Being able to tell important stories, it makes me feel like I'm doing something important.

It's really cool just to see that something that we made had that much of an impact.

There comes a point in every creative process where you need someone to just give it to you straight, which is where the team at HIKI NŌ helped a lot.

It felt unreal that a video that we made, especially like the first time we did a video like that, was gonna be on TV.

No matter where you are in your childhood, an unbelievable amount of your time is going to be spent listening to adults tell you what should what you should think is important, and I think for a lot of students, the chance to do any kind of journalism, that, a lot of the time, is the first time students will have a chance to decide what stories they think are worth telling.

My name is Madeline Wright, and I am a recent graduate of Pacific Buddhist Academy in Honolulu.

In my sophomore year, upon starting at PBA, I joined the journalism class.

My senior year, in the fall, I took a film and photography class because photography is something I really enjoy doing in my free time.

I do portrait photography, I do long exposure landscape, abstract, stuff like that, and one of the assignments was doing a story on something for potential submission to HIKI NŌ, and I didn't know what I wanted to present on.

And then I was thinking about what I enjoyed learning about that I thought would be genuinely interesting to other people and worth airing, and I landed on the Hongwanji Mission of Hawai‘i, which is the Buddhist temple that my school shares a parking lot with.

And I realized that until I went to PBA, I had no idea what it was.

Like, I remember being seven or eight or something, and like, riding in the car and passing it on the Pali, and my mom being like, "I wonder what that is.

We should go there someday."

And I figured people had similar experiences.

When driving down the Pali Highway, chances are you've seen this white building and wondered what it is.

This is the Honpa Hongwanji Mission of Hawai‘i Betsuin, which serves as the head temple of the Jodo Shinshu Hongwanji Mission of Hawai‘i.

Jodo Shinshu, or Shin Buddhism, emphasizes finding peace in everyday life.

It was founded by Shinran Shonin in 13th century Japan.

The Betsuin Temple was dedicated in 1918 and has served the community ever since.

Reverend Yuika Hasebe is the Chief Minister of the Betsuin, leading services and community programs for the temple.

I really love people here.

People here is very kind and gentle and patient.

So, I'm really happy to work in here with everybody.

The duration of the final product has little to no impact on how long it takes to actually produce it, because even if you're shooting three minutes of just b-roll, every single clip probably had multiple takes that you just did over and over and over again until you got the right lighting and the right, like, balance in the frame.

And, you know, maybe you had a perfect take, and then somebody walked in front of the camera, and then after all of that, then you have all your footage and you have the recording, and then you have to edit all of that together, which takes so much time because an unbelievable amount of that editing is just like, trimming down clips by fractions of a second, so you don't have a weird, long, awkward pause between when someone stops talking and when they start talking again.

Students at Pacific Buddhist Academy learn about the temple in their Made in Hawai‘i class.

Whether you visit for a moment of peace, to learn, or to participate in a cultural event, the Betsuin remains a place where everyone is welcome.

There's an issue when you're doing anything informative is that you get things wrong.

So, there was a point where I think we messed up in the script like, the year that something was, that a piece of land was purchased or something.

We had to go back and re-record that entire section of voiceover because when you're making anything informative to be released to a mass audience, especially in a publicly-funded format, you have a responsibility to make sure that is not only of the highest quality, but also is factual.

So, that was probably one of the hardest parts, just like, maintaining journalistic integrity over just like, being done with it after working on it for, something like, seven weeks.

There comes a point in every creative process where you need someone to just give it to you straight, which is where the team at HIKI NŌ helped a lot.

Because when it came to just like, tweaking, or when we got stuck, and I was like, "What am I supposed to do here?"

They helped out a lot, and I was really happy to have the finished product that we ended up with.

This is Maddie Wright for Pacific Buddhist Academy for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

I thought PBS was the like, perfect outlet through which I could present the story that I had written and directed, produced, what have you, just because one of the biggest goals of public media in general is being educational, and especially on a local level like PBS Hawai‘i, what you get is something that is not only informative but tailored specifically to what you may be interested in and what you may care about, because it's a local issue.

Aloha, and - oh.

You're fine.

Okay.

Aloha and welcome to HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

I think the most important part of the entire process, including up to and including hosting, is that it demystifies a lot of what you're used to seeing on TV and reporting of, you know - I'm sure a lot of people watching this are just like, you sit down, and you talk, and then that's what we see.

When in reality, there's like a director and a ton of camera operators, and, you know, so much of what I'm saying here is going to end up on the cutting room floor, and that's going to take a really long time.

It's really cold in this studio.

You can't tell, but it is.

So, it's I think important for people to see every part of the process that goes into it.

