passion. You know, we we all in a way hate tourism with a passion because we have to deal with everything that comes along with it, right? This huge footprint, huge footprint on on the place that we were born and raised. And and when you look at the film industry, yeah, we don't get as much income from tourism that has been invested in billions of dollars and you know, cultivated. We don't we didn't get

that much attention to build what we have and we don't compare with the numbers that we inject into the economy, but we're still up there. we're we're still up there in a significant industry with s significant impact on our economy here. Having said that, we are a lot of locals, 80%, sometimes more, sometimes less, but there is a lot of local people making a living in this industry here. So that's the footprint, that's the footprint our industry has, right? And along with that footprint is all the vendors that we affect, the the small businesses, the houses that we're buying, everything that we're contributing to Hawaii as a whole, right? Um, but it's still something that's almost frowned upon or or rejected maybe from the maybe general public or the state's view. I don't understand that. I feel like like I I have my own little nonprofit, Humble Hearts, right? I work alongside with a lot of other

nonprofits. I think they don't see how the these industries which has donated thousands of meals from their productions to the less for fortunate here in Hawaii. thousands of articles of clothing that costumes have donated directly to our communities in need, right? They've donated it to me and I was able to go to Hinamaka Treatment Center, donate a bunch of boxes from Wrecking Crew, right? Costumes from Wrecking Crew. I was able to go to IHS, bring them a bunch of furniture, clothing. We're making impacts like that in our community that a lot of people don't see, you know, and this is CBS's, this is major studios, right? They're giving back to our community community in in a lot more ways than tourism is, you know, and so I feel like when you compare the footprint of industries, why wouldn't you want to cultivate an industry that leaves that type of footprint? You know, we work in an industry

with fairly few people, you know, comparatively. We don't leave we leave places and because it is local people whenever we're working at these places. This is our places, you know, we're we're treating them with respect. We're cleaning up after ourselves for the most part. Thank you, Craft Service. Um, and locations. Um, and we really do try our best, right, wherever we go. and and we're also educating as we do so. So the 20% 30% of the crew who is coming from the mainland, we're intimately giving them the education of how to take care of our land, how to treat people in our land or any land, right?

It's a level of respect that we operate with here. I think a lot of people come here with a different tune, with a different level, threshold of respect for others and I think they absorb our vibe, our aloha spirit, our our respect for one another. And and they start living that way. And when they start living that way, when they go back to wherever they're from, they're spreading that in their circles. So it's crazy. it to me we're making an impact not only here but we're making an impact around the world from this industry and and I know that might be a stretch but I've seen that with my own eyes and I and I truly do believe that yeah I mean 100% and and and just even even to to to go um you know to elaborate a little bit on that too it's like or to to sort of like latch on to what I said before, you know, it's like Hawaii as a people have a chance at the bat at the world stage. You know what I mean?

Movies and television are the the most like advanced form of art that exists in the history of humankind, right? It's like, you know, a five million people can't look at a painting at one time, right? But five million people can watch an episode of Hawaii 5O at at the same time collectively, right? millions of people um hundreds of millions of people will go out to watch movies on opening weekend and and we've had, you know, Hawaiian Hawaii locals, Native Hawaiian people, um their faces have been up on those screens, right? the technicians have had a chance to be a part in making that art that that gets broadcast all over the world and has an impact on the entire planet that we live on like and Hawaii has had a huge hand in that on huge productions right?

