With exquisite coastlines and lush foliage, the Hawaiian islands have long been Hollywood's tropical backlot and the stage for more than 200 major feature films.
   "There's no place like Hawaii," said Dave Chevalier, who owns a company that provides aerial shots of the islands for film production. "[There are] valleys in the heart of the mountains, waterfalls, beautiful beaches and different plant species like no other place on earth...."
   ...The lush and exotic islands are not just a draw for the big screen, either. Coming this fall, Hawaii will be a popular place when channel surfing on TV, too, with Fox, NBC and ABC in production on location with new series.
   "Working in Hawaii is pretty much like hitting the jackpot," said actor Jorge Garcia, star of the upcoming ABC drama, "Lost."
   "It's like, this is the beach, this is the gorgeous mountain and this is my office."
   SOURCE: CNN.com (3:50 AM)

   Yep, another Lost mention in the latest chat with E!'s Kristin.

From sunnybiss77: So, I'm excited about Lost. Any info about the storyline? Will it go sci-fi, or scary, or what? I can't imagine a series just about being lost (except for Gilligan's Island, of course), there must be some other story going on...
There is definitely a scary, slightly sci-fi-ish angle to it. The survivors realize that they aren't alone on the island. And Greg Grunberg finds that out all too well...

   SOURCE: Watch with Kristin - Chat Transcripts (11:01 PM)

   Sorry for how weird things have been, apparently my host's servers moved and didn't tell me. Thankfully, tech support has been nice and answered my question. So... we're back online! (8:52 AM)

   Among ABC's fall season lineup is a new adventure drama by the creator of ``Alias,'' J.J. Abram, which follows the aftermath of a devastating plane crash. Appropriately titled ``Lost,'' the survivors of the ill-fated flight are left to survive on a deserted island where eerie X-File-like occurrences take place.
   As a network that has apparently been experiencing some prime-time problems in recent years, ABC's high hopes for the soon-to-be launched series are understandable. The pilot is reportedly the most expensive in the network's history. But why are local fans also excited about the September premier of this U.S. show?
   Featured on the main cast is a face many may find familiar. She is Kim Yun-jin, a South Korean film star who shot to fame playing the memorable role of Lee Myun-hyun in the 1998 blockbuster ``Shiri.''
   ``Sun, as a South Korean woman headed for the United States after a stay in Australia, is half of an international couple stranded with 13 others,'' Kim Yun-jin explained when The Korea Times met with her at a casual Apkujong cafe.
   Like the island and the other characters, Sun and her husband Jin (played by Korean-American actor Daniel Dae Kim) have a secret. ``The secrets will surface as the story unfolds,'' Kim said. ``Sun has her reasons for keeping quiet. How the couple's relationship evolves as the survivors build a society together is an interesting aspect of the story.''
   Kim last year signed with William Morris Agency, a top agency representing big Hollywood names such as Halle Berry, Sharon Stone, Kevin Spacey, and Reese Witherspoon, which excited her fans but did not come as much of a surprise. If a Korean starlet were to knock on Hollywood's door, many expected it would be Kim.
   A member of the 1.5 generation, a term referring to Korean-Americans born in South Korea but brought up in the U.S., Kim is fluent in both her native tongue and English. As a shy and soft-spoken teenager still getting used to life in the U.S., joining the school drama club in the 7th grade was what led to a passion for acting.
   ``When singing and acting on stage, I didn't feel the least bit awkward. I felt so at home under the lights,'' Kim said. ``Something about being on stage just felt right.''
   From there she went on to New York's High School of Performing Arts (the setting to ``Fame'') and the University of Boston before taking up acting full time upon graduation.
   She was appearing in plays in New York when a friend called up one day back in 1996 and asked if she would to take on a temporary job as a location manager for an MBC crew shooting in the area. Kim caught the eyes of producers and was cast on the spot, gaining a role that had originally been reserved for Lee Young-ae.
   A few minor roles in soap opera-style evening dramas led to her leading role in ``Shiri.'' The success of the thriller in the domestic box office made her a household name. ``Shiri'' was also well accepted in neighboring Asian countries. Since then, Kim has done a string of films that include ``Yesterday'' and ``Mirae(Ardor).''
   Throughout the interview, Kim stressed that she was playing a South Korean woman in the TV series. ``It's not a Korean woman playing a Chinese woman, a Japanese woman, or even an American woman of Korean descent,'' she said.
   ``Even as a teenager I recall how uncomfortable I felt with the way Hollywood portrayed Asian women. Rarely were the characters three-dimensional,'' Kim said. ``Asian actors have struggled for a long time to earn a place in the industry. Most don't make it because there are not many roles available. As for the few that do, well, let's just say someone like Lucy Liu doesn't come along very often. She's a great actress and the roles she gets are better than the ones written up for Asians in the past, but even her characters carry a stereotype.''
   Kim says she would like to turn the clock back a decade. ``I woke up one morning and was a star, or that's what people say,'' she said laughing. ``This has its advantages as well as its disadvantages.''
   Kim said, ``This is something I had wanted to do from the very start of my career. Though not intentionally, everything was put on hold once my career in Korea took off. It may take another 20 to 30 years before Asian actors and actresses are the least bit satisfied, but taking on this role will mean that finally I can contribute to setting the record straight.''
   Not selling herself short, Kim has taken on a smart role. Kim hopes that this will be the start of a sturdy, secure career that gives her the opportunities that she has obtained in the local scene.
   SOURCE: The Korea Times (1:47 AM)