If anything, just to like, gain a deeper appreciation for, like, informative media in general and like, just media production.

But also, I think for people that would potentially want to pursue a career in something like this, I think it's a fantastic opportunity to just get your feet wet.

[Laughter] Sorry.

In the fall, I'll be attending Smith College in Northampton, Massachusetts, and I'm going to be double majoring in English with a concentration in creative writing as well as neuroscience.

Right now, I'm working on my first novel, and then I'm interested in going into medicine because I am chronically ill, and I've spent my entire life dealing with, like, not being, not feeling seen and not feeling heard as a young person, as a woman.

So, I want to be able to create that change, even if it's like, on the smallest possible level.

If I could make one person feel like they aren't trapped in their situation, and that things can get better, and that, like, their healthcare provider actually cares about them; that will make absolutely everything I do worth it.

I think learning to be able to talk and just have more confidence is really helpful in any part of your life.

My name is Eliana Viernes, and I just graduated from Maui Waena Intermediate School.

My cousin told me about a media camp that happened at Maui Waena, run by Ms.

Suzuki, and I was just like, I was bored during the summer, so I was like, "Okay, I'll do it."

I realized I really liked media and the people in media too, and so from there, I just, I during the school year, I joined the media club, and I tried out for STN, the traveling team, and I made it in, and then, like, just, I've been doing media since.

Over the course of middle school, I entered in seven HIKI NŌ challenges.

Each season during the school year, HIKI NŌ challenges student reporters to produce stories in the span of a few days.

These contests are called challenges.

I think it's a really good opportunity, especially since we're not in high school yet, and it gives us an opportunity to get exposure to media.

We're not doing anything.

We haven't done anything in almost six months.

Dan Blackburn of F&H Construction is referring to Maui Waena Intermediate's only field behind me.

This field has been under construction and unusable since the beginning of the school year.

We started construction during the summer months.

We were supposed to be wrapped up shortly thereafter.

Unfortunately, we ran into a Native Hawaiian burial site that created a delay in the project.

So, the first HIKI NŌ challenge I did was at the end of my sixth grade year, and it was - I feel like I didn't do much on that one, because it was mostly, like, the eighth graders doing it.

Usually, the younger kids, they either follow with the older kids, like, because we don't really know what we want to do, or like, we just try out everything.

For me, I had a mentor.

Her name was Adleina Doses, and she taught me like, stuff in future story and media and stuff.

It was cool to interview the principal because I don't really like, talk to her that much.

It was supposed to have been all completed by January, and here we are.

It's February, and we're still waiting on a job that's not done yet.

Our students have been using our fire lanes as their P.E.

classes.

They're using it as their play space, in hallways in between classes, and it's not a safe area.

I did a lot of growing in my sixth-grade year, and my mentor really helped me with that.

But I think going into seventh grade, I got a lot more determination, and I did the robotics feature story.

I think it was the second one I did, but it was, like, for me it was the first one because I was the one I did on my own with no mentors, and so that one was a challenge.

But it was also my favorite one because I had more autonomy, and I had a lot of fun shooting that one because I got to meet the robotics team.

Christine, a sixth grader at Kalama, love for robotics started two years ago at Pukalani Elementary, where she found her passion.

Two energy awards and one Inspire award.

We got the energy awards by showing our passion for robotics and like, having so much enthusiasm in it, and we got the Inspire Award at the Japan Cup by inspiring other teens.

I think interviewing is fun because you get to like, talk to people and know their story.

And usually, I do the interview, like, I film the interview, and then I put together the story from the interview and write the script and stuff.

And then there is another person doing the b-roll, and she gives me the b-roll usually, and I put it all together.

With the help of Maui Waena, Christine was able to pursue her love for robotics.

In the years to come, she hopes to build her dreams and drive toward her future.

After school, I go into the media room, and then when I went into the media room, everybody was like, cheering, like "Whoa, we won!"

and stuff.

And so, like, I was really happy.

We won first place on that one.

The latest one that I did was Dancing Through Change, which was like, a story about like, the like, survivors from the Lahaina fires and how like, the hula halau has helped them like get through it.

Today we are here to remember this place that has gone through tragic times.

[Hawaiian chanting] It was challenging because it was it included multiple different shoots at different locations, so it was like, more lengthy than the other ones.

Hula has helped me throughout these difficult times by giving me peace.

When I dance hula, I feel like I am at peace.

I'm not worrying about anything that's happening throughout my life.

It was very, like, eye-opening to me because I never, like, before that I never really talked to anyone who was very impacted by the fires.

I think if we look at it, yes, the physical aspect of Lahaina is gone, but the spirit of Lahaina is still here.

