Written by on Jan 15, 2015. Posted in On Location

Jurassic World filming delivers big spending boost for Kauai County in Hawaii

Hawaii location filming for Jurassic World had a big impact on the US state’s production industry. The dinosaur sequel was shot partly on the island of Kauai County north-west of Honolulu and producers spent around USD 3 million locally.

Jurassic World (right) is the fourth in the dinosaur franchise that Steven Spielberg launched in 1993 with Jurassic Park. The new film was responsible for the bulk of production spending in Kauai County in 2014, with the total figure from all feature productions coming to around USD 4.7 million.

“Many of our businesses benefitted from Jurassic World including the airlines, hotels, rental car and helicopter companies as well as food establishments,” said Art Umezu, head of the Kauai Film Commission.

“Kauai offers an incredible array of landscapes and of course, natural beauty. The island has been used as a stand-in for Central and South America, Africa, Australia, Southeast Asia, South Pacific and even worlds that don’t exist.”

Hawaii has a filming incentive worth up to 25% of eligible expenditure, with productions specifically incentivised to shoot on the smaller islands. The state is a popular choice for Hollywood productions needing exotic locations.

Long-running mystery drama Lost helped boost Hawaii’s production profile between 2004 and 2010, and then crime series Hawaii Five-0 was successfully rebooted. Recent features have included Gareth Edwards’ hit feature Godzilla, which shot key action sequences locally, and also Cameron Crowe’s untitled Hawaii project and Tim Burton’s Big Eyes.

Producers have access to Hawaii Film Studio near Honolulu, which offers a 16,500 sq ft sound stage on a 7.5-acre lot.

(Photos: Universal Pictures)