Everyone loves film, and Hawai'i is no exception.

Love it or not, the demise of Act 221 dealt the local film industry a deadly blow. Compounding the problem, the governor is now terminating the Hawaii Film Office on Nov. 13th — depriving Mainland and local producers of a contact and permitting point. It's also a shame that we lost "A Perfect Getaway," a film set in Kaua'i, to Puerto Rico, and it's really too bad that the locally produced "Last Princess," filmed at 'Iolani Palace, is now mired in cultural controversy.

Although the local filming of Kaui Hart Hemmings' book "The Descendants" next year will be good news, right now things don't seem to be going all that well for film in Hawai'i.

STATE OF FILM

Hawai'i can be a premier location. We have diverse climates, from rainforest to desert, to volcanic landscape, and we can emulate locations all over the world. These resources are helpful, but on balance film in Hawai'i hasn't received the support it needs.

Film has been part of Hawai'i's history since Thomas Edison's "Veriscope" was shown at the Honolulu Opera House in 1897. Many feature films have been made here, but we haven't had our "Whale Riders" — major films made and released locally by local producers and talent. We've had only a small industry and modest infrastructure and, most recently, we seem to have lost our way.

Is this the fault of our political leaders? Perhaps they haven't understood that one minute of Waikiki Beach in a popular film shown around the world is worth millions.

UNCERTAIN FUTURE

With the demise of Act 221, the future of our film industry is up in the air. Several projects have been canceled and we don't know what the future will bring. Without the ability to raise capital, independent producers are in jeopardy. The local industry won't have the capital they had before, and some may have to leave or drop out.

Act 88, enacted in 2006, allows a 15 percent refundable credit for films made on O'ahu and a 20 percent credit for films made on the Neighbor Islands. It was designed for one-shot deals by Mainland production companies, but is not as attractive as before — other places now offer much better incentives.

Film added some $200 million to our economy every year for the past five years. But the competition is tougher now. We're competing with Canada, Australia, Puerto Rico and Connecticut, Michigan, New Mexico, North Carolina, Louisiana, among other places.

Some say the closing of the Film Office is penny-wise and pound foolish, that film is critical to economic diversification and repatriation of our youth, and that generous incentives are well-justified. Others say that incentives are a rip-off and filmmakers will come here anyway. It's the old status quo versus progress dichotomy, not unlike so many other debates we have in Hawai'i.

AT A CROSSROADS

ABC's "Lost," closing next March, has used both Act 221 and Act 88. Most local film production companies, including Jason Lau's Talk Story Productions ("The Tempest"), Rann Watumull's Hawaii Film Partners ("You may not Kiss the Bride"), Ric Galindez' Island Film Group ("The Last Princess") and Brett Wagner, partnering with Moana Productions ("Chief"), were relying on Act 221. They'll have to find other sources of capital.

While we have talented local producers, we could use some more consciousness-raising art films like "Picture Bride" (the story of the picture brides on the plantations). Directed by Kayo Hatta in 1993, it was selected at Cannes and Sundance and picked up by Miramax. Tax incentives help films like that get made.

Film is a natural for us. With high-definition video and animation, it's become the ultimate in high-tech. It's clean, environmentally friendly and provides hugely rewarding careers. We've had 100 years to develop a world-class industry, but we haven't done that yet. Do we act, or just wait for the moguls to come around when they're ready?

Our film industry is at a crossroads — including the Film and Video Association of Hawaii, the Hawaii International Film Association, the Association of Independent Commercial Producers, the Screen Actors Guild, Local 665 of IATSE, and the Hawaii International Film Festival and other film festivals. They, and we, should ask the governor to reinstate the Film Office, and ask the Legislature to replace Act 221 and make Act 88 more competitive. It's time to act.

Jay Fidell is a business lawyer practicing in Honolulu. He has followed tech and tech policy closely and is a founder of ThinkTech Hawaii. Check out his blog at www.HonoluluAdvertiser.com|/Blogs