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Bronson Varde practices acting like a tough paniolo who is not all that tough while waiting to shoot a scene outside Hanzawa Variety Store in Haiku Wednesday morning. He is part of the cast of a locally produced show Moku Moku. The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

Bronson Varde practices acting like a tough paniolo who is not all that tough while waiting to shoot a scene outside Hanzawa Variety Store in Haiku Wednesday morning. He is part of the cast of a locally produced show “Moku Moku.” The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

A new locally produced comedy television show “Moku Moku” will feature the true Upcountry lifestyle through the eyes of three friends trying to make ends meet and discover themselves along the way. 

“I’m blessed to have the actors that I have … and for the writing and the producing team,” said series writer and producer Kawika Hoke last week via phone during the first day of pre-production. “I’m just so thankful.” 

Local places will make an appearance in many scenes of “Moku Moku,” such as Pukalani Superette and Rice Park in rural Upcountry, all the way down to Wailuku and Kahului towns as the show puts a comedic spin on the lives of Pili, Kimo and Leilani as they face the internal struggles of being Hawaiian and modern Americans all at the same time. 

The television series, which is directed by Kevin Hackenberg, focuses on small-town living through the eyes of “all walks of life” to show viewers the true day-to-day of living on Maui that’s not often portrayed in Hollywood, Hoke said. 

Official shooting for the show began Jan. 15 and will run through Sunday.

Moku Moku actress Patty Lee shares a laugh with cast members during a break in shooting Wednesday morning.

There will be many opportunities to laugh while the plot also sparks underlying conversations of Native Hawaiian representation in motion pictures, culture, politics, economy, and other issues. 

For the past eight years, Hoke has been involved with filmmaking, producing and writing in Hawaii and Los Angeles. Prior to that, he spent six years with Disney Entertainment. He drew much of his inspiration from his grandparents who were from Napili and Makawao, but had to move to San Diego to seek more affordable housing and work opportunities. 

He would watch his grandparents “try to reconnect with themselves every time we came back home” and learn how to keep it with you. 

“This story is not just for Maui or Hawaii, it’s for all of our displaced Hawaiians,” said Hoke, who was born in Oceanside, Calif. which is next to Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. “I want them to feel like there’s a piece of home calling back to them.”

One of the lead roles in “Moku Moku,” Pili, will be played by Maui comedian and actor Chino LaForge. Getting this part “is tremendously a blessing,” he said, but also noted that he’s been working hard and preparing for a role like this throughout his career. 

Moku Moku Director and Co-writer Jonathan Melikidse (from right) talks with actors Chino LaForge and Bronson Varde as they prepare for a scene Wednesday morning.

“It’s kind of been a roller coaster ride of possibilities with the show when we started,” the Maui High School graduate said. “We’re all just really stoked to go. I’m excited to see what product we turn out and I know everyone is going to give a really amazing performance and the crew is going to give their all. I’m really excited to see what our community and culture can do when we’re together like this.” 

LaForge is a stand-up comic who has appeared in many local plays and musicals. Fifteen years ago, he had his first stand-up performance at Life’s A Beach in Kihei on his 21st birthday. 

He is similar to his “Moku Moku” character in that they are both hopeful and positive-forward by nature, however, he has been trying to tap into unnatural interests of anime and comic pop culture that Pili likes in the show, he said with a laugh. 

“It’s been fun getting to know Pili,” LaForge said last week. “It’s really interesting to see the contrast between the characters, like Kimo has no idea who he is, Leilani is who she is and that’s kind of part of her problem, and then there’s Pili who knows exactly who he is and doesn’t care about the problems that come with it.” 

Every actor, whether they are leading or extras, plays an important and sometimes pivotal role in the series, just like how every person plays an important role in the community, he said. 

“I really respect what the writer and director have been able to do with that,” LaForge added. “It’s really a fun way to tell a story.” 

Maui-based actress Patty Lee, who was featured on “Magnum P.I” and “The Deadly Yoga Retreat,” will play the character of Leilani. Lee also acted in the HBO mini-series “The White Lotus,” which was shot on Maui during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown. 

“The script is a masterpiece,” Lee said of Moku Moku. “It’s just hilarious. Super duper funny…. It’s always nice to brighten people’s day, give them something easy, something that they don’t have to think about, and if there’s a lesson in there as a side effect that they didn’t realize or mean to take away, that’s all the better.”

The Makawao resident said her character is very relatable to herself and a lot of Upcountry girls she knows — an independent and humble hustler with good intentions filling in as a “mother hen” of her two guy friends. 

“What we’re trying to do is entertain people, but in doing so, we’re sharing a slice of life of what it’s really like living and growing up here and trying to maintain a life here,” she said. “I hope that the local community sees that they are represented accurately, fairly, you know, I hope they feel like there’s opportunity there for their family, for themselves, for people working in this industry.”

Oahu actor and musician Bronson Varde will play Pili’s best friend Kimo, who lives with his mother in the show, trying to hold on to their family home. 

Though there are a lot of projects on tap, “Moku Moku” will be the first product out of Manawa Kau productions, which Hoke founded in 2020 to create more opportunities for local talent and filmmakers to produce authentic stories about Hawaiians. Jonathan Melikidse is also a co-founder of MK Productions and will act as director/writer for “Moku Moku.” 

It’s been “a long road” getting this comedy to fruition, though. Along with writing the script, two and half years of planning, and two major delays caused by finances and securing crew members and locations to film the pilot, “Moku Moku” is finally feeling tangible, Hoke said. 

“This industry is not for the faint of heart — no matter where you are, it comes with these crazy ups and downs, where you’ll go through months and months of dry spells where nothing is really working and you have to create your own work,” LaForge noted. “But every once in a while you get blessed with an opportunity that allows you to put down your hammer and really focus on the opportunity in front of you.”

In the last several months, MK Productions and several Maui producers along with Philadelphia’s Get Kinetic collaborated on the development of the comedic TV series. The series is sponsored with Sony cinematic lenses and a partnership with ProArts Playhouse. It also secured a few key investors to complete the pilot. 

As the show creates over a dozen local crew and acting job opportunities, the team hopes it encourages Maui youth and local film industry workers to pursue their careers on island, where there is “a lot of unused potential,” Hoke said. 

“Getting them to stay not only builds this industry, it shows them that they don’t have to leave and that they can make it here,” he added. 

Many more jobs are anticipated to become available as more characters are needed to fill future episodes to complete the season, with priority given to local talent and everyday folks. 

“Never, ever in my wildest dreams did I think that I would have a full-time career as an actor on Maui,” Lee said. “It’s possible. So, moral of the story is, at the end of the day, if something doesn’t exist then it’s your responsibility to see it, to build it and so that’s what we’re trying to do.”

Once complete, the pilot episode for the series will premiere in partnership with AKAKU by 2024 and then streamed on a national level.  

For updates on the show, follow the production team on social media platforms at 808mokumoku. To learn about its crowdfunding goal on Kickstarter and to learn more about the pilot project, visit http://kck.st/3i6FCiU. 

* Dakota Grossman can be reached at dgrossman@mauinews.com.

** This story contains a correction from its original print version.

Moku Moku Director and Co-writer Jonathan Melikidse (from right) talks with actors Chino LaForge and Bronson Varde as they prepare for a scene Wednesday morning. Moku Moku actress Patty Lee shares a laugh with cast members during a break in shooting Wednesday morning. Bronson Varde practices acting like a tough paniolo who is not all that tough while waiting to shoot a scene outside Hanzawa Variety Store in Haiku Wednesday morning. He is part of the cast of a locally produced show “Moku Moku.” The Maui News / MATTHEW THAYER photos

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