   With the premiere of Fox's "North Shore" this week and three other network shows in the pipeline, Hawaii is experiencing a television production bonanza it hasn't seen since the days of "Magnum P.I."
   Hollywood is on track to spend $100 million on film and TV production in Hawaii this year with most of the money coming from "North Shore," a nighttime soap opera; "Hawaii," a police drama; and "Lost," a series about the survivors of a plane crash.
   A Hawaii-based network TV series, on average, will bring in $20 million a year in money spent here, according to the Hawaii Film Office.
   "Everyone's looking for that successful series," said Donne Dawson, state film commissioner. "What's encouraging to me is that these shows are not trying to recreate the successes of the past. They are trying out their own new territory."
   At the same time, the new shows have created a crunch for studio space and production staff.
   With "North Shore" set up at the state film studio at Diamond Head, both ABC and NBC had to find other space for their sets. NBC will work on "Hawaii" in a Mapunapuna warehouse and ABC is using the former Xerox building on Nimitz Highway for "Lost."
   In addition, shooting is scheduled to begin this month on the pilot for "Rocky Point," a teen drama for the WB network....
   ...About 34 extras were recruited for "Lost," which has a main cast of 15 characters.
   "We have a lot of untapped talent," said Anna Fishburn, a Honolulu casting agent who will be casting for one of the network shows. "Not all are up to speed because they don't get a chance to hone their skills. Who would have thought we were going to have four productions in this town?"
   The minimum salary for a speaking role is $678 a day, according to Brenda Ching, district executive of the Screen Actors Guild. Actors with agents can negotiate for higher rates....
   SOURCE: Pacific Business News (1:39 AM)

   When Alias kicks off its fourth season in January, fans are going to spy some big-time changes. Coming off a subpar season, which saw viewership decline 9 percent, series creator J.J. Abrams will once again embrace the show's original conceit. Namely, Sydney will go back to juggling her dual roles as an international spy and normal twentysomething.
   "We got so deep in the Rimbaldi and Covenant [mysteries] that we lost sight of some of the stuff we fell in love with [in the beginning]," ABC entertainment president Stephen McPherson tells TV Guide Online. "J.J. is talking about getting back to some of the joy that she used to have in her personal life early on... while still living in this crazy world."
   Abrams says he had an epiphany about Alias' disappointing third season while he was working on the pilot for his upcoming ABC thriller, Lost. "Going away to do Lost allowed me to look at Alias in a way that I could not have done otherwise — from the outside," he explains. "And it was like an incredibly enlightening thing. I suddenly knew in my heart what I wanted and what I didn't want — and I saw what was happening. Not that I wasn't proud of what was there, but I saw some mistakes that I made and I thought, 'Oh my God.'
   "It was like going home and watching the game on TV — it gives you that perspective that you don't have when you're playing it," he adds. "I have a knowledge of the show I never had before."
   Meanwhile, Abrams, unlike fans, is not peeved at ABC for delaying the show's return until January. "I was begging them to do it," he admits, noting that the midseason launch will allow his baby to unspool its 20 episodes uninterrupted by reruns. "Every time we would return after three or four weeks of repeats, our ratings would dip. Every time."
   The move, therefore, should not be interpreted as ABC not believing in the show, he says. "I guess you could argue that shuffling it to the back makes it look less important to them, but I think it's actually the opposite. If they didn't believe in the show they wouldn't have A) picked it up, B) ordered 20 [episodes] and C) strategized how to maximize its [potential]."
   "I couldn't believe more in the show," McPherson attests. "We're going to be launching a lot of new dramas in the fall and we wouldn't have been able to put any money [into promoting Alias]. So we felt the best thing to do was bring it on in January when we've got all [20 episodes] and a huge promotion platform with the Academy Awards."
   And if that strategy doesn't entangle more viewers in the spy yarn, Jennifer Garner can kiss her extensive wig collection good-bye, right? Wrong. McPherson insists there's "not a chance" Season 4 could be Alias' last. "It will be an asset for years." How many, exactly? Cracks Abrams: "Exactly 100." Nobody likes a smart-ass. Well, except us.
   SOURCE: TV Guide Online Insider (1:35 AM)

