Tech firm Square USA closes Honolulu studio

By John Duchemin
Advertiser Staff Writer

Square USA has closed its Honolulu movie studio after failing to find a buyer, a move that leaves more than 100 high-tech workers searching for jobs and ends the five-year run of one of Hawai'i's largest tech firms.

Since the studio opened in 1997, state technology backers have held up Square USA as an example of Hawai'i's high-tech potential. But in recent months technology ventures across the country, including in Hawai'i, have faltered because of a slow economy and business miscues.

'Ohana Foundation, a nonprofit developer of educational software, closed in October, leaving about 90 employees jobless. Web site translation service WorldPoint laid off nearly all of its 120 workers last year as its markets dried up. And telecommunications firm Adtech laid off dozens of workers as parent company Spirent tried to cut costs.

Square USA's studio in the Harbor Court office tower was the production site of the $135 million computer-animated film "Final Fantasy" and contains millions' worth of equipment the company is trying to sell.

While some of the studio's employees still have jobs with the firm's Tokyo parent company Square Co. Ltd., others are looking for work outside Hawai'i, spokeswoman Yumi Ozaki said.

Square USA intended to produce films based on its parent company's "Final Fantasy" video game. The first film, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within," was released last summer but drew few fans. Through October, the film had ticket sales of $30 million in North American markets, a third of its target. The Square film-making division lost $107 million for the six months ending Sept. 30.

Correction: Square USA released its first film, "Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within," last summer. The movie title was incorrect in a previous version of this story.