And that is, and I don't want to negate anybody's jobs or anything, but that's a bigger impact than any hotel worker will have. That's a bigger impact than any hotel will have. I mean, I'll go back to exactly what I was saying before. Nobody's racing to Instagram or social media or YouTube or any of these platforms to go and see what new advancements they've had at the at the at the uh uh at the Hyatt in Wy Ki or the Grand WA in Maui. Like nobody really cares. You know what I mean? But everybody is racing to see you know what's I mean like like let's take for instance like let's take Minecraft for for for instance this it's like a cultural phenomenon that movie right now kids are going insane in movie theaters right now and everybody's racing my son is just on watching recap videos of of kids throwing popcorn at you know in the theaters all across the world right and and and that's that's that's the

effect that that movies and television will will have. You know, it's it's interesting. I remember one time I was working on Hawaii 5. It was season it was season um one and we were at Paradise Park. I don't remember that season. Yeah. And um and there was this kid uh uh there was a man who ran um Treetops, this the restaurant, right, that we would do catering in. And um I forget the guy's name who owned that place, but he said, "Hey, um my son has a friend and he's a huge Lost fan." And at the time I was a location manager. So he's like, "You know, is there any way he can come and hang out with you?" And I'm like, "Absolutely."

You know what I mean? Of course. Like I'm a huge Lost fan. You know what I mean? Like Lost is my favorite TV show of all time. You know what I mean? Oh yeah. All time. I'm a cult fan. And so I understood this kid and he was like and and so he he wanted to go around and he wanted to meet uh or he at least wanted to see and he was just obsessed with with anybody from the show. He was obsessed because in Paradise Park they shot like a lot of Lost there and and you know we had Daniel D Kim on the show and um and so I said to him um well would you like to meet Daniel Kim? And he was just like, "Really?"

Like, "Oh my gosh, like abs, please." Like, "Is that a possibility?" And I'm like, "Well, we'll see." You know? And so I go up to Priscilla. I'm like, "Hey, Priscilla, can you you know, the owner and you know, this this kid and he's like a huge fan and you know, can we talk to Daniel?" So Priscilla went up to Daniel and talked to him and he's like, "Yeah, yeah, you know, fine. Absolutely." you know. And so Daniel comes over and um the kid was like visibly sh like shaking, right? He was like he had lost his mind. His soul had left his body as Daniel was walking up and I'm like looking at this kid like is this kid going to be okay? You know, and um he goes up to sh, you know, and Daniel goes, "Hey, you know, what's your name?" This and that da da da. And and and and the kid's like, you know, my name is blah blah blah. and and um and he shakes his hand and his hand is like sweating, right? And I now and and he's

like and he's like shaking, you know, and and I and now I'm kind of like, you know, we have security there. I think it was like Kea or somebody and I was like making sure that this kid wasn't like crazy, you know, and um he's shaking his hand and then he goes um he goes, "I hear you're a big loss fan." He goes, "I I am." And I think he was calling Daniel by his name in the in in the show of Lost, right? Whatever his whatever his name was in the show, I forget. And um shows how big of a fan I am. Um and so, uh he goes, "I I'm the biggest fan." And he goes, "Oh, really? You know, what do you like about the show?" And he goes, "I have a lost tattoo on my arm." And he goes, "Cool. Let's check it out." and he like he like pulls up his sleeve and he's got like the numbers the you know like the the numerology and the numbers and it's like tattooed on his on his on his forearm. Okay. And then he like and

then he goes check back security real quick and he's like cool. He's like I have more and he's like really and then he like pulls on the other side of his arm and he's like cool. And he's like and on this arm and he starts pulling and he pulls and then he takes off his like shirt, right? Not he has a shirt underneath and he had all this lost stuff all over. No. And then he goes and he and Daniel and then Daniel looks at me like what's going on here? You know what I mean? And I'm like I don't know what's going on here with my eyes, you know?

And then he's like he's like cool, man. That's awesome. And he and before Daniel could say anything else, he's like and more. And he like lifts up his shirt and he's got every he's got the foot. He's got like all this stuff all over like all remember all that symbol symbolism they had in the show. He had like all this stuff and then and then and then he then he and then he had it on his back and then he's like and Daniel's like oh that's awesome. And he's like I have more and he like pulls up his pants and he had on his calf and everywhere as long as he didn't pull down his pants.

