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Hawai’i International Film Festival 2024: Gerard Elmore and Mitchel Merrick on Kūkini
Kūkini A historical action-epic set in a 1790’s Hawai’i rift of inter-island warfare, Gerard Elmore and Mitchel Merrick’s 26-minute short Kūkini boasts kinetic chase scenes and battle sequences combined with a rigorous attention to cultural accuracy and practice: In addition to consulting with Native Hawaiian practitioners and historians, Elmore and Merrick filmed it entirely in ʻŌlelo Hawai’i, the indigenous language of Hawai’i.
In addition to being a director, producer, editor and cinematographer, Elmore is one of the creators and leads of the ‘Ohina Film Labs and Showcase, one of the biggest forces giving opportunities to filmmakers in Hawai’i (a 2023 count listed 60 aspiring filmmakers having participated in over six years). The Lab brings Hollywood creatives to Hawai’i to work directly with emerging filmmakers on a two-day intensive training workshop that incorporates script development, project guidance and more, with one project chosen to be funded to completion; the Showcase provides screening opportunities for these films and others. Meanwhile, another offshoot, ‘Ohina Films, helps get the movies made. All participants in the Labs are residents or former residents of Hawai’i, and all films must be shot on island so as to provide opportunities to not just the creators, but local crew, cast and more. The graduates of the Labs read as a who’s-who of current island creatives, from Erin Lau and Alika Tengan to Bryson Chun—and Mitchel Merrick, whose science-fiction short Kãlewa went through the Lab in 2017.
Elmore served as producer and cinematographer on Kūkini, with Merrick taking the directorial role and co-writing the script with popular Hawaiian musician/performer Paula Fuga, who originally brought the concept of the film to the duo. Filmmaker sat down with Elmore and Merrick to discuss the roots and inspirations of the film, the importance of reflecting Native Hawaiian history and culture onscreen and the efforts of the community to make it happen, as well as what independent filmmakers can do to turn low-budget efforts into high-budget looks.
Filmmaker: Kūkini originated as a story by Paula Fuga, best known as a very successful singer and performer. How did you link up with her?
Gerard: We came to a HIFF screening of a ‘Ohina short film showcase, which included Mitchel’s last short film, Ka Ho’i. Paula calls me two days later to say how the movies inspired her and that she had always wanted to make a film, so we arranged to meet about her idea. The way Paula tells the story, she says that I was probably thinking it would be a music video…and she is right: I did not expect to hear a feature-long film version of Kūkini! I was like, “Yeah, no way we can make that. Maybe we’ll try a short first.” I knew there was only one person that could possibly crack the idea and pull it off.
Mitchel: Gerard sent me a text that he had a conversation with Paula about a film idea. He pitched a general outline of the idea, saying that it would take place in Hawai‘i prior to Kamehameha unifying the island chiefdoms and that it would be an action-epic. From there, we had set up a meeting where Paula was able to pitch her idea for the story. I’m always drawn to creating something ambitious, and this would be more ambitious than anything Gerard and I had ever attempted before, so I was all-in. I thought Paula’s perspective was incredibly fresh and not a side of the story the public is familiar with. Showing Kamehameha’s campaign to unify the islands under one rule, but from the point of view of Maui seeing him as an invading conqueror, was really interesting.
Filmmaker: Whether in the script or the planning stages, when did you decide to go ‘All in’ on making it as accurate as possible?
Gerard: Paula wanted to tell a story so she could bring it to classrooms and inspire other Kānaka Maoli (Native Hawaiians) to make their stories and films. Personally, I wanted to make sure we led with what was correct culturally and not necessarily what was best for the movie. In many ways, that’s why the 12-page script became a 26-minute movie too. We all listened to our advisors on the best way to tell the story.
Mitchel: I think a good way to look at it is rather than, “Why is it important?,” the question any person wanting to make a film about Hawaiian history should ask is, “Why wouldn’t it be important?” There was no question we needed to be as accurate as possible when portraying real events from Hawaii’s history. Making the story about a fictional character within the setting of a real historical event allowed us some creative liberties with how we wanted the story to unfold, but for making every detail as accurate as possible, there was never a particular moment to decide when we wanted to make it as accurate as possible. It was an innate decision from the beginning with our team: We needed to either do it right or not do it at all.
Filmmaker: You’ve mentioned collaborating with experts in traditional martial arts, traditional clothing, etc. Could you highlight some of those collaborators and their knowledge, and how that is manifested in the film?
Gerard: Some of our cultural masters are the only people in the world who do what they do. We met Rick San Nicolas as we were assembling the team; he is a Kumu Hulu Nui, or master feather worker. I don’t think that feather capes have ever have been put to screen in a narrative theatrical film before, and Rick came on to let us use capes that he had handmade, museum-quality capes displayed all around Hawai’i. The material (combat) arts in the film is Lua, traditionally passed down from family to family, and was from the family of Ali’i Miner, our stunt coordinator and choreographer. Cultural scenes are taken directly from our cultural advisors and a lot of it has never been portrayed in a film.
