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The Honolulu Advertiser

Updated at 2:47 p.m., Friday, November 24, 2006

Hawaii Film Partners plans new film, animated projects

By Michael Tsai
Advertiser Staff Writer

Hawaii Film Partners, creator of the hit teen series "Flight 29 Down," has two feature films and an animated television series in the works.

"Far Cry," based on an Xbox video game, is scheduled to begin production in Hawai'i next spring. Uwe Boll, who directed the BloodRayne movies, is to direct. The projected budget for the feature film, funded by local and Mainland investors, is $15 million, said Hawaii Film Partners co-founder Rann Watumull.

Another feature film, "Turning the Tide: One Man Against the Medellin Cartel," based on Sidney Kirkpatrick's book about marine biologist Richard Novak's stand against drug smuggler Carlos Lehder and the Medellin drug cartel, is expected to begin production next spring or summer, with Hawai'i locales doubling as the Bahamas. The anticipated budget for the film is $10 million.

Both "Far Cry" and "Turning the Tide" are slated for theatrical release.

Hawaii Film Partners is collaborating with the Chinese city of Changzhou and Korean animation firm GIMC to produce "Tal," a 26-episode animated series that will get under way next year. The series follows the adventures of a Korean-born American girl with super powers.

The series is the first of four or five animation projects expected to be produced by the Asian Animation Round partnership, to which Hawaii Film Partners belongs.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.