Yeah, but you know what? If you ever wonder why sometimes actors or actresses sometimes are hesitant to interact with fans, if you're out and about, if this is besides the point if they're trying to memorize their lines, tons of dialogue that they have to go do a scene for and perform for and they're not stopping because you want to take a picture with them. Sometimes people don't understand that this is a huge huge profession that is very challenging, right? And they got to get into but besides all that, they might have a have had an experience like that one. No. And it's and it's and it's true. And and so and and I didn't know any of this going in. The kid didn't tell me he had all these lost tattoos.

So, and it was all good. I mean, it was all good. And and he had all these tattoos all over his body. and and um and and and Daniel and Daniel was like like he he for that moment Daniel de Kim was just like wow you know this is I'm part of something that's that's going to that had so much that had such a big effect on this on this one person's life that he chose to sacrifice his entire body for to the love of that piece of art that he was so fortunate to be a part of. You know what I mean? And and that's exactly what I'm talking about here. Like what we do is is it goes far beyond uh comprehension. You know, I remember when we did Jurassic World 2 and Chris Pratt, it was Chris Pratt's birthday and he got up and he said and we all sang him happy birthday and he had his son there and he said, "You know, I know what we do seems like trivial and and and to some could be meaningless, but to some kids out there,

this movie will be the their favorite movie ever. And this movie will mean the world to them. And it'll be this piece of art that we're making will like take them out of their of their reality for two hours of the day and and and and be able to like help them with their life and and that's and that's what movies are and that's what television can do, you know. It can it can really like be that that medicine for life and and really like keep you going and and and really and give you a little bit of respit uh in in your days and and really bring a lot of meaning to life and and here in Hawaii we've had the great fortune to be a a part of that um a part of that great um legacy and um and it's and and so that's just once again it's it's just a tragedy that um that the system here and abroad is is failing to is failing to recognize the importance of it. And you know what I mean? There's no there's no kid in the

world that has um that has um tattoos of the Marriott on on his body. You know what I mean? He's there's no kid in this world that has a Walmart tattoo unless I don't know. There might be. There might be. Having having said that, you personally as a filmmaker, what is what is your goal? What do you what do what would you like to accomplish as a as a filmmaker or you know seeing a fan like that that you know that show affected him so much? It you know has so much influence over him. You as a filmmaker what what would you like to do with film making? Yeah.

Um, so it's it's it's interesting. My mentor, um, a great filmmaker named Brian Spicer, who's our all of our friends. Yep. Um, he asked me um uh I was shadowing him uh on MagnumPI and um and he asked me um what is your goal in this business? And I just and I told him uh oh, I'm going to make movies until the day I die. And I and I told him, uh, whether I whether I do that at a large studio level or I have to pay for it. Um, I'm just gonna I'm just going to do it no matter what, you know, it's just it's just it's just what I it's just what I do.

Um, and and then he said to me something really important. He said, "Well, then you're going to make it." And I and I and I and and I said, "What does that mean?" He goes, "This business is so hard that if you if if if you're in this business because you want to be rich or famous or you're you have some dream of like, you know, um be becoming something uh uh great um off the backs of, you know, this business. you're probably going to give up because this is just not for you. But if you're in it because you love it, then you'll then you'll go all the way. And making it will just be the chance to be able to be on set telling a story. And and I think that's really important because I don't, you know, do we make good money uh in in this industry? We do. We can. We can when we work. Yeah.

It's good. It's good when we can get it, but but by and large I think I don't think I know that we all are not in this business because of the money or the fame or or the prestige that comes that comes with it. You know what I mean? Um maybe there are a few exceptions, but we're in it because we love it. We're lifers, you know what I mean? Um, we we we we love the challenge. We love to There's no other art form. There's no other business like it in the world. There really isn't. You know, we we work in a military fashion for very long, excruciating hours to make a piece of art. I know this because I have made projects for no money and guys like you and David Cray and and and and an assortment of different people come out to help me and and when people ask me, "Oh, can you come out and help me?" I just go and I go and do it. I don't do it because it's we're making money that day. I do it because I I love