Mitchel: Ali’i helped choreograph every fight scene, but beyond that was a huge resource for cultural knowledge. There is a scene in the film where our Kūkini actually uses native medicinal plants for healing practices (Lā‘au Lapa‘au). During the filming of that, Ali‘i mentioned to us that it was beautiful to watch because it was a practice that had not yet been seen on film the way we were depicting it. That was exciting for us, because it aligned with Paula’s original goal to immortalize some cultural practices in film so future generations can see them.
Filmmaker: What were some of the cinematic inspirations for the film? Any movies you shared with the cast and crew to get across the mood or pace that you wanted to achieve?
Mitchel: From the beginning, Mel Gibson’s Apocalypto was an immediate comparable film mentioned several times. We knew that we wanted to tell this story in a similarly grand and epic way. Robert Eggers’ The Northman was also a point of reference for how it handled more of the spiritual/supernatural aspects that we also wanted to touch on in our film. Throughout production, there were also other movies referenced to the team as a means to help communicate what we were going for. Hardcore cinephiles are sure to spot points of inspiration throughout the film. The iconic shot of the Kūkini leaping off the cliff was repeatedly referenced as the “300 shot” and the scene of him talking to his wife at the beginning of the film was directly inspired by the porch scene in M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village.
Filmmaker: The film looks like it was made on 10 times its budget, even if it was actually a labor of love. How did you pull that off, and more specifically what kind of tips/inspirations could you share?
Gerard: From a producing standpoint, we were totally irresponsible, reckless and borderline insane to even attempt this. We weren’t even fully funded when we started. We just felt in our bones, it was gonna happen. Too many people wanted it to be made and we had the support of the community. I feel like we are definitely following the Robert Rodriguez gameplan when it comes to making films. Mitch can direct, make props, edit, VFX supervise, do all the VFXs, and I can handle the camera, budget, crewing it up, color grading. I personally try not to rent a lot of stuff (although rental houses are super supportive here) and use what we already have for short films. I’m not picky when it comes to gear. That takes care of the technical stuff but we run as slim as possible and are surrounded by amazing camera teams, lighting teams, makeup teams, music by frequent collaborator Johnny Helm and collaborators like One Thousand Birds who helped us tremendously with our sound design. They all believed in the project and found ways to work with our very limited resources. For a film with a scope like this, a lot of it is convincing the community to rally behind it and between Paula’s connections, Mitchel’s connections, and [our other producer] Chris Kahunana’s connections, we were able to get the best of the best to contribute. That’s the key to maximizing resources on a small budget. If you can get a few people to believe, the easier it is to get a larger group to believe.
Mitchel: Gerard and I both didn’t just not get paid, but invested our own funds into making the film possible. As reckless as it may be, I believe it’s a testament to what we are willing to do here in Hawai‘i to tell our stories the right way. We were ready to invest in this because we knew that it would be a stepping stone toward the goal of getting to work with a huge budget someday, and where everyone who has been doing the grassroots work to make these films possible can someday be compensated appropriately for their incredible hard work and dedication to this craft.
Filmmaker: Of course, because of a lack of funding, time, etc, some things you just can’t accomplish. In the planning stages or even while shooting, what moments or scenes did you think of as the most important to focus on?
Mitchel: Throughout pre-production there were several additional scenes added or expanded from the original script after further exploration of the scenes with our many cultural advisors. The Lā‘au Lapa‘au sequence that we mentioned is one such case where the scene was extended in order to hone in on the weight of what it was culturally. Because of time constraints, especially with the time needed for makeup—as we had to first remove our actors’ modern-day tattoos to replace them with tattoos that were accurate for the time period—we had to think on the fly of how to shoot things differently from how we had originally planned. A five-hour schedule of shooting would be suddenly reduced to two hours, sometimes requiring us to throw out the previous plan completely and pivoting the shooting schedule on the fly. However, I always view these sort of production woes as those “obstacles” that only helped us to problem-solve and think creatively about how to get what we needed done.
Filmmaker: Gerard, as a cinematographer and a producer, what was the visual style and look that you were going for, and how did you merge that with Mitchel’s directorial vision?
Gerard: Paula referenced Apocalypto when she pitched the movie to me [in terms of the use of language within a historical epic film]. I’m of Mayan descent so I really connected with that: Apocalypto but led culturally. A chase film with constant movement. Mitchel is a director who knows what he wants and it’s a joy to work with him. We love the same movies and the one thing we wanted was to feel like we were dropped into the action, something that feels big but also like we are there in it all. At one point we were thinking handheld but I really want to float through and track characters while they are running. I wanted to make sure we had a camera light to run with [actor] Ioane Goodhue and our talent and for anything moving. We used a Sony FX3 and anything on sticks, a RED Gemini. We are fans of anamorphic lenses and we felt right to tell this story with them. That 2:35 ratio on the big screen gives us that classic scope cinema look and for the color, I studied Herb Kāne paintings, which we also referenced for cultural details.
