"It was just something I did for class," Inouye said. "I didn't think so much would come from it."

Local audiences can catch the film at the Doris Duke Theatre at the Honolulu Academy of Arts from Feb. 25 to March 1. (The theater has been screening

Academy for Creative Media student films before its regular feature offerings.)

Inouye will graduate to feature-length film next summer when he and Pretentious Productions partner Christopher Yogi plan to begin shooting "Shrapnel," a drama about a man who can't die. Inouye wrote the original screenplay two years ago. Production is expected to begin in July, with updates posted blog-style at www.pretentiousproductions.com. ...

O'ahu film wraps

A new project by writer-director Michael Wurth poses an intriguing question:

WWPD — What Would Pele Do?

"Pele O Ka Foodmart," which completed filming on O'ahu and the Big Island last month, tells of a local woman trapped in an abusive marriage who wakes up one day believing she's the incarnation of Pele, the Hawaiian goddess of fire.

Wurth said he expects the film to be ready in time to be considered for the Hawai'i International Film Festival in October.

(Another film from the Scriptwise partnership to which he belongs, "The Symposium," premiered at the festival two years ago.)

Wurth will be editing the film in Los Angeles over the next six to eight weeks. The production team will be back on O'ahu in April to do pick-up shots and some additional sound work.

Margaret Jones assumes the lead role and Dann Seki plays a troubled police psychiatrist assigned to her case. Ray Bumatai, Tony Silva, Nyla Fujii-Babb, M. Kalani Souza and Cheryl Bartlett are also in the all-local cast.

"Basically, we raided Kumu Kahua (Theatre) for actors," Wurth joked.

In fact, it was Seki who got the ball rolling when he encouraged Wurth to write something that could be staged at Kumu Kahua. But once the script was completed, Wurth said his associates at Scriptwise Partners convinced him the story was better suited for film.

Wurth said the idea for "Pele O Ka Foodmart" grew out of his interest in Hawaiian myth and legend and the goddess' enduring appeal.

"She is such a strong character, even in modern-day Hawai'i," Wurth said. "She's an inspiring source of strength, and I wanted to explore the idea of her — her spirit — doing good in modern Hawai'i."

The film was shot on 24-frames-per-second miniDV.

Once "Pele O Ka Foodmart" is completed, Wurth and his partners will turn their attention to a Hawai'i-based film adaptation of Ivan Turgenev's classic Russian novel "Fathers and Sons."

Wurth said the film, being developed with Ray and Andy Bumatai, will transpose the classic story of tradition and change to paniolo country.

'North Shore' still waiting

Still no word on the fate of Fox's "North Shore."

Persistent rumors out of Hawai'i that the show had been canceled prompted producer Harry Bring to send yet another e-mail query to the network this week, but there's been no confirmation either way.

Bring, who's at work on another pilot, the sports-themed "Amy Coyne," said he expects to hear yea or nay on another season of "North Shore" by the end of the month.

'Lost' warmed over

On a night dominated by Fox's "American Idol" (17.9 rating, 26 share) a repeat of ABC's "Lost" was still able to draw a more-than-respectable 7.5/11 last week, beating out CBS' "60 Minutes," the WB's "Smallville," NBC's "Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Search" and UPN's "The Road to Stardom with Missy Elliott."

"Lost" returned with a new episode last night. ...

'Passion' lite

A kinder, gentler "Passion of the Christ?"

Maui-based public relations company Blaise Noto & Associates has been tapped to handle the March 11 release of "The Passion Recut," an unrated version of last year's controversial blockbuster. About six minutes of the original film's much-noted brutality has been edited out to make the film accessible to a wider audience.

Blaise Noto & Associates worked on the original release of "The Passion of the Christ" and is handling award-related promotion of the film for Icon Productions. ...

Pumped on PBS

Kudos to local filmmakers Paul and Gracie Atkins, whose work on the documentary "Violent Hawaii" helped draw the highest ratings of the season for PBS' "Nature" series. Emmy-winner Paul Atkins served as director and cinematographer for the project; Gracie Atkins was the sound recordist.

Paul Atkins is in Los Angeles to work on color correction for the film "Tides of War," a submarine adventure shot on O'ahu. After that, he's off to Africa to continue work on a project with actress Cameron Diaz. ...

'Rocky Point' crushed

Producer John Stockwell ("Blue Crush") has been long enamored with the idea of a TV drama set on O'ahu's North Shore. Now if he could just get the WB to buy in.

The network didn't bite on "The Break" last year. Now comes confirmation that Stockwell's latest North-Shore-themed project, "Rocky Point," which he created with "Blue Crush" partner Lizzy Weiss, also has washed out.

Executive producer Rick Dallago confirmed to The Advertiser's Wayne Harada that the WB opted not to pick up the show as a mid-season replacement.