The Maui Goodness

The 2010 Maui Film Festival was incredible with big stars, great movies, and fun parties.

This year’s Maui Film Festival had the regular parties with many new faces.  The Starry Night Moondance party hosted by Tommy Bahama’s Wailea was a hit!  The dance floor was moving like never before.  Most of the photos on this page were taken at this event.

Another great night event was the Taste of Chocolate at the Four Seasons next to Duo.  Here guests enjoyed countless chocolate treats while sipping drinks and mingling.

The Taste of Wailea was held again above the Celestial Cinema on the golf course.  All of the best Maui restaurants showed up to make their signature dishes.  Southern also provided excellent wines for pairing.

A new event this year was held at the Wailea Resort (formerly known as Diamonds.)  This involved a pool side fashion show with club music and great drinks.  We hope this is offered again next year.

Celebrities such as Zac Efron, and the beautiful Malin Akerman (pictured below at the taste of Wailea) enjoyed the parties and promoted their movies.

Local celebrities also found their way to the parties such as Sherri Van and Lucas Woodford causing a veritable frenzy among young Maui fans.

As always, the events surrounding the Maui Film Festival are only secondary to how great the movie experience is.  Watching films under the stars on a Maui golf course with friends and family can not be compared to any screening at any other film festival.

Thanks for joining us!  We’ll post again about the events next year!

Aloha!

JUST GO WITH IT with Brooklyn Decker between Jennifer Aniston & Adam Sandler

On the Set with Maui’s Own Megan Edgar:

I started off a nervous wreck. I bought dresses. I bought make-up. I bought shoes. I curled my hair. I panicked. I felt sick. I wanted to back out. I couldn’t wait to start. All of a sudden it was 5 PM on March 23rd and everything was happening whether I was ready or not. Hair styled, make-up adjusted, wardrobe checked, and then I was whisked off to the set.

What a set it was; the most beautiful luau I’ve ever seen. Smoking volcanoes, Chinese lanterns, Hawaiian gods carved into totem poles, fire dancers, hula, pulled pork and poi. Brilliant stadium lights dimmed by huge white cloths. Small, bright lights angled just so with red, blue, and yellow filters. Cameras on wheels. Cameras on cranes. Cameras on tripods. Paparazzi cameras peeking out from behind the bushes. Cameras and lights and fire dancers. I was mesmerized and we hadn’t even started.

The crew lined us up and started pulling people out of the crowd of extras. I wasn’t picked. And I wasn’t picked again.  I felt like I was in PE and no on wanted me on their team. I wasn’t going to be in the movie after all. They made a big mistake.

Then suddenly, miraculously, I was “the girl in the pink dress” and they seated me at a table with eight other people. The director introduced himself and told us to clap for the fire dancers, eat our food, and act like we were thoroughly enjoying our evening. Tough.

Words like reset, background, action, and cut became a regular part of my vocabulary and I knew exactly what to do when each one was yelled out. Make-up came by to “take off the shine.” Hair came by because I was “right in the shot.” Wardrobe took my picture so I would look exactly the same if they needed to reshoot the next day. I couldn’t believe my luck. I was “in the shot.”  I couldn’t look up from my plate without staring at Jennifer Aniston. I could have leaned over and touched Adam Sandler. I felt beautiful and important. I was being paid to have fun. How was this even possible?

Three weeks prior to my first night shooting I needed to feed some fish. My school has a fish tank and my friend Greg and I went in on a Sunday to take care of its inhabitants. When we got to school hundreds of people were lined up to get in the door. We had no idea why they were there so we just walked to the front and went inside. Before we knew it we’d filled out a form, got a number (I was lucky 999), and had our pictures taken.  3,000 people were in line that day and we scooted right by without a wait. Fate? Good thing the fish were hungry.

