A year after NCIS: Hawai’i ended its three-season run on CBS, the state’s film and TV industry continues to suffer a decline in business.
Jason Antoon, who played cyber intelligence specialist Ernie Malik on the police procedural spin-off, recently shared a video of the series’ vacant and overgrown Hollywood Film Studio, where shows like Lost (2004-’10), Hawaii Five-0 (2010-’20) and Magnum P.I. (2018-’24) also filmed.
“Hawaii Film Studios – Empty and full of weeds,” wrote Antoon, sharing the clip Friday on X.
Hawaii is an expensive location that is harder to fit into continuously trimmed TV budgets, especially in linear TV. Cost was among the factors for CBS’ decision to cancel NCIS: Hawai’i after three seasons, despite being the #12 most watched non-sports program on broadcast, averaging 7.8 million linear viewers and 10M multi-platform viewers (Live+35).
After the cancelation last April, Antoon wrote on Instagram, “This business is brutal and makes no sense. But we had soooo much fun. Love you all and mahalo.”
The actor’s latest post comes after Fox‘s Rescue HI-Surf, which also filmed in the Aloha State, was canceled after one season last month. Although CEO Rob Wade said the reason for the decision “certainly wasn’t the locale or the budget,” filming in Hawaii made it one of the network’s more expensive dramas, coming in at close to $4 million per episode.
Meanwhile, Hawaii was passed over as the locale for the next 9-1-1 spin-off, which is instead filming in Nashville, starring Chris O’Donnell and premiering this fall on ABC.
On Friday, Gov. Josh Green, M.D. released an intent-to-veto list, which includes HB796, a bill that would sunset tax credits after five years.
Yasmine Al-Bustami as Lucy Tara, Vanessa Lachey as Jane Tennant, Noah Mills as Jesse Boone, Alex Tarrant as Kai Holman, and Jason Antoon as Ernie Malik on ‘NCIS: Hawai’i’ (Karen Neal/CBS)
CBS
“This bill would have a significant long-term impact on income tax credits across a variety of industries, including film and television, research, and renewable energy,” said Gov. Green of the veto. “These tax credits are critical to supporting economic development and diversification, particularly within growing and emerging sectors. Categorically sunsetting income tax credits will not only disincentivize future investors from doing business in Hawai‘i, but will destabilize existing businesses that currently rely upon these tax credits.