Filmmaker: Mitchel, with your earlier short Kãlewa you created some amazing special effects that punched way over their class. What could you share with other filmmakers on getting such high-budget looks with little to no funds?
Mitchel: The core of it really comes down to, how much are you willing to invest into a film to get it done? I started getting into VFX because in high school the films I wanted to make required them, but I obviously had no money to hire VFX artists. That said, when it comes to creating high-budget looks with little to no funds, VFX aren’t always (and honestly, rarely) the answer to achieving that. The VFX-heavy shot of our Kūkini leaping off a cliff at sunset can evoke just as much emotion as a shot of him descending into a pond, which took no VFX whatsoever.
Filmmaker: What were the decisions behind going for that running time, instead of maybe a much shorter work, or something that could have been stretched to a feature? Was it mainly financial?
Mitchel: When we first headed into post-production, we tried to keep the film around a 15-20 minute runtime, but we kept running into situations where something felt too rushed or just didn’t feel right. In the end, we collectively made the decision that the next pass of the edit shouldn’t be made with a specific runtime in mind, but rather to do what does feel right for the scene. In hindsight, maybe the runtime did make the film rather difficult for festivals to program, but we are proud of what is showcased and I think the film stands as a testament to what the Hawai‘i film community is capable of. I believe Kūkini shows that we aren’t far off from being able to pull off a feature of this scale with a fully local cast and crew.
Filmmaker: Both in front of and behind the camera is a who’s-who of current Hawaiian creatives and personalities, from actors like Ioane Goodhue, Danielle Zalopany, Moses Goods, and Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu to producers like Christopher Kahunahana and Brian Keaulana. How did you gather everyone together to help work on this project?
Gerard: I consider Brian the center of the Hawai’i filmmaking universe. Big projects, small projects, he is connected to them all. He was my first call and connected us to Ali’i Miner, who was tremendously instrumental in crafting the film from fight scenes to cultural protocols. We were telling a Hawaiian story and I felt it was important we had many key Kānaka Maoli filmmakers on the team. I asked Chris to hop on because he is a good friend and filmmaker I trust. Ioane had always wanted to work with Mitchel and is an expert in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi, and getting the language correct was a priority to Paula and to us. Dani had been in another film of ours and she was excited to be a part of this one. Hinaleimoana was a friend of Paula’s and came in and truly delivered. We were honored to have them all.
Filmmaker: Gerard, you’re one of the creators of the ‘Ohina Filmmaking Labs, which give opportunities to emerging filmmakers in Hawai’i to workshop their ideas and pair them with Hollywood professionals. Many filmmakers, even Mitchel himself, have come out of the labs. You’ve also been at it for awhile; how do you think that filmmaking in Hawai’i has evolved over the past decade, and where do you think it’s going?
Gerard: We are extremely proud of the alumni that have come out of labs. In addition to Mitchel, Alika Tengan, who also won two awards at this year’s HIFF, Erin Lau (also a winner), Ty Sanga, Bryson Chun, Alexander Bocchieri (Shaka), Ciara Lacy (Best Made in Hawai’i Short Film), Déjà Cresencia Bernhardt and Zoë Eisenberg (this year’s Chaperone) have been tremendously successful. Paula’s story is the best yet: Audience member to filmmaker within two years. We started the labs program to level up talent, scripts and find ways to produce high-quality short films. That first class really was the first big wave of talent and it continues to grow each year. The growth in seven years with support from organizations like Pacific Islanders in Communications has been nothing short of amazing.
Access to equipment has definitely gotten easier. When we started, I decided to put my money where my mouth was and buy gear for these short films. The gear we are using on Kūkini is the same gear we used on Kālewa and the same gear we have been using for the newer films too. I became an accidental DP through necessity to get these films made. Keoki Smith has lit a lot of our films and actually gets upset if we don’t ask him to be on these no-budget films with us. We were in a different place ten years ago and so much has changed but no, Kūkini could not have been made ten years ago. It helps to have [funders and supporters] Linda and Bob Nichols back it as well.
Filmmaker: You recently had your ‘hometown’ screening here at HIFF. What were some of the responses like, and what has been the response when you’ve screened the film elsewhere, either on the continent or abroad?
Gerard: We have screened a lot of films at HIFF and I don’t think we ever had one hit like Kūkini did. Fantastic responses and a lot of inspired audience members. We’ve gone from Maoriland to Julien Dubuque International Film Festival and a lot of audiences with no knowledge of Hawaiian culture, and the response is they want to know more about Hawaiian culture. Locals have been emotional and thanked us for telling a story that represented them. People have told me they felt seen and they wished movies like these existed when they grew up. That feeling was a big goal of Paula’s.
Filmmaker: Finally, what is your hope for Kūkini?
Gerard: Paula’s hope is to bring the film to communities throughout Hawai’i and share it with as many people as possible. We hope there are many more stories like this from Hawai’i. One of our dreams is to create work that is developed, shot and finished in Hawai’i that is distributed globally. Ten years ago it may have been wild to say that we are at the same level as Hollywood creatively and technically but with Kūkini, we feel like we have proven Hawai’i belongs.
