Movies and television have long been trusted forms of escapism. The film business is an industry that insiders often consider recession-proof.

But every film project faces its own challenges, especially in a location as remote as Hawai'i. That's why local film commissioners are breathing a little easier this summer. After more than a year of industry-related labor troubles and a slumping economy that just won't quit, more directors are shouting "action."

Three films with strong Hawai'i stories — including one about the life of surfer Bethany Hamilton — are about to be shot. And after five seasons in the Islands, the hugely popular ABC series "Lost" is scheduled to start work on its final season.

Two other projects — a Jerry Bruckheimer-produced TV cop drama and a family film about space aliens on the Big Island — could sweeten the pot, but both are far from a reality, even though their filmmakers unveiled them in early May.

"It's been an awful, horrible, slow time," said Walea Constantinau, commissioner for the Honolulu Film Office. "We are beginning to see things pick up to what we would like to call a normal pace. Our goal is to always be growing the industry."

While Hawai'i film and television projects accounted for $146 million in spending in 2008, it was a challenging year for those banking on new projects into this year and beyond.

"You didn't have anyone who felt they could pull together financing and get green-lit," Constantinau said.

A 100-day writers' strike that ended in early 2008 stalled new projects and wrecked existing TV seasons. Then for nearly 12 months, labor negotiations with the Screen Actors Guild created more uncertainty, even as the economy prompted studios to cut staff and projects.

But SAG members ratified a new contract in June, and interest in Hawai'i has returned.

The result is "a really dynamic tapestry of productions" for television and movie screens, Constantinau said.

ABC's popular drama "Lost" tops the list. It will start production of its sixth and final season in late August. The network plans to shoot 18 episodes that will begin airing sometime in January and conclude in May.

HAMILTON'S STORY

Leading the local film projects is "Soul Surfer," the autobiographical story of Bethany Hamilton, a Kaua'i surfer whose left arm was ripped off by a shark in 2003.

Filming on the $9 million project is scheduled to begin Sept. 15 and last about a month, said producer Dutch Hofstetter.

"Soul Surfer" will film at Turtle Bay on O'ahu's North Shore as well as on Kaua'i, he said.

The film is being directed by Sean McNamara, who was executive producer on the TV series "Beyond the Break."

Hofstetter hopes to release the film next summer.

"We have a very dramatic, live action surf script that will be very representative of Bethany and her story," said Hofstetter, who is also Hamilton's manager.

Hamilton, now 19, not only survived her shark encounter but has thrived as both surfer and role model. In January, she placed second in the women's division of the Billabong ASP World Junior Championships in Sydney, Australia.

For "Soul Surfer," which is based on her 2004 autobiography, Hamilton will do all her own stunts and be closely involved with the surf scenes, dialog and wardrobe, Hofstetter said.

But Hofstetter won't say just yet who he has cast to play Hamilton. Or anyone else in the film.

"We have a little surprise for everybody about who is going to play her," he said. "We will have a marquee cast surrounding her."

The shark scene will require the right blend of drama and sensitivity — and won't be easy to accomplish, he said.

"We have numerous sequences of the shark attack, all done with a twist of Hitchcock and suspense, and it is certainly not all about teeth and blood," Hofstetter said. "This will be more powerful than 'Jaws' — but that being said, I am not making a shark movie."

FRUITFUL PROJECT

With the indie film "Lychee Thieves," filmmaker Kathleen Man wants to capitalize on Hawai'i's multicultural identity and the differences between people that never seem to go away.

Her story focuses on an old lychee tree that suddenly starts pumping out fruit. The unexpected turn of events sparks tension as everyone involved becomes territorial.

Man, who wrote and will direct the film, said people everywhere have stories about stealing fruit.

"The theme for me and the goal for this film is to show how we carry around our petty differences and our prejudices every day," she said. "And we kind of react to others from that place without even knowing it."