E kala mai.

The people are strong, and they're rebuilding.

The community of Maui will keep working towards recovery from the tragedy, holding on to their traditions and helping them step into the future.

Being able to tell important stories, it makes me feel like I'm doing something important, like, what I'm doing as something fun actually like, has an impact on people, and I think that's really meaningful to me.

I really have to thank my media teacher, Ms.

Suzuki, for, like, getting me into media and welcoming me into the media program.

I've definitely learned a lot.

I think at the start, I was very shy at the start.

Throughout sixth, seventh, and eighth grade in media, I've learned a lot.

I've learned how to like, be more confident, how to talk to people more, and how to just like, step outside of my shell and rely on others, because most of the time it's not as scary as it seems.

I'm gonna go to high school at Maui High, and I'm excited to like, be in their media program because I've heard a lot of good things about it.

I think it's gonna be fun.

When I was little, I really wanted to be a YouTuber.

I had a film and photography course in elementary school, and we had all these iPads, and we used to go around campus, and it was from that point forward I was like, "Yo, this is just – I always was just into art."

My name is Ryan Alacar, and I just graduated from James Campbell High School.

My name is Landon Espiritu, and I just graduated from James Campbell High School.

Our teacher, Mr.

Adkins, gave us this assignment, and what I did was I looked at previous HIKI NŌ videos, took inspiration, and I was like, "Landon, you're a magician, right?"

And I didn't really know much about his story.

I just knew he was a magician, and I would see him doing tricks in class all the time during our council meetings, in film class, and I was like, "Landon, I think we should tell your story."

Magic is who I am, and I try every day to be that, to embody that magic that I envision in my head.

My name is Landon Espiritu, and I've been doing magic for nine years.

Please welcome seven-year-old Landon the Magnificent.

[applause] Landon started performing magic at just seven years old, eventually, being able to perform even in Las Vegas.

There was a lot of stuff that we had to change initially.

I think it was the first time that I've ever gotten that much feedback for a video that I worked on, and I think just seeing that made me kind of realize what it takes to get to a certain level and how much improvements that I needed to make.

We clearly don't know everything, and this is just an opportunity to see and get that experience from someone else.

And mind you, I was editing on my iPhone on CapCut, and I don't know, the whole production of that video was very janky just because we didn't know any better.

We're trying to scroll on the timeline, and I'd get to a point where it'd stop moving, and then like the whole phone would basically do five backflips in my hand, and be like, I don't know what's happening here.

Very simple, very simple game.

Recently, Landon has started to practice magic again with a new perspective.

For the past two years, I've been going back into magic slowly.

I was reintroduced by some connections that I have at this school.

So, when I picked it back up, it was just remembering how to perform, which, you know, when I think about is one of the biggest parts of why I love it, and for me having to relearn how to be me on stage again was –  and is – a process.

It's tough, because you feel like, man, I used to be so good at this.

We each got to learn a lot about each other through that process, and it was through that that we realized, yo, we kind of have a knack for working together.

I remember hearing that it was gonna be on a HIKI NŌ episode, and I was just so surprised.

Like, that was, that was like, it felt unreal that a video that we made, especially like, the first time we did a video like that, was gonna be on TV.

And it was really cool seeing it on TV, just in our living room.

It was a surprise for me that we were even able to get to that point.

And once we got there, I realized there was still so much that I had to learn.

I've been stuck in my mind for so long about performing.

You know, everything's just been in my head or on paper, and I've been overcoming it by just doing.

I know I could be somewhere great, and when I close my eyes, I envision, I hear that applause.

[cheers and applause] This is Ryan Alacar from James Campbell High School for HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

After seeing our video on TV, we're just like, ʻWe want to try again and make something better,ʻ and that's when the Fall Challenge came along.

And even before the prompt came out, we were like, let's do something on Marshall, because Marshall, his story could relate to so many different avenues of whatever the prompts could be, and he just grew into an amazing person that had a very beautiful story to tell, from struggle as a youth to starting his own food business.

And to our surprise, the prompt was, "Food is Memory."

Ooh, that was a magical moment.

At just 17 years old, Marshall Polito, a senior in high school, started his very own food business, Uncle M's Smash Burgers.

I'm Marshall Polito.

I love cooking for people and providing a service.

I've been cooking since I was in my freshman year, selling musubis.

Sophomore year, selling mac and cheese, and then I escalated to doing like food vending.

I saved up my money to be able to do, like, outside night market events and catering for other people.

The time constraints that HIKI NŌ gives for the challenges was really, I mean, really just sets the groundwork to you know light that fire under your butt.

