A ninth-grader from Kamehameha Schools Maui opened the evening with an oli, setting a distinctly local tone before hundreds of moviegoers settled in to watch teenagers' short films play on the big screen ahead of one of the summer's biggest blockbusters. The event at Regal Maui Mall paired original student work from Hisako Film Lab with a special screening of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, drawing more than 300 people from the lab's ʻohana and the wider Maui community.
Luana Chaves, the Kamehameha Schools Maui ninth-grader, led the chant that began the program, according to Maui Now. The student films were followed by an in-person question-and-answer session with Hisako Film Lab founder Destin Daniel Cretton, who was born and raised in Haʻikū, Maui, and who directed the Marvel film now playing alongside his students' work. Sony sponsored the Sunday evening theater experience, per the outlet's account.
From Story Idea to the Big Screen
Hisako Film Lab students handle every stage of production themselves — pitching concepts, writing scripts, developing characters, casting actors, filming, editing, creating posters, and preparing public premieres. This year's cohort filmed at locations around Maui during the production phase before premiering their finished shorts at Regal Maui Mall. The lab connects students with working filmmakers and industry professionals, and it involves students from all of Maui's high schools, drawing participants across the island rather than from a single campus.
The nonprofit's 2026 Summer Lab ran for seven weeks, from June 9 through July 23, offering what organizers describe as a tuition-free, project-based experience for motivated Maui high schoolers ages 15 and up, according to Hisako Film Lab. The program is co-sponsored by the Academy for Creative Media at University of Hawaiʻi Maui College and is co-directed locally by Brad Kester, a film educator who previously headed the cinema department at Canyon Crest Academy in San Diego, and Joy Cretton, a costume designer and Destin Daniel Cretton's sister, per the Hawaiʻi International Film Festival.
A Grandmother's Camcorder Becomes an Institution
The lab's name traces back to Cretton's grandmother, Hisako, who gave him his first VHS camcorder when he was 10 years old and sparked his interest in movie-making, according to CreativeFuture. Hisako would have turned 103 years old the Saturday before the premiere weekend. Cretton grew up with five siblings in Haʻikū before moving to California to study film, graduating from San Diego State University's film school before entering studio filmmaking, per Wikipedia. He went on to direct Short Term 12 in 2013 and Marvel Studios' Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings in 2021 before taking on Spider-Man: Brand New Day.
That project made Cretton the first Asian filmmaker to direct a feature film in the Spider-Man franchise, an industry milestone that Gold House and Sony Pictures highlighted during the film's release, according to footage shared on YouTube. The film itself has become a genuine phenomenon: Maui Now reports it opened to approximately $360 million domestically, posted the biggest domestic opening weekend ever, surpassed Avengers: Endgame, and crossed $1 billion worldwide in six days — the second-fastest film ever to reach that mark.
An Alumna's Path From Maui to Disney's Lot
Kester invited Hisako Film Lab alumna and Baldwin High School graduate Emma Jane Roy to speak during the Q&A about her own path through the industry. Roy, who now attends Chapman University in Orange County near Los Angeles and is pursuing film editing, interned in the post-production offices for Spider-Man: Brand New Day. For four months, the same account notes, she went to the Disney lot twice a week after her 8 a.m. college class, using Avid software to review the entirety of the movie at the render station and gaining firsthand experience with the post-production process of a major feature film.
Cretton told the crowd that storytelling can be a path forward for Hisako Film Lab students, according to the same report. Joy Cretton said the students' premiere was an ultimate experience and that the opening for Spider-Man: Brand New Day would be unforgettable for them. Among the younger participants was Ezekiel K., a student at Haleakalā Waldorf School, whose film idea — pitched during a previous Summer Lab — was selected for next year's program.
Building a Pipeline So Students Don't Have to Leave Maui
The premiere also drew educators eyeing what filmmaking education could look like at their own schools. Timothy Shim, the new principal of Kūlanihākoʻi High School in Kīhei, attended and plans to work with Hisako Film Lab to bring filmmaking opportunities to his campus. Shim brings 24 years of experience across seven different schools, including four on Maui. Kūlanihākoʻi, South Maui's first public high school, opened its $245 million campus to students in August 2023 after a decade of planning and agency negotiations over pedestrian access, according to Hawaii Public Radio.
The event weekend also fell during the third anniversary of the August 2023 Maui wildfires, a somber backdrop to a celebration built around rebuilding creative opportunity on the island. The Maui Film Office, which supports Hisako Film Lab, and Maui Film Commissioner Brian Kohne have both worked to build sustainable local employment paths so island youth do not have to relocate to pursue media careers, according to University of Hawaiʻi System News. Kohne, who became Maui County Film Commissioner on April 1, 2024, is a tenured associate professor who helped establish the Academy for Creative Media at UH Maui College.
Year-Round Momentum for Maui's Youth Filmmakers
The Regal Maui Mall premiere is part of a broader expansion of youth filmmaking infrastructure across the island. In late 2024, Hisako Film Lab partnered with the Maui Huliau Foundation to launch a Spring Lab focused on environmental sustainability, in which students in grades 9 through 12 collaborate over a semester to produce original short films, according to Maui Now. In June 2026, Maui hosted the inaugural Wailuku Film Festival, which showcased more than 100 films — including work from over 55 Hawaiʻi filmmakers and Hisako Film Lab student projects — following the sunsetting of the 25-year-old Maui Film Festival, per Hawaii Public Radio.
National attention has also translated into direct fundraising for the program. In July 2026, sweepstakes platform Alltroo ran a nationwide campaign offering a trip to the Spider-Man: Brand New Day premiere with Tom Holland and Cretton, with all proceeds beyond costs directed through Change Starts With Me to Hisako Film Lab, according to the organization's own campaign page on Alltroo. Together, these efforts point to an island building out its own film industry from the classroom up, rather than exporting its young talent elsewhere.