   Well, there's not a lot of new things to report on, so I took this opportunity to update a few things within the website. First, I've fixed up the cast section to include a little information on other actors in the Pilot who aren't regular cast members. Next, I've added (and updated) some links, so check those out. Lastly, I've finally added four new affiliates: The OC Central, The Unofficial Phil of the Future Website, ElijahFan.com, and Nowhere: A Lost Fan Community. Enjoy! (3:46 AM)

   ABC's castaway drama "Lost" will premiere Sept. 22. The series' production offices are at Dole Cannery, while producers hope to lock in the Xerox building on Nimitz Highway as a sound stage. There are 15 cast members, with two others yet to be cast in permanent roles.
   SOURCE: Honolulu Star-Bulletin. Thanks to Talk Stink for the heads up. Aloha to you, too! (10:50 AM)

   It has come to my attention that the Lost Pilot is now available for download on certain websites. Some of you may be wondering when I'll be putting up the entire episode on the website, or perhaps even clips and screencaps. The short answer: Not now. Maybe never. It seems like a slap in the face for the cast and crew of Lost to have all their efforts available for download three months before its actual premiere, not to mention the legal repercussions this may have. So, here's a statement this website, as well as some other fansites, are releasing in light of this:
   Lost-TV will not be posting caps or clips from any illegal copies of the Lost pilot out of courtesy for the cast and crew of the show as well as ABC and Disney. Please understand that as much as we’d love to share this quality show, it’s the responsible and respectful thing to do.
(6:15 AM)

   I'll be the first to admit that it's currently slow on the Lost news front, so here's an interesting link for everyone. Talk Stink has some news bits and opinion pieces on Hawaii-based shows, including Lost. It's an interesting read, including pieces on the Xerox building deal. Check it out! (2:47 AM)

   Do you really want to know what happens in the Pilot? There's a message board thread on Fan Forum which has full details on the Pilot! I must warn you, of course, that this thread contains MAJOR SPOILERS!!!, so if you want to be surprised on September 22, then don't check out the link provided. (3:27 AM)

   We have a premiere date! Mark it on your calendars. According to The Futon Critic, Lost is set to premiere on September 22. (12:02 AM)

   Are you one of those people who can't wait to find out what happens on the show? Well, we've collected the spoilers mentioned at one point or another at the various Pilot screenings and gathered them in one thread. You can read them all at the message board. Again, do note that these are SPOILERS, so don't go if you don't want to know. Also, there's a little more information on Emilie de Ravin's character at FanForum, so check it out. (3:38 AM)

