Fox hotel drama to film pilot on Big Island

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Fox-TV is planning to film an hour-long TV pilot on the Big Island, set at a high-profile luxury resort.

The show, to be produced by 20th Century Fox TV, will be set in a ritzy (yet to be named) hotel on the Kohala coast, peopled by glitterati from around the globe. The drama gives a Hawaiian spin to the premise of the 1980s' TV series "Hotel," with hired hands co-mingling with house guests, and will track the relationships between a twentysomething hotel staff and a wealthy hotel clientele.

Screen Actors Guild district director Brenda Ching confirmed that Fox was filming the pilot, but released no other details. Anna Fishburn Casting is handling local talent, but is not accepting phone inquiries.

Hollywood publication Variety reported that the series is tentatively titled "Big Island." It's a project of executive producers Peter Elkoff ("Mr. Beautiful") and Kevin Falls ("The West Wing"). Elkoff is also a series writer.

Fox is no stranger to Island television. The network last year backed an O'ahu pilot, "The Break," as a potential Hawai'i-based police adventure series from producer-writer-director John Stockwell. However, Fox passed on giving the series a green light.

Fox did a nearly a week's worth of filming in Hawai'i last September and October for the first "American Idol" auditions, which were televised last night on the local affiliate, KHON-2.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.