this thing. Like I would die for this business. You know what I mean? and and we are in the pursuit of art. It's like you get all these people in one place who have who have their own passions and interests and they become masters of that specific craft. Then you take them all and you put them all together and then you say, "Okay, here's the common goal which is the screenplay, right? And this is what we're trying to achieve, right? And this is what we're working for." And then all these people come together and all their art forms coalesce perfectly in order to make one shot perfect, right? To make that one shot which could be no more than two seconds sometimes, right? And then and then we call cut and then we move on and then we go into and we we and we and we all work our asses off to get the next shot in order to get a sequence or in order to get a scene and then in order to get a sequence and then that sequence

multiple sequences become a film, right? And that's and then and we're all working our butts off to make a piece of art that in turn changes people's so lives so much that they get the thing tattooed all over their body. You know what I mean? And and having said that um you know this group of people who passionately do it, you know, you're saying the person who's going to be successful, it's everyone in this. It's everyone in Hawaii. They've all done it. Every single crew member here has done free jobs in they all have done it like well the ones who plan to make a career in it. You're saying or what I'm saying is those people that I see that are somewhat successful and have had a career in it. They they have reasons more than money, fame, you know, clout.

And I think as a as maybe one of those people, we we can sense if you're in it for that. So if you plan on kind of getting into this industry, and you kind of have those intentions of being there for the money, the fame, and and anything else, the core group of people can sense that, you know, and they they're not blind to the intentions of those. and it just makes it a little bit harder to gel with support or actually you know um fall in you know and that's just my opinion you know what I mean and we have a real sense of people who are passionate to be in it because they love film making and then we have a sense for those who are in it for other reasons so but I love what you're doing um every day working on stuff whether it's a YouTube with your son or with it's a commercial or a short film. We had a lot of fun. And you want Did you want to talk about any of your projects that you're currently working on or Sure.

things that you're excited about that are coming out? Yeah. Uh this might be controversial. I was telling your fiance about this earlier. I was like, "Ah, screw it. Whatever." Um so I'm making uh a movie um uh here in this next month. Um, we start prepping uh at the end of this month and shoot next month. And it's not a zombie movie. No, it's not. It's a little It's a little pallet cleanser. Um, little edgy. It's about It's a story of um two addicts that fall in love. Um, based kind of around my my wife and I and how we met. Um, but I'm doing it in in a in a in a different way where it's um it's an equity play. So, um, the crew members down to the cast to the producers to everybody will all own a piece of the the project and, um, and we are doing it in a way that, um, I'm self- financing it. So, um, because I don't know any studios are going to finance a story about two addicts falling in love in this climate right

now. Yeah. Uh, at least this week. Maybe next week. Yeah. We'll see. It's still early. No, but it's all it's just all about um doing something honest and pure and and and I'm um and and and doing it very minimalistic. So, you know, I will be wearing very many hats and um a lot of the crew will be I'm doing it with a very very small crew um microbudget uh film and I really want to show um the world and people that um we can tell quality stories um that are that look just like regular movies that you see um in a different way. Um, and I of course would I love to have, you know, 60 crew members and and a ba base camp and um and and all the bells and whistles, of course.

But right now in this climate um it's very hard to to to do that and to finance that especially with you know this get GE tax you know the GT 4.71 on payroll and and how expensive everything here is in Hawaii and and you know and all these just a there's a plethora of things that that it's just it's just very expensive. you know, the tax incentive is is um is is very tough. You know what I mean? It's like it's 27% but then when you add the get payroll tax and it goes down to what's like you know you know or it's 22% then you know you add the G payroll tax it's like 17 something or or whatever it is and it's like man it's just it's hard it's it's hard and so um I'm I'm making this film um in a way that I'm making it out of necessity. I'm sure that I'm I love all the union, you know, um, family and I love all of the, you know, I I know all of the presidents of all the unions and I have mad respect

for everybody. I have mad respect for the state. I mean, I I I'm very closely involved with all these talks with, uh, what's going on in the tax incentive and all that. But, um, with that said, like I said before to Spicer, I'm still going to make movies no matter what. Yeah. You know what I mean? I I'm I I've I've been I've been making movies since I was a child. And it's not because I I'm not doing it because I I'm I'm I'm I'm trying to get rich. I I just have stories inside me that I want to tell. And um and and and hook or by crook, I'm going to tell them, you know what I mean? And and and that's and that's just it. So that's um that's what I'm doing next. And um it's called G plus F forever. And um it's very it's just basically a love story.

