Mitsui shares film-making experience

Chuck Mitsui, director and screenwriter of “One Kine Day,” described his film and the film making process to more than 200 students and staff. Mitsui visited McKinley High School as part of the Hawaii International Film Festival’s Guest Filmmakers in the Schools’ Program sponsored by Ke Ola Hou.

Shot in two weeks on the Windward side of Oahu on a low budget, the film employed both experienced and amateur actors. The main character is Ralsto, a skateboarder played by Ryan Greer. Greer is a Kamehameha Schools’ graduate studying Biology in Oregon. In the course of a single day, Ralsto has everything going wrong for him. He learns that his girlfriend is pregnant, he loses his job, and is forced to get his act together before the final credits roll. The actors speak in Pidgin throughout the movie.

Originally from San Francisco, Mitsui moved to Hawaii more than ten years ago and has always been interested in skateboarding. This hobby led to surfing. At Hawaii Loa College, he majored in Marine Biology but realized that he was not interested in it as a career. Instead he opened up a skateboard shop in Kailua. He started shooting commercials with Shawn Riley to advertise his skateboard business. Thirty-second commercials encouraged him to produce 30-minute skits, which finally led to his 100 minute film.

The production and completion of “One Kine Day” was not an easy task. Mitsui did not have prior experience in scriptwriting. He was selected from a list of thousands to attend a Writer’s Lab in Amsterdam. It took six months to complete the script for his movie. When he returned to Hawaii, he had to find a group of investors to finance his movie. Originally, he wanted three million but because it was 2007 and the economy was not doing very well, he reduced the budget to one million. Different techniques and angles were used. One included a shot of Honolulu’s skyline taken from a helicopter. That scene alone cost $10,000.

“One Kine Day” won the Audience Choice Award for a Narrative Feature at this year’s fall Hawaii International Film Festival. The film festival has taken place in Hawaii for thirty years. There is also more information about the film at onekinemovie.com