After our first night on set with cameras in our faces, Greg and I (we were cast as a couple) were placed in “deep background” and spent all our time walking back and forth from one set place to a second set place.  We weren’t right in the shot, but we were lucky enough to have the director use us to reset the scene.  The leads would start their dialogue based on our position, and it made us feel like we were still in the movie even though the cameras were far away.  And we could actually talk, which was a nice change from the first evening of pantomiming conversation because we were so close to the microphones.

Filming Just Go With It was amazing. I’ve never seen so many people doing so many different jobs all at the same time only to have it all come together just as the cameras start to roll.  Lighting would move huge lamps and screens at a moments notice.  Cameras would swing by on booms and roll through peoples and tables.  Make-up artists, hair stylists, wardrobe crew, and sound people would zip past one another, all on a separate mission that ended with a single goal.  Watching people work together like that was inspiring.

Then add the leads. Jennifer Aniston really is beautiful. Nicole Kidman really is elegant and lithe. Brooklyn Decker is gorgeous!  Dave Matthews can act!  Adam Sandler is very funny. (You try not to laugh when you can hear all of Adam and Nick Swardson’s dialogue as they ad-lib and improvise their way through the 20th take of a scene. Even Jenn couldn’t hold it in.)
Movie making is fun. And the paparazzi love you even if you’re not famous!

Megan Edgar

We regularly complain about how we don’t get a lot of talent to Maui, relatively.  But after seeing the John Legend concert at the Castle Theatre on Thursday, we’d like to take all that back.

Yes, it’s true: we don’t get a lot of big acts on Maui.  It’s rare, but we do here and there.  What makes up for this is that the shows are usually in small venues, and less expensive than mainland shows.

An example: The Castle Theatre at the MACC is a small venue with some great acts.  The outside venue at the MACC is also amazing.  It’s a bigger venue but still much smaller than a normal outdoor mainland venue.  Another example would be the recent show by Willie Nelson and Band of Horses that was held in Paia for Free!  They played at Charley’s which only holds just over 100 people.  A great venue if you can get in!

Maui also gets some great Reggae.  Even though bands like Aerosmith may cancel due to it being too small and too little money (if that was the case) we do get some big names in Reggae like Steel Pulse, Israel Vibrations and more…

John Legend put on a great show for us.  Maui may not have the choice of music that we’d like, but when someone good like John Legend does show up, we’re lucky to get him in a small venue.

Tommy Bahama’s Tropical Cafe in Wailea, South Maui, threw one of the best parties of the year to start off the Maui Film Festival. On Wednesday the 17th of June, 2009, this notoriously fun party attracted all kinds of celebrities, vacationers, and local Maui residents.

Some of the celebrities that enjoyed the warm night were Eddie Murphy, Justin Chambers of Grey’s Anatomy, and the director of Cash Crop, Adam Ross.

With a full bar (including an Ice Bar) and some delicious Pupus (appetizers) all at the low price of $50 for admission, it’s easy to see why this event was so popular.  Some of the delicious Pupus included crab claws, jumbo shrimp, mussels, chili orange chicken, Thai peanut beef, rosemary lamb chops, and caviar on toast.

Plenty of specialty cocktails were made with Tommy Bahama’s signature rums being poured through the ice sculpture. Stella Artois sponsored the event with tasty beer flowing from multiple taps around the restaurant.  Along with great drinks, we enjoyed some incredible live music on the patio.

Adding to the romance and excitement we’re a couple of Cirque du Soleil style performers on stilts walking around with masks and wings.Overall this was the best value and the most fun of the many parties surrounding the events at the Maui Film Festival in 2009.  We’ll be here again next year to share more pictures and news.

Thank you Natalie Brown for allowing us to use your photos.  See more of these photos at Tommy Bahama Maui. Mahalo!