   The local headquarters for the ABC television series "Lost," which was picked up by the network last month for their fall schedule, will not be hard to find. Industry officials have confirmed that the show will base its local operations in the former Xerox building on Nimitz Highway. The building has remained vacant since Xerox moved out in the aftermath of the state's worst ever mass murder, in which seven people were killed in November 1999.
   The deal to use the site was first reported last week by Honolulu Star-Bulletin television and film columnist Tim Ryan.
   From a business perspective, the return of the site to active use was inevitable. The 32,600-square-foot building at 1200 N. Nimitz Hwy. represented one of Honolulu's five largest blocks of vacant commercial space, with an excellent location and amenities including truck delivery bays.
   The surrounding area has also seen strong growth, with national retailer Best Buy announcing plans to open a store one block east, near bustling retail powerhouses Home Depot and Costco Wholesale.
   But few have forgotten the events of Nov. 2, 1999, when former Xerox employee Bryan Uyesugi gunned down seven of his coworkers in their offices. After his insanity claim was rejected, Uyesugi faced a first-degree murder charge, seven counts of second-degree murder and one count of attempted second-degree murder. The jury in his case, which was allowed to visit the crime scene, deliberated for less than two hours before returning a guilty verdict in June 2000.
   At the request of employees, Xerox vacated the building and moved its offices to a building in Kakaako. The old location, the red Xerox logo long ago removed, had stood empty for years. Only last week did work begin in earnest to prepare the building for its next tenants, although the "For Lease" sign from Steven Narioshi Realty is still in front of the building. This afternoon, a large portion of the plain, white, windowless facade was removed by workers with Western Engineering, Ltd.
   Details of the new lease were not disclosed, however, and an ABC spokesperson declined to comment.
   With four television series slated to film in Honolulu this summer, space was certainly hard to find. The Star-Bulletin reported that "Lost" had considered sharing warehouse space in Salt Lake (at the former CostCo site) with NBC's police drama, "Hawaii." NBC had dibs on the state's Hawaii Film Studio, but was pressed into giving it up to Fox for its show, "North Shore." The WB series "Rocky Point" is also hunting for space.
   It was against this backdrop that the former Xerox location was secured for "Lost," an "action-packed adventure" involving the survivors of a plane crash who end up castaways on a Pacific island. Scheduled to air Wednesday nights this fall, the show was created by J.J. Abrams, who is also behind "Alias" and "Felicity."
   Meanwhile, the 1999 shootings still echo in some quarters today. Two weeks ago, a judge ruled that the families of Uyesugi's victims can sue his medical provider, as his psychiatrist allegedly lost track of him six years prior to the shootings. Circuit Court Judge Elizabeth Hifo said a lawsuit could proceed because Kaiser psychiatrist Marvin Mathews, who testified at Uyesugi's trial, said he considered Uyesugi one of his patients at the time.
   SOURCE: HawaiiNews.com (10:01 AM)

   E! Online's Kristin has seen the Lost Pilot, and she's absolutely raving about it! (Which means it's a safe bet we'll be getting a steady stream of spoilers from her in the future.) Here are the exceprts from that chat:

From aminah: I am sooo bored with television right now. Is anything good at all coming our way soon?
Forgive me, aminah, I just noticed this in the chat room and plucked it out for my own personal satisfaction, because I want to tell you that I just saw Lost. Does that excite you as much as it excited me? I finally managed to get my hands on a copy and watched it over the weekend, and, you guys, I have to tell you, it rocks. I felt like I watched the best movie of the year...and it was on my li'l ol' TV screen. The cast is excellent (Matthew Fox returns to TV!), the setting is stunning (it was shot on location in Hawaii), but most of all, it has that unbelievable character development we've come to expect from JJ Abrams (the creator of Alias, Felicity). It has a little bit of everything and, I'm assuming, could have the broadest appeal of any of his shows thus far.

From wendylee: What is Lost about? Is Greg Grunberg in it?
Yes, he is. He only guests in the first episode and is largely unrecognizable because of his injuries. Lost is about plane-crash survivors who are stranded on an island which has a few mysteries--scary, pulse-pounding mysteries. (I jumped off my cushions a few times.) It's a thriller-medical-cop-relationship drama. Like I said, a little bit of everything. Foxy plays a doctor, and his love interest is a newcomer who could be one of the breakout stars of the season. Oh, and also, Roswell fans, Tess is back. Emilie de Ravin plays one of the survivors.

From aliasurvivor: So, does that mean that Greg Grunberg is leaving Alias?
Eventually, yes, but not for Lost--he's doing Bounty Hunter, a midseason show. He is only in the first ep of Lost, but it's a very memorable scene.

From bluegirllo: I can't wait for Lost!
Whee! That makes three of us--my kitty loved it, too.

From vaughnfan03: Did you know that Lost is the most expensive pilot ever filmed? I guess whichever network is backing JJ has real faith in him.
I can only tell you this: It looks like the most expensive pilot ever filmed.

