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Honolulu-based nonprofit \u2018Ohina has announced the 2025 Greenlight Award-winning filmmaker and project from its annual \u2018Ohina Labs, a filmmakers lab providing current and former residents of Hawai\u2018i an opportunity to submit short screenplays to be workshopped with leading entertainment industry professionals.<\/p>\n \u2018Ohina Labs 2025 welcomed 10 Fellows to a free mentorship intensive starting in November after a competitive review process of their script submissions. Out of the cohort, Katelyn Chong of K\u0101ne\u02bbohe\u00a0garnered the Greenlight for her script \u201cShop Local\u201d\u2014granting her production support and $10,000 in production funds towards the completion of her short film. Sean Oketani, with his script, \u201cKaikam\u0101hine,\u201d received The Judges Award of $2,500 and development support.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hosted at\u00a0Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design a center of the Doris Duke Foundation and sponsored by\u00a0Hawai\u2018i\u00a0Pacific Health, \u2018Ohina Labs 2025 paired selected participants with guest mentors Bryson Chun (staff writer for\u00a0\u201cDoogie Kame\u0101loha, M.D.\u201d on Disney+), Mitchel Merrick (director\/writer for\u00a0\u201cWater Like Fire\u201d;\u00a0\u201cK\u016bkini\u201d), and Bao Tran (director\/writer\u00a0for \u201cThe Paper Tigers\u201d). Mentors and guest judges joining the Labs\u2019 Pitch Day session to offer the fellows further feedback included Noah Evslin\u00a0<\/a>(producer\/writer\u00a0for \u201cNCIS:\u00a0Hawai\u2018i) and\u00a0Jordan Kandell (producer\/writer\u00a0for \u201cAdrift\u201d).\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Complementing and coinciding with the annual short script intensive, \u2018Ohina also held its inaugural Producers Lab, with this first year focused on an invite-only cohort of three producer fellows\u2014Serena Rio Flores, Eli Cusick and Dymond Cabildo\u2014joined by mentors Al\u2019n Duong (producer\u00a0of \u201cThe Paper Tigers\u201d) and Averie Joy Maikalima O Makua Huffine (co-exec. producer of\u00a0\u201cJust Beyond\u201d\u00a0on Disney+).\u00a0<\/em>Chong\u2019s greenlit script will now be produced by the three fellows from the Producers Lab, with creative mentorship from Stephen Broussard, VP Production & Development at Marvel Studios.\u00a0<\/p>\n The \u2018Ohina Labs 2025 Writer Fellows and their short scripts follow. Some of the mentors, inspired by the work coming out of this year\u2019s cohort, have also offered to provide extended support to help select projects move forward as noted below:<\/p>\n \u2018Ohina Labs 2025\u00a0is supported by the Shangri La Museum of Islamic Art, Culture & Design a center of the Doris Duke Foundation,\u00a0Hawai\u2018i\u00a0Pacific Health,\u00a0Halekulani Hotel, Kosasa Foundation, NMG Network,\u00a0Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC),\u00a0SAG-AFTRA Hawai\u2018i and State of Hawai\u2018i Creative Industries.\u00a0This year\u2019s program was led by \u2018Ohina Executive Director Gerard Elmore and Education Director Lisette Flanary.<\/p>\n \u2018Ohina Labs launched in 2017 to offer a development hub for short film projects in any genre by starting at the story level, with scripts written by some of Hawai\u2018i\u2019s most exciting storytellers and filmmakers. Projects emerging from \u2018Ohina Labs over the years have gone on to secure distribution deals and screen at international festivals. For more information, visit\u00a0\u2018Ohina.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n\n