And um not unlike like maybe like I would say kind of like like Anora. I think Anora the film that won best picture is a really great example that Hollywood obviously is looking at right now but everybody should look at right because it was like this little tiny movie took over the Oscars and showed Hollywood that they can beat them at their own game. You know what I mean? And um they did spend an incredible amount on marketing. They did. They did. They did. But that came after they that he made this, you know, kind of like rulebreaking film. And so, yeah, that's that's the next uh thing that I'm doing.

And then I have a larger film um um for later on this year that I hope to bring to Hawaii if if if I can make that work financially here. But I I hate to say this and this is going to sound terrible but it's like you know these financeers are like well this is not looking really good. So like Philippines and Thailand are are looking very attractive. You know you know what I mean? And and at the end of the day I I don't have I don't have control o o over these things. You know what I mean? It's like it's like you're either going to make either I'm either going to make the movie or or I'm pretty much not going to make the movie. You know what I We just lost I think Jurassic World to Thailand or or Philippines, you know, a franchise that started here. Huge franchise. Went on to be a huge franchise. They love it here.

They still want to come back here to continue that legacy. Um, and we lost it to Thailand. This and and and if we have to go, this is good. I'll just I'll end on this point. You know, I am a Hawaiian Tahesian filmmaker. And um and I made my first movie here in Hawaii. You were the key grip. And it is a sad day when a Hawaiian filmmaker and Hawaii locals doesn't want to be racial about it, but it's a sad day when a Hawaiian filmmaker because of the way that the system is is is built here has to go somewhere else to to tell his story, right? It's like I live here. My whole family lives here and but because of the way that things are going right now, I might have to go somewhere else in order to tell my own story. That is just mind-blowing to me. You know what I mean? Yeah. Why why is it that we can't have a a tax incentive that is just that is why can't we have like an indigenous uh Native Hawaiian tax incentive that if

you're telling cultural stories, right? Um like Chief of War or other or other things. Why isn't it that that that they can't make a different tax incentive that's like, you know, if it's a native ind indigenous c cultural show, let's give them 40% tax incentive so that we can keep those stories here. Don't give them the Jurassic World tax incentive. Give them Don't give them the King Kong tax incentive. Like, keep your stories here. So, and then and then and then and then and then it would be like, you know, like why why can't we have like a show like Dark Winds? It's a Native American cop show. Like, why can't we have like a Dark Winds that's here, which is like with like Polynesians and and and made by all local people here?

Like, why why why can't we just make that uh uh a res, right? Where like the whole cast and crew is is is Hawaii locals and and and Hawaiian people, you know? You know what I mean? It's just like I I don't I don't understand that. uh um because you know that would that would give that would be a way to perpetuate culture to keep the these stories alive and to um incentivize other Hollywood studio productions and other productions to go like well shucks actually why don't we why don't why don't we change the narrative of this and make it more like why don't we put some more um of Hawaii in this in this project and and add more Hawaiian people into this into this project. And so then like you know a Jurassic World has like uh uh like Hawaii as a character and and and uh and Hawaiian people are actually in in there and you and then all of a sudden you're starting to like you're starting to like