(2:39 AM)

   Remember that new Lost promo described a few days back? BagEndInn now has it available for download. (5:11 AM)

   Lost FanSite has some new cast information, though it is as yet unclear whether or not they are part of the main cast, or will be recurring characters, or if they just appear in the pilot. In any case, Emilie De Ravin plays Claire, L. Scott Caldwell plays Rose, and Fredric Lane plays Marshall. (The site credits him as "Fedric Lane" though, so I don't know if that's a typo or not.) (3:47 AM)

   A screencap of the polar bear has just been posted on the message board. Take a look at it... just try not to laugh. (3:25 AM)

   Writer Paul Dini, whose credits include the cartoons Duck Dodgers and Justice League, has left Warner Bros. Animation and joined the Lost crew as a writer.
   From Deanspeak: A number of folks who visit this site have followed my writing and producing career at Warner Bros. Animation over the past fifteen years. It is now with a mixture of excitement and sadness that I announce, effective immediately, I am leaving WBA, at least for the foreseeable future. From assorted Spielbergia through Batmen present and future, onto Superman, Duck Dodgers and finally closing out on JLU and a certain super powered pup, I was lucky to work on some great projects with a truly gifted assortment of artists and writers. I’ll miss them Part of me hates to leave ol’ Termite Tower (the somewhat presumptuous name the Tiny Toons crew and I gave our digs in Sherman Oaks when we started back in, yikes, 1989!) but new opportunities are calling and it’s time for me to go. On the horizon I look forward to doing more live feature film writing, more comic book writing (my own characters and others) and generally stretching myself in other creative areas. But a nice long vacation is what I need right now and I think I’ll lose myself on a desert island for a while.
   From ToonZone: After calling Warner Bros. Animation home for fifteen years, writer Paul Dini has left the studio, he reports at his Deanspeak website. Dini offers no definite personal plans, but says he wants to do more writing for live-action features and comics, and in his March 17 update says he is working on a hush-hush "Project X" that is neither a cartoon, movie or comic book. Update (6-3): Dini will be writing for Lost, a new action-adventure series from J. J. Abrams and Damon Lindelof, scheduled to debut on ABC in September. (10:29 PM)

   It was a long time coming, but I finally got around to it. The media section is now open! Please keep in mind that if this hurts by bandwidth at such an alarming rate, I'll have to take it down (or at least restrict access to certain files). But for now, enjoy! (10:49 PM)

   FanForum, a collection of entertainment-related message boards, has just launched a new Lost Message Board. I post on that site as P Y R O, and I hope to catch some of you there. ;) (12:01 PM)

   I've got screencaps from an ABC publicity video for the show Lost which you can view here. There are 138 screencaps in the gallery, which includes images from the new promo airing on ABC. Very interesting stuff! (1:27 AM)

   Lost FanSite reports that David Fury, writer and producer for Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, has joined the Lost crew as co-executive producer and writer. This report is corroborated by Buffistas.org and WHEDONesque. Exciting news! (8:03 AM)

   Everyone! You're all invited to the first unofficial scheduled chat here at Lost-TV. A little last minute, I know, but please do drop by the site on Tuesday, June 1 (today) at 9pm ET (5pm PT; midnight of June 2 GMT). Check out the message board, and after logging in or registering, click on the "Join Live Chat!" link at the top of the page. See you there! (4:53 AM)

   Woodnymph12 at starDom caught another promo for Lost during ABC's Line of Fire, and reported on it.

"1,000 MILES OFF COURSE"
-camera pans across white-sand beach to Jack
-Jack saying to blonde girl, "it's going to be ok"
"THEY SURVIVED THE WORST"
-several castmembers walking through short grass towards forest/hills away from camera. Naveen looking around towards the camera
-gratuitous shot of girl in bikini/underwear on beach
-burly bald guy
-*growling noise* "what the hell was that?"
-quick shot of 3 castmembers,
blonde girl turning towards camera
"did anybody see that?"
"OR DID THEY?"
-bear charging towards camera in tall grass, Jack shoots twice at the charging polar bear, it keeps coming
-girl screaming-- you see her face framed by thin trees/bars
-lost logo, voiceover: "LOST. ABC THIS FALL"
-fades to white with Dom's (?!) voice in the background, saying: "Guys............."
-closeup of Dom as he says "...where are we?"

   So, if you want to see a Lost promo, try watching a little more of ABC. :) (4:12 AM)