Huliau Environmental Filmmaking Club
Now entering its 15th year, our filmmaking club is our longest-running program. The program assists students in making short environmental films ranging from documentaries to music videos. These films share the important work being done by community groups in Maui Nui to protect the ʻāina and empower youth voices on environmental issues. In the 2024-25 school year we will be offering a condensed fall break program as well as a spring semester program. We are also providing assistance to teachers who want to engage their students in creating films during school hours.
Serving youth from all Maui schools
We have served youth ages 12-18 from over 20 different schools on Maui and Molokaʻi! Your donations help keep our programs affordable for all students.
Over 100 films on YouTube!
Our YouTube channel now has over 100 student films with over 125,000 views! They empower the voices of Maui’s youth to educate our community and visitors about how they can help protect our island’s environment.
Award winning films!
The 100+ short environmental films produced by our filmmaking program have been selected over 180 times in 27 film festivals around the world! These films include documentaries, claymation films and even music videos.
2024 Fall Break Program
Our fall break environmental filmmaking program is open to students in grades 7-12 from all schools. Students will work together (usually grouped by age) to create a short environmental film in 4-5 days over fall break between October 7th-11th. Please see details below on required sessions.
Due to the condensed format of this program, we will be completing part of the pre-production planning before the program begins using AI-assisted script writing. After registration, students will be sent instructions on completing an AI-script writing assignment during September which should take about an hour and will be emailed to our staff. Students will be using Chat GPT to shorten the pre-production process, but it will still leave plenty of room for creativity during our single pre-production day.
Our staff will provide all equipment, as well as assistance in planning, filming, and editing. No prior experience is needed. The films will be shown at our student film festival in May, on YouTube, and entered in film festivals throughout the country. The $75 program fee includes snacks, equipment, and transportation. Need-based scholarships are available.
About the program schedule:
In order to participate, students must be able to attend the sessions listed below. Please read the dates carefully and contact us with any questions before applying: info<at>mauihuliaufoundation.org
Monday October 7th & Friday October 11th from 9am-4pm at Hawaiian Canoe Club in Kahului:
These two sessions are mandatory for all students! Monday will focus on filming practice exercises and completing pre-production (revising scripts, film planning, storyboarding, etc). Friday will focus on editing the films using Final Cut X.
Tuesday-Thursday October 8-10th:
These days will focus on filming so filming locations and exact filming times will vary. Transportation will be provided from Hawaiian Canoe Club. While filming will depend on the script chosen, each team will likely schedule two filming sessions and have at least one of those three days off from filming. You must be available at least two of those days and indicate any days that you are not available during registration.
In-School Filmmaking Support for Teachers & Students
In addition to our regular semester-long program, we will continue to offer filmmaking support to teachers and students during the 2025-25 school year. Teachers can use the form below to request support for film projects with their students which have an environmental or ʻāina-based focus. Examples can include documenting on-campus sustainability projects, exploring the ahupuaʻa where your school is located, student perspectives on an environmental topics, and more. Our staff will provide equipment and a combination of both virtual and in-school support for filmmaking projects for grades 7-12 in Maui County including planning, filming, and editing.
In addition, we can also offer assistance to individual students or small groups of high school students working on environmental films for senior projects or school projects. Students must be in grades 9-12 in Maui County to request our support in creating a short film. To qualify your film must have an environmental or ʻāina-based focus or message. After reviewing your request, we will contact you with further information. Use the link below to submit your request.