navigate the system, right? The incentive would would be just that the the Yes, exactly. The they would write to the incentive um cost factor. They they would I love your passion. I totally um share your passion about all those things and and frustrations and that's the reason for this platform, right? It's like we got to be able to cuz cuz I think there's a lot of people like you and I just trying to figure it out. Why not, you know, why is this such a difficult thing to navigate? There's a lot of reasons why it's there's a lot of perspectives that we have to account for. Um, I think guys like you and I are willing to hear other people's perspective and really understand. Um, and so I appreciate you coming on. We could talk for hours. This is not going to be the only time I have you on. I hope to invite you back. Uh, hopefully maybe after these projects that you um are going to make and um,

let's talk about those things next time. But God bless you. Thank you. Fine. I if you had to if you had to give one um piece of um advice for the upcoming filmmaker, what would it be? My my dad has this quote um that he says um he has two quotes that he says. I'll say these two quotes. He says um he when I got into this business, he said, "You want you want to hear the secret to this business?" I said, 'Yeah.' And he said, "This business has no has nothing to do with how talented you are. It has everything to do with who do I want to hang out with for nine months of the year for 14 to 16 hours a day. And if in the 16th hour you still have a sense of humor, then you might make it in this business." Unfortunately or fortunately, that's also the secret to life. And so, and that always stuck with me. You know what I mean? And that's something that in Hawaii I um that's why I think the Hawaiian crews

are at at tied with the best in the world because there's just there's just so much love on set and so much passion and so much talent and and and all of that together and aloha spirit is always there and um as we saw with the Maui wildfires, you know what I mean? Like we all came together and helped out before even like the government could help us, you know, and and that's and that's and that's one thing. And then the other thing is um this other quote my dad says is uh is timing um timing, chance, persistence, good fortune, talent. It fits in your five fingers. And um when the timing is right, you got to take a chance on yourself. And if you're persistent, you get good fortune like gift from above, right? From God or Kakua or whatever you want to believe in. You know, just like in anything you do, if you just stay persistent at it, all of a sudden you start to things will start to fall into

place if you're doing the right things. And with your talent, you'll hold all these four elements together, right? But once again, talent only always comes last. And I think most people think that because they're talented, um, they don't got to work hard, they don't got to be persistent, they don't got to take a chance on themselves, they don't got to take risks. And, um, and they don't have to have good timing. You know what I mean? And and that's that's just, you know your talent comes last always. You know what I mean? If you have talent, that's great. But there's a lot of talented geniuses that are on the streets dying in the gutters. You know what I mean?

And so you just got to you just got to take it. And and the thing you got to take your chance. And the thing is that the timing is right now. So, if you're out there as a filmmaker and you're thinking about doing this, the timing is now for you to take a chance on yourself and just keep going at it forever. Sometimes, like myself, I wanted to make movies for my whole life and I I got a chance to do it at at 37 years old, right? And um and I was and I and I've just and I and I just will never stop, you know what I mean? And if you can if you can understand that your talent comes last and and you can be have humility about that, then you'll then you'll go far. And um just stay humble and um and just emua just stay just keep going. That's all I got. Incredible, man. Thank you so much for that. And um thank you for coming here again today and find you're awesome, man. I support anything that you do. Yeah.

Questions about this episode

What is discussed in "EP 105 Fairai Richmond"?

In order: 0:00 Fi Richmond, Marlon Brando, Bransum Richmond, Mutiny on the Bounty; 10:00 Baywatch, Jurassic Park; 20:00 Baywatch; 40:00 Dwayne Johnson, Breaking Bad, Jurassic Park; 50:00 Chief of War, Apple TV, Dwayne Johnson; 1:10:00 G plus F forever; 1:20:00 Chief of War.

What is mentioned in this The Big Picture episode?

13 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Dwayne Johnson, Chief of War, Fi Richmond, Marlon Brando, Baywatch, Jurassic Park. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "EP 105 Fairai Richmond"?

The episode runs 1 h 29 min; the transcript is about 16,041 words in 99 timestamped sections.

More from The Big Picture

About this transcript: the episode's spoken words as captioned on YouTube, split into timestamped sections. Reclip.Me locates every person, work and idea in the text, keeps the time it is first named, and quotes the words around it verbatim. Last updated January 24, 2026.