PRODUCER DIRECTOR EDITOR
Keoni Kealoha Alvarez
Independent Producer, Director, Editor, Author, and Artist
Puna, Hawai'i
A proud Hawaiian filmmaker, I have been dedicated to the craft of storytelling for over 25 years. My journey began in 1999 when I was part of the first certified graduating class as a PEG Access producer at Na Leo O Hawaii under CEO/President Juergen Denecke. This marked the start of my filmmaking career, and I have since become a producer, director, and editor across a wide range of productions.
My filmmaking journey has taken me around the world—New York, Alaska, Arizona, San Francisco, Boston, California, Canada, Germany, Mexico, Colombia, Costa Rica, and Panama. These travels allowed me to learn various filmmaking techniques from industry leaders and broaden my creative vision.
I am a graduate of the prestigious WGBH Producers Academy in Boston and a producer for the Firelight Media Lab, based in Harlem, New York. After returning to Hawaiʻi, I sought to give back to my local community by working at ʻOlelo Community Media on Oʻahu, the largest public access station in the United States. At ʻOlelo, I taught basic filmmaking classes, operated studio sessions, and mentored independent producers to help nurture future filmmakers.
I am deeply committed to excellence in every aspect of my work—production quality, customer service, and leadership. Over the years, I've honed my skills as a director and producer and taken great pride in leading production teams of 15 to 20 crew members. I manage weekly production meetings, oversee scheduling, budgeting, and marketing, and ensure that every project meets its goals while maintaining a high level of craftsmanship.
As President, my focus is on developing innovative strategies to keep my films relevant in the fast-evolving media landscape. I believe that every film I create plays a role in engaging and empowering our communities in Hawaiʻi, shedding light on important stories that honor our history and culture.
MY TEAM
Assistant Director
Corinne Makahilahila
Work Experience: Corinne Makahilahila is a director, writer and producer with a passion for telling human interest stories that inspire people and have the potential to create change. As a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Academy for Creative Media she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in narrative filmmaking and won the “Grace Award” for capturing the essence of a woman’s spirit through film. She currently lives in Hawaii where she actively makes documentary films and teaches media at a community television station. Her passion for making films is accompanied by her love of the ocean and learning more about marine life. Her newest documentaries will feature the connection between humanity, the ocean and the life that resides beneath the waves.
Assistant Director
Corinne Makahilahila
Work Experience: Corinne Makahilahila is a director, writer and producer with a passion for telling human interest stories that inspire people and have the potential to create change. As a graduate of the University of Hawaii at Manoa’s Academy for Creative Media she earned her Bachelor of Arts degree in narrative filmmaking and won the “Grace Award” for capturing the essence of a woman’s spirit through film. She currently lives in Hawaii where she actively makes documentary films and teaches media at a community television station. Her passion for making films is accompanied by her love of the ocean and learning more about marine life. Her newest documentaries will feature the connection between humanity, the ocean and the life that resides beneath the waves.
Grant Writer
Marge Streb
Work Experience: Marge Streb filmmaker was born and raised in Baltimore, MD. After graduating in 2013 from the University of North Carolina Wilmington's Film Studies program, she began working as a Production Assistant on various motion pictures and television shows in New York City. Marge has experience in editing, producing, operating camera, and directing. Currently working as a Media Center Manager at 'Olelo Community Media on the island of O'ahu.
Writer
Laura Taylor
Work Experience: Laura is a proud graduate of Columbia University with a degree in comparative literature and psychology. While performing professionally in New York City and abroad, she worked as an independent educational consultant and private tutor in writing, college readiness, English as a Second Language instruction, and test prep. For the past few years, Laura has continued to tutor clients privately, while also teaching full time and developing the curriculum for the writing program at Manhattan Center High School. Laura is certified as an English Language Arts instructor with the NYC Teaching Fellows and Department of Education and is pursuing her master’s at Relay Graduate School of Education.
Public Relations
Jennifer Chung
Work Experience: Jennifer Chung is a freelance photographer living in Honolulu, HI, since 2004. Jennifer is also producer with Ōlelo Community Media. She received her B.S. degree in Political Science from the University of Central Florida.
Jennifer’s photographs have been selected in local juried exhibitions and photo contest. In addition her images have been published in a local magazine and community newspaper and on display at local galleries and museum.
