Click below to view an interview with David L. Cunningham, who was raised on the Big Island of Hawaii and directed independent feature films To End All Wars starring Kiefer Sutherland and Beyond Paradise on the islands, as well as two ABC miniseries: Little House on the Prairie and Path to 9/11.

Part 1 (MPEG Format / 3.6 mb)
"So I chose Hawaii...not just for the look, but because of the infrastructure."

Part 2 (MPEG Format /3.0 mb)
"... I think that one of the biggest benefits, we could spend a lot of time shooting, not driving from point A to B."

Full Transcript:

Part 1

Basically when I signed on with the project To End All Wars as one of the producers and the director, I made it part of my requirement to do the film in my home state of Hawaii. I knew it could match the look for Thailand. And because I had relationships with the crew and the unions here from the previous film that I did, I had a lot of friends and family and support here. And I knew I needed all the help I could get. So I chose Hawaii because of that, not just because of the look, but because of the infrustructure. And I was challenged by some of our financiers, and the people that were backing the film, saying maybe you could shoot this film elsewhere. And my response to them was: there is a lot of hidden costs if you go to a Philippines, or a Thailand, or some countries that are known for being unstable. Maybe there is health conditions, maybe there is corruption, maybe unstable governments. And I said maybe Hawaii upfront will be a little bit more expensive but we are not going to have those troubles. And I do not want to have to deal with those troubles, I wanted to focus on making a movie. So that was my pitch back to them.

Part 2

I think the sense of scope that I trust came across in To End All Wars in which we were able to use the rivers, able to use the valley, we were able to use the coast. You start piecing all of that together and you have a film that feels very big. The wonderful thing is it's all within twenty to thirty minutes from your hotel and your hub.

You are not worrying about the water...having poisonous snakes, you are not worried about a corrupt government charging you up the ying-yang for their helicopters.

It's all right there. I think one of the best things is that you have a lot of shooting time to get to that location. Whereas in many foreign locations just getting from your infrustructure to the place of filming eats up a big part of your day. So I think one of the biggest benefits, we could spend a lot of time shooting, not driving from point A to B.

>> Testimonial: Chris Lee (Producer and Hawaii native)

>> Testimonial: Terence Chang (Producer, Windtalkers)