Atkins involved in indie, MTV and PBS projects
| • | Storm-tossed cinema leads to Academy Award |
By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer
• Paul Atkins was director of photography for "The Land Has Eyes," a film written and directed by Vilsoni Hereniko and produced by Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, awaiting wide release. The Hawai'i couple premiered their film at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah, in January.
Atkins has two other projects under way:
• An MTV pilot, tentatively entitled "Trippin'," is being produced by and will feature actress Cameron Diaz.
"We went to Chile to film in January; what Diaz wants to do is a rock 'n' roll environment show for the MTV crowd," Atkins said. "She's a real outdoorsy girl who wants to get an environmental message out to a young hip crowd — the ones who don't watch public television," he said. "On each show, she invites her friends — Drew Barrymore's in the first one. The next one will be in Africa and Tibet. Since she loves it here, we're trying to interest her in doing something here, too."
• A high-definition film project for the "Nature" series on PBS. One segment is "Violent Hawai'i," which Atkins said "is about the massive weather and geological forces that have shaped our Islands — the waves, the earthquakes, the eruptions, the snow storms on top of Mauna Kea; all these phenomenons.
"Next up — the humpback whales off Maui."
