Cast and crew will enjoy the luxury of two soundstages this season: the existing "cave" set in the old Xerox building on Nimitz Highway, and a very-soon-to-be-built new set at the state's Diamond Head Studio. No word yet on what that set will be exactly.

"Lost" got the Diamond Head soundstage after Fox's "North Shore" was canceled earlier this year.

Shooting will begin with major construction still under way at Diamond Head Studio.

Producers hope the traditional "quiet on the set" bell system will be enough to keep things orderly.

Revenge of the script

As recently as a year ago it looked like ABC and traditional scripted programming were floating toward obsolescence above a viewer landscape re-paved by reality TV.

Then, quicker than you can say "Lost," "Desperate Housewives" and "Alias," the landscape rose to meet their feet as TV viewers, in one pivotal season, came to the realization that while "reality" be stranger than fiction, it wasn't necessarily as interesting.

The success of the three series helped ABC increase its total viewers by 12 percent (16 percent in the coveted 18-to-49 age demographic) over the previous season. The improvement during the May sweep period was even more impressive, with ABC growing its total viewership by a whopping 23 percent over March 2004.

The Hawai'i-based "Lost" was particularly impressive during the final week of the sweep. The two-hour season finale of the show drew an average audience of 20.7 million viewers despite going head-to-head with the Fox juggernaut "American Idol."

"Idol" still ruled the evening overall, but "Lost" did manage to draw ABC's largest nonsports audience in five years during the two-hour time period and posted its best rating with teens ages 12 to 17 and men ages 25 to 54.

'Losties' rejoice

Ratings are one thing, but you know a show has arrived when it spawns not just an official fan club, but fans with their own collective nickname.

We're talking "Losties," people.

ABC Television and Creation Entertainment aren't launching the fan club until sometime this summer, but — of course — you can already stock up on the collectibles at the official Web site, www.lostfanclub.com.

The first Lostie convention is set for this weekend at the Hilton Hotel in Burbank, Calif., with more to follow over the next year.

'Valtor' the short

Local filmmaker Gerard Elmore is putting the finishing touches on his latest film short, "Valtor the Great vs. the Universe."

Elmore is mum on the details but says the basic story involves "some sci-fi geeks who take the game a little too far. ... It's sort of like a modern day 'Monster Squad.' "

In the meantime, his hilarious short "Amasian: The Amazing Asian," starring Paul Ogata, has been accepted to Fantasia, a major genre film festival in Montreal.

Be interesting to see how our neighbors to the northeast react to Waianae-Man.

'29 down' 101

Hawai'i Film Partners co-founder Rann Watumull and veteran assistant director Matt Locey are taking their experiences working on the new Discovery Kids series "29 Down" and sharing what they've learned in a free lecture titled "29 Down: Producing a Show in Hawai'i with Local Crew, Sets and Money."

It will be held June 17 at the Yukiyoshi Room, Krauss Hall 012 on the University of Hawai'i at Manoa Campus.