The Disney animated film “Moana 2” has earned over $800 million worldwide since its release on Thanksgiving week, surpassing the global earnings of the first film.
Auli’i Cravalho and Dwayne Johnson, both with Hawaiʻi ties, star in the movie. But you may not know that local filmmaker Bryson Chun also played a significant role.
The Windward Oʻahu native has been steadily climbing the ladder in the industry. He's written and directed two short films and was recently on the writing staff for the Disney+ television series "Doogie Kameāloha, M.D." For "Moana 2," he contributed to the screenplay and even had one line in the movie.
"The voice thing is just such a funny little — it's barely anything, but just a little easter egg. You can find me in there really early on in the film, you know, Moana has a vision that, like a, you know, a meteor will fly over and that'll lead them to the island they're trying to get to, Motufetu. And so when that actually happens, there's just a villager that calls out 'Chief!' And that's me," Chun said. "That's my claim to fame."
Chun said he took pride in creating some of the newer characters. Specifically, he had a role in developing Moana's wayfinding crew: Moni, Kele and Loto.
"Really developing those characters, bringing a lot of their personality and being able to kind of find their roles on the canoe — those are big parts of my time there. And then, really fleshing out the story into what it is. There are some differences from my version of it, but, it's very similar," he said.
He said writing for "Doogie Kameāloha" was a "big learning process" for him, and it helped prepare him for "Moana 2."
"I think what made that so wonderful was the type of show that we made, which I thought was a very loving, supportive show that was reflected in the room that we built together," he said. "Just being in that world made me realize, like, 'OK, this is something I could do.' I fit in there and felt like I could contribute. So it was a very powerful experience for me."
When asked about the decline in local film and television productions, Chun said he believes the hefty expenses are to blame — Hawaiʻi is no longer competitive from a tax standpoint.
"People want to shoot here. The stories that are coming out of this place are doing well, and they're valued, but we're not recognizing it, I think, as a state in its fullest form, yet. If we could make a bigger investment in it, it'll only pay off in the long run — more jobs, more money flowing in," he told HPR.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Dec. 27, 2024. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