Learning how to coordinate with your subject is like, one of the most important aspects of what we do, and just learning how to do that for Marshall's piece helped us learn so much into the other pieces that we did.

When Marshall was six years old, he had lost his mom to cancer, and food became his escape.

When my mom passed when I was six, there was a court battle for my custody.

I feel like I couldn't make decisions.

There was already pre-made assumptions about me and who I was because of the attitude that I brought around because I was hurting so much, and I didn't know what to do with my feelings because I was so young.

After my mom passed, my grandma, she would just like, constantly cook.

It would help us get through the rough times, honestly, together, just eating.

But in a new home surrounded by new flavors, Marshall found a new joy.

When I had moved here, I found a lot of joy in eating because the food here is so good.

I moved here.

I gained weight.

I gained a lot of weight, and I was like, "Wow, this is really good.

I want to start cooking more."

I love trying to cook new things.

It became my, like, second escape.

Every burger I smash or that they smash, I make sure that it's out of passion and not out of, "Oh, this is another sale.

I'm going to make money off of it," but it's more of, "Oh, I have the joy of being able to serve other people and show what we're about."

We were able to put that piece into a film festival for youth, and seeing our film on in the theaters, just on the big screen, and like, being considered a young filmmaker with all these people around us, we just felt like we hit a point where we can make things that people resonate with.

We won a mental health award.

And you know, people would like, tell us after they saw the video, like, "Your video made me cry, and I was on the edge of the seat when I watched your video."

You know, mental health conversations matter, especially for young people, and we are so grateful that we got the chance to contribute to that through storytelling.

It's really cool just to see that something that we made had that much of an impact.

Being here for hosting that HIKI NŌ episode was, I mean, kind of like a dream come true.

That's my jive.

Aloha and mahalo for tuning into this episode of HIKI NŌ on PBS Hawai‘i.

Being in a place that can facilitate performance, that can facilitate art, has been my dream since I was a little kid.

So, being here, you know, being here in the studio and being able to host an episode is – that was so much fun and something that I, you know, I guess I tripped out about.

Yay!

So, the final piece that me and Landon worked together in high school was called "A Brotherhood Beyond the Shore,” and I think at that point, when making the piece, we had kind of found our style and the way we wanted to tell stories.

Surfing definitely is what calls me to the water.

It's just constant fun and constant drive and motivation to want to do better and be better and make friendships and have like, the best vibe you can have possibly.

It was definitely a challenge because in this HIKI NŌ piece we focused on a group and how they're connected through their shared hobby, which was surfing.

It was like, a collective that we had to focus on, and that was one of the biggest challenges we had when doing that project.

You don’t have to say ʻhello everybody!’ During school, after school, whenever the swell hits, four friends from Ewa keep finding their way back here.

For them, surfing isn't just a hobby; it's their way of life.

Don't need much other than this, pretty much.

Just watching waves just break straight on the sand, but that's fun.

Like, that's worth it.

I love it.

It's a really universal story, I guess, especially for Hawai‘i.

But I think, in the end, we were very happy with the story we were able to tell, and the style we were able to tell it in, and that was our last piece in high school.

Oh, you guys want to chill?

And it was like, "Oh, bet," and then it just came from there.

You know, the bond just gets tighter over experiencing things.

I think the HIKI NŌ platform, like, opens the doors to so many opportunities for filmmakers, and also opens up the doors for people to learn about these people and the stories that they have to tell.

And I think as a filmmaker, you have the privilege, right, of telling these people's stories, and you kind of have a responsibility to tell their story the right way.

Like, in the future, we're all just, we're all gonna have to grow up at some point, and we can't surf together.

And these moments aren't gonna last forever.

The waves, they bring us together.

Whenever there's a swell, that's what's gonna bring us together.

But like, it doesn't last forever, but it's fun and it's fun right now.

So, that's all that matters.

And joy is worth all of it.

You know, like it's worth it.

Without the HIKI NŌ program, we would not be here at all.

We would not be where we are today, and the HIKI NŌ program gives you the opportunity to take a glimpse of what might be and what can be if you were to take this seriously.

The opportunities that it gives – I mean, I could speak on how much it has given me, and I'm sure for other people, other students, and young filmmakers, I can't imagine the endless possibilities it can open up for them.

This fall, I'm going to be attending UH Mānoa, and I'm going to be doing computer and information sciences.

I'm going to be going to UH Mānoa for Cinematic Arts for film.

Me, Landon, and a few of our friends kind of have this film collective.

It's like this film group that we have, where we could still do film on the side, kind of, kind of professionally in a way, you know.

And so, there's definitely a bright future of film for me outside of doing computer and information sciences, so I'm really excited for the future of film for me and for Landon.

[outro music]