Samoan-American filmmaker Anette Arinix Aga wins $20K ‘OHINA Greenlight Award for film script

Samoan-American comedian, actor, writer, and producer Anette Arinix Aga has won the ‘OHINA Greenlight Award for her script of “Kamaʻāina Not Kanaka,” granting her $20,000-worth of production support toward her script becoming a completed short film.

The 2024 Greenlight Award was announced following the annual ‘OHINA Filmmakers Lab, which provides current and former Hawai‘i residents the opportunity to submit short screenplays to be workshopped with leading creative minds in the entertainment industry.

Presented by Pacific Islanders in Communications and hosted in Honolulu at Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design, the lab welcomed ten fellows who earned their way to the free mentorship intensive.

Throughout the intensive, fellows were partnered with guest mentors Chris Kekaniokalani Bright (screenwriter, live-action “Lilo & Stitch”), Zoë Eisenberg (writer/director “Chaperone,” Slamdance 2024 Breakouts Feature Grand Jury Prize), and Ty Sanga (first Native Hawaiian filmmaker to premiere a short at Sundance Film Festival as writer/director of “Stones”).

Guest judges joined a Pitch Day session during LABS to offer the Fellows further feedback and weigh in on this year’s awards, including Stephen Broussard (VP Production & Development at Marvel Studios), Henry Ian Cusick (actor/director; Primetime Emmy nominee for role on “Lost”), Aaron and Jordan Kandell (screenwriters on Disney’s “Moana”), and Adam Wong (producer “Chaperone”).The program was led by filmmakers Gerard Elmore, executive director of ‘OHINA, and Lisette Flanary, ‘OHINA director of education.

Beyond the Greenlight Award for Aga’s “Kamaʻāina Not Kanaka”—following friendship complexities between two young musicians in Hawai‘i, one of Micronesian and one of Samoan heritage—judges and mentors, inspired by the work coming out of the cohort, have offered to provide mentorship after LABS to help select projects move forward. 

“Your life, your career and your story is not won or lost on any one day, it’s about building and growing,” said Broussard, who will mentor cohort scripts selected for development support. “It’s been a great experience hearing pitches at ‘OHINA LABS for the first time—there’s a real sense of why these filmmakers want to tell these stories.”

Fellows and short scripts for ‘OHINA LABS 2024 follow:

• Myka Arakawa with “WTF”
• Anette Arinix Aga with “Kamaʻāina Not Kanaka” – ‘OHINA Greenlight Award
• Jon Asato with “Home” – ‘OHINA Development Award
• Sean Choo with “Maile Lei”
• Azure Chung with “Margaret & The Guava Tree” – ‘OHINA Development Award
• Kanani Koster & Lee Johnson with “SPAM’d” – ‘OHINA Judges Award, garnering funding support from the State of Hawai‘i Creative Industries
• KM Ly with “Wishful Thinking”
• Justina Mattos with “Momoeā”
• Michelle Umipeg with “Disheveled”

Out of the cohort, Aga won the award and production support valued at $20,000 and sponsored by Pacific Islanders in Communications and NMG Network.

In 2017, ‘OHINA launched its inaugural Filmmakers Lab with guest mentor Joe Robert Cole (co-screenwriter, “Black Panther”), offering a development hub for short film projects starting at the story level. Projects emerging from ‘OHINA LABS over the years have gone on to secure distribution deals and make waves around the international festival circuit. Recent acclaimed LABS-developed films include “Kukini,” a story by Paula Fuga and written/directed by Mitchel Merrick, and animated short “The Queen’s Flowers,” written/directed by Ciara Leina‘ala Lacy.  

“What started out as the little LABS that could has evolved in dynamic ways, opening up even more doors for our filmmakers and stories connected to Hawai‘i,” said Elmore. “The sheer caliber of the mentors that give of their time, our Fellows that always rise to the occasion with their artistry and focus, and the commitment of our local creative community to uplifting new voices is what makes ‘OHINA possible, and enables us to continue to cultivate collaborations and opportunities that will fuel the future.”