On Friday June 20th, 2009, Willie Nelson received the Maverick Award Tribute at the Celestial Cinema in Makena during the Maui Film Festival.  He sang a few songs and played the guitar (shown in this video) between movies.  His music and good spirit were welcomed under the stars by thousands of Maui locals and visitors. 
The first film to be shown was Splinterheads about a young man in a small town that falls in love with a beautiful Carnie.  The second film as One Peace At A Time (world premiere), a touching film about what we can do for our world in crisis.  In this film, Willie Nelson, among notable others, has a short insightful interview.  The last film was also a world premiere of Cash Crop.  This film explored the many defining characteristics of a booming marijuana economy in Northern California. The Maui Film Festival is an incredible event to experience.

Every year, local Maui residents anticipate the fun and excitement of the festival.  Those visitors lucky enough to be here for it all claim that Maui has the best film festival in the world.  Enjoying warm weather under the stars with a sunset over the ocean, then watching great movies with friends in the grass can’t be beaten. (One warning though:  If you plan on watching more than the first film, we suggest bringing a jacket and/or blanket.  It can get a bit chilly later on.)

Willie Nelson was awarded this tribute for “courage in his convictions, the ability and willingness to stand the heat, and protect our collective constitutional rights to artistic and political freedom of expression.”

I’ve lived in Los Angeles for half of my life and on Maui for the other. Since being on Maui, I’ve seen 100 times more celebrities than I ever did in LA.

Why do celebrities come to Hawaii? Hawaii is the closest tropical vacation getaway to LA. Also, paparazzi are not quite as prevalent on the islands. Don’t get me wrong, paparazzi are still here, but islanders are not fond of their invasive tactics. Most islanders are hard on these parasitic people. Another reason comes from the many film locations available here.

Britney Spears is a regular to Maui, Hawaii. She and her crew of bodyguards jaunt around South Maui with her family on a regular basis. This editor watched Britney change her shirt at a table at Tommy Bahama’s Maui restaurant as well as fall a sleep at the table during her meal. Her mother was taking care of the kids, while their bodyguards frantically patrolled the restaurant and it’s complex for the 3-4 paparazzi that had been following her.

Not only do high-profile celebs regularly visit Hawaii, many have second homes here. To name a few, Helen Hunt, Carlos Santana, Randy Travis, Willy Nelson, Woody Harrelson, Roseanne Barr, and Kelsey Grammar have Maui homes. Oprah happens to own many parcels of land, much of it in Hana. Willy Nelson spends a large amount of time here and also owns a restaurant in Pa’ia called Charlie’s. On occasion, you’ll find Willy playing a couple sets there. Many celebrities were born here. Presidential candidate, Barack Obama was born on Oahu as well as musician and surfer Jack Johnson who owns a home in front of Pipeline on the North Shore. Bette Midler was born in Hawaii and has a home on Kauai.

Mike Myers spends a good amount of time each year on the South Shores of Maui as well as Alice Cooper. Cooper is a big golfer, which makes for a strong attraction to the many world-class Maui golf courses. Many athletes come to Hawaii. Kareem Abdul Jabar visits as well as Horace Grant. Horace is one of the most low-key and nicest of all the celebrities to visit Hawaii. Not only is he extremely generous, but also Horace is polite and a pleasure to be around. Another surprisingly low-key celebrity, when in Hawaii, Paris Hilton spends a good amount of time in the Wailea area of Maui. Cameron Diaz also enjoys Hawaii. She is a regular on Oahu and is a decent surfer.

On Kauai, Ben Stiller, Pierce Brosnan, Michael Crichton, Drew Barrymore, and Natalie Merchant own second homes. Many cast members of the hit NBC TV show “Lost” have homes on both Oahu and Kauai. Most of the filming is done on Oahu. Since the State of Hawaii has issued large tax breaks and incentives to the film industry, movie and television filming has become increasingly attractive on the islands. The fact that the Hawaiian Islands are home to some of the most beautiful spots on the planet also make our islands popular with filmmakers. Recently both the last addition to Indiana Jones and the Pirates of the Caribbean movies have been filmed here, particularly on the neighboring island of Molokai.

Most of the information has been confirmed by reliable sources. Some of the above information is word of mouth and may not be accurate. �