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!

As you can see in the photo, Maui fires can scorch huge areas in a short period of time.  This one is in West Maui close to the Pali (the winding, coastal cliff road from Maalaea Harbor to Lahaina.)  Personally, I’ve spent  a long night in my car due to a similar fire a few years back.  I was driving south from Lahaina, and the roads were completely stopped.  The road closure lasted until the next morning around 8am.

If you ever find yourself stuck in traffic due to a road closing from a fire, it’d be wise considering staying on the side you’re on.  Some adventurous people decided to drive around the back side of the West Maui Mountains.  This route takes much longer, but some of them made it.  Unfortunately, annoyed locals shut the road off after sometime.  This area is pretty dangerous to drive in traffic because it is often 1 lane on cliffy roads.  If someone is coming in the opposite direction, someone is in for a long, scary reverse.

Almost every year, Maui experiences some fires.  There’s not much you can do about it.  Stay away from it and hope it doesn’t cause too much damage or danger to homes and lives.  If you need to get anywhere, and you’ve heard there’s a fire, call (808) 986-1200 for road closure updates. You can also contact your Maui car rental office.

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

They have great prices on organic mattresses, bamboo furniture, Maui style futons, homemade wool pillows and much more.  Finding the right furniture for your home is important.  We highly recommend checking out Maui Living Furniture for quality, long-lasting furnishings that are good for the environment and good for you!

Visit site: Furniture Maui

Some the products that most impress us are:

• Clove Cases: 5 and 6 drawer dressers, nighstand, armoire

• Juniper Cases: 5 and 7 drawer dressers, nightstand, TV stand

• Spices Bedroom Collection: Platform Beds

• Sonoma organic pillow tops and mattresses

• Organic bed and bath products: Towels, sheets, and more

• Comfortable Maui style futons

Maui Living Furniture has been in business in Hawaii since 1985.  This family operated business has grown naturally due to their offering quality items with the best service possible.

Shopping here for furniture is not only good for the environment but it is good for local Maui business. We appreciate when small business owners are able to offer quality products at great prices; Maui Living Furniture has been doing this for decades on Maui.

Contact them today by calling (808) 871-6406 or drop by the store today.  They have their showroom open from 11-6 Tues-Friday, and 10-2 on Saturdays.  You can also visit their website at Hawaii Furniture.

Specializing in beach portraits, they’ve earned a reputation from their professionalism and skill when photographing couples, families and groups on the beach.

Give them a call at (808) 242-12424 or stop by their beach kiosk in Whaler’s Village Kaanapali, Maui.

You can also visit their website to see more examples of their Maui portrait photography.

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