"Lychee Thieves" is an "ultra low-budget" project, Man said. She's paying for equipment rentals and has a lot of volunteers, but compensation for the actors — four in the main roles and a dozen in smaller speaking parts — will be deferred.

The filmmaker has spent the last few weeks filming lychee trees on O'ahu, but she won't have actors in front of her cameras until late August.

Man was born in Hawai'i and grew up on O'ahu. A Punahou grad, she now teaches narrative and documentary filmmaking at Vassar College. This is her first project at home. If all goes well, "Lychee Thieves" will be finished in time for film festivals next spring, she said. But the film is also part of a trio of works that Man hopes to edit into a single feature that would be released next summer.

"On one level, it's such a local topic, and it's uniquely Hawai'i in terms of the characters and cultures," she said. "But I think it is a universal story. I see it working on both levels. I hope it is appealing to folks here and to folks everywhere."

HAWAI'I REVEALED

Another low-budget project, "One Kine Day," is scheduled to start filming in about a week at several Windward O'ahu locations.

The film was written and will be directed by Chuck Mitsui, said Effie T. Brown, an L.A.-based producer working on the project. They're hoping to turn their cameras on a hidden Hawai'i.

"We are hopefully shooting a side of Hawai'i that hasn't been seen," Brown said. "It is not about the beaches, but about the people who live here and work here and raise their families here."

"One Kine Day" involves a local skater with no particular direction in life and his relationship with his pregnant, 15-year-old girlfriend. They and their friends and families live off the beaten path of modern society.

"There is something about these kinds of films that give you a sneak peak into a world we are never allowed into," Brown said. "But they are just as valid and interesting."

The project wants to employ as much local talent as possible but in a twist, the filmmakers also are allowing most of the 40 to 50 people involved to take on jobs that typically go to more experienced people, Brown said. Acting experience isn't even being required of the film's lead actors.

"Since we can't offer a lot of money, we can offer an opportunity to move up in the ranks," she said.

The filmmakers hope to finish "One Kine Day" in time for the Sundance Film Festival in January and after that, a broad theatrical release, Brown said.

"We are trying to make it very organic," she said. "It is a movie about Hawaiians for Hawaiians in Hawai'i."

NO GUARANTEE

No project comes with a guarantee, even those announced by networks and film studios.

Ric Galindez, co-founder of Island Film Group, which last year produced "Princess Kaiulani," said it doesn't take more than a whiff of a project to start phones ringing.

"We all hear the rumors, but even one production I was told by people was fully funded and ready to go, I got a phone call the same day from a producer saying they are still looking for a million dollars," he said. "Until they touch down, until they start hiring a crew, everything is a rumor."

Some of these fledgling films, however, come with fancy window dressing, in the form of network Web site postings and industry press releases.

Cable network A&E announced in May that it was developing a pilot for a series about an ex-Honolulu cop that it called "Cooler Kings." While the network plans to shoot a pilot about a story set in Hawai'i, no decision has been made as to when or where to actually film it, said Dan Silberman, A&E's vice president of publicity.

"We can film it next month and it could air sometime next summer, or it could never air at all," he said. "It is hard to say."

The story is as intriguing as it is nebulous. Jerry Bruckheimer, producer of all three "CSI" TV series, "Cold Case" and "Without a Trace," as well as the "Pirates of the Caribbean" movie franchise and "Pearl Harbor," would be the executive producer. A&E described "Cooler Kings" as a "surf-noir crime show" about a cop saving paradise "one case at a time."

"The script is very strong," Silberman said. "We feel it would be a great fit for A&E, but at this point we have a lot of projects in development."

A few days after "Cooler Kings" was announced, Empire Film Group said it planned to shoot a $10 million comedy set on the Big Island, called "Soakers." Filming was said to be set for this fall, based on a screenplay by the late Bob Clark, who also wrote "A Christmas Story."

But that's all Empire is saying — for now. Last week, no one could be reached for comment at its L.A. offices.