Hawaiian Cultural Advisor
Palikapu Dedman
Work Experience: Palikapu Dedman is a Hawaiian man which organized a protest against the largest mass burial desecration in Hawaii’s history. This burial ground is the most important historical site at Kapalua, Maui. The site was unearthed when digging began for the Ritz Carlton Hotel in Kapalua. When the importance of the discovery was realized, the hotel was moved inland. The area, which contains over 900 ancient Hawaiian burial sites dating between 610 and 1800, has been recognized as a sacred site.
This burial ground started a movement of thousands of Hawaiians protest to protect burials which Palikapu major influence to enforce the Hawaiian burial laws. He is recognized and respected in the Hawaiian community for his knowledge and activism to protect Hawaii’s culture, land and natural resources.
Photographer/Costumes
Hair & Makeup
Aileen Alvarez
Work Experience: Aileen Alvarez has been taking pictures ever since childhood. Her Photography professionally has came much later on in her life and changed it forever. In the summer of 1999 her son, Keoni Alvarez, purchased a camera and asked her to take stilll photographs of behind the scenes on his film productions.
Ever since that day she learned the basics of photography and in doing so it opened a door to a whole new way of seeing and appreciating the world around her. Aileens photo's of the Hawaiian culture and nature’s beauty has captivated her viewers with a healing effect. Her portraits of people and Hawai'i landscapes has been displayed in many art shows in Hawai'i. Her art has been selected to be displayed in the Canon art gallery on the island of O'ahu.
Cameraman
Jacob Roy
Work Experience: Jacob’s mission is to inspire people to enrich their lives. He has been working independently as a videographer in Honolulu for the past 5 years, producing documentaries about ocean conservation and human issues. He just recently finished a series of short pieces about removing plastic from the pacific.
His work is often featured in art exhibits and conferences regarding topics ranging from sustainable tourism to food security. Jacob is often hired as an editor, director, or camera operator and is experienced with Premiere editing as well a wide variety of digital cameras.
Cameraman
Tas Roy
Work Experience: Tasman is a versitile film maker with experience shooting documentaries, dramas, events, promos, and more.
He got his start making videos as way of sharing his experiences while serving as a US Marine. Since returning to civilian life, he has worked on projects in the US, Central America, and throughout the Pacific.
In 2019 he graduated from Massey University in Wellington, with a bachelors of creative media production. He is currently based in Oahu, Hawaii where he continues to work as a film maker and cinematographer.
Steadicamera/Photography
Jim and Suzie Butts
Work Experience: Jim and Susie Butts have been in the film industry for many years. This husband and wife team have worked on numerous commercials, doucumentaries, feature films and sports events.
Jim operates jibs 10-30 feet in hight which allowed him to film scenes for getting high shots, or shots which need to move a great distance horizontally or vertically. Jim is skilled in steady camera which mechanically isolates the operator's movement, allowing for a smooth shot, even when the camera moves over an irregular surface.
Audio/Sound
Donovan Smith
Work Experience: Professional mixing and recording engineer, systems integration designer, as well as a studio owner, for 40 years. Starting at the end of the golden years in the late 70's working in analog world of music recording. Evolving with the industry and has always been an early adopter if digital tech. Some of the most successful clients include Dr. Dre, Ice Cube, Easy-E, Arabian Prince, and Bone Thugs in Harmony. He is currently working on various Rock, POP, R & B and hip hop projects, movie and boroadcast TV, and All new media OTT streaming formats.
Audio/Sound
Kimo Makahilahila
Work Experience: Kimo Makahilahila has been a part of the media and film industry for over 10 years. He has
focused mostly on cinematography and sound and has done both sound editing and audio operator for many shoots. His next projects will include working on a cartoon with his wife and assisting in the sound design of multiple projects. Kimo is a team player and is an asset to any team.
Animation/Graphic Artist
Anne Fontanilla
Work Experience: Graduated from University of Hawai’i at Manoa with a bachelor’s degree in Animation and minor in Art. She has worked on animated short films and has won an award from Academy for Creative Media at UH Manoa. Besides animation, her other strong specialties are cosmetics and graphics. In production, her other focuses are narrative storytelling, editing and color correction.
Meet The Team
Founder & CEO
Don Francis
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Tech Lead
Ashley Jones
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Office Manager
Tess Brown
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Product Manager
Lisa Rose
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HR Lead
Kevin Nye
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Customer Support Lead
Alex Young
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QA Specialist
Andrew Cole
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Content Strategist
Debbie Green
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Product Manager
Alissa Rose
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