Malaʻe Productions is a natural history video production company based on the Big Island of Hawaii. Since 2003 we have filmed Hawaii's wildlife, volcanoes, reefs and open ocean for blue-chip nature series, as Directors of Photography, cinematographers and co-producers for PBS Nature, National Geographic and Discovery Channel.
Nature video production in Hawaii means working where the subject lives: on active lava fields at Kīlauea, at the summit of Mauna Kea, in the surf zone, and offshore with tiger sharks, whale sharks and humpback whales. Over two decades in the field we have filmed first-ever footage of newly discovered insects, rare birds on the brink of extinction, tiger sharks feeding at a whale carcass and newborn humpback calves taking their first breaths. The search is always on.
We own every camera, housing, drone, vehicle and boat we use, so a wildlife sequence does not wait for a rental to arrive. RED Digital Cinema 8K systems, Nauticam underwater housings, the DJI Inspire 3 and Inspire 2 aerial fleet, Shotover F1 gimbals, motion control for time lapse and macro rigs for insects and marine life all live on the island with the crew that operates them.
Our broadcast credits include PBS Nature's Sharks of Hawaii (co-producer and Directors of Photography), National Geographic's Wild Hawaii: Secrets of the Deep and Wild Hawaii: Land of Fire, Discovery Channel's Sharkcano, Sharks of the Fire Goddess and Deadliest Catch: Bloodline, National Geographic's World's Most Dangerous Sharks, and equipment and stock footage for PBS and IMAX's America's National Parks. Each credit has its own page describing what we contributed.
How we film Hawaii's natural history
Underwater: RED cameras in Nauticam housings with ports, monitors and underwater lighting, supported from our own channel-crossing boats and a Zodiac inflatable in the surf zone. Aerial: the DJI Inspire 3 (Zenmuse X9-8K) and Inspire 2 (Zenmuse X7) flown under FAA Part 107, with Mavic 3 Cine and Mavic 4 for confined coastal and forest work and Autel thermal drones for wildlife surveys. Time lapse: multi-day volcanic eruption, weather and night-sky sequences on programmable motion control. Macro: extreme close-up of Hawaiian insects and marine life. Topside: Shotover F1 gyro-stabilized work from vehicle and boat, and a Shotover production truck for mobile shoots.
Subjects we return to
Active eruptions and lava ocean entries on the Big Island, volcanic lightning, Mauna Kea sunrise and the Milky Way over the summit, rainforest waterfalls, the Nāpali Coast on Kauai, the summit of Haleakalā on Maui, humpback whales in Hawaiian waters, whale shark encounters, tiger sharks and reef life. Much of it is already in one of the largest private 4K and 8K Hawaii stock footage libraries in existence, so the sequence a production needs may exist before the crew arrives.
Working with networks and production companies
Productions hire us as a natural history unit in one of three ways: as Directors of Photography and cinematographers on a series, as a turnkey Hawaii field crew with equipment for a visiting network, or as the source of stock sequences and equipment rentals for a show shot elsewhere. Rentals come with or without an operator, packages move to Oahu, Maui and Kauai for multi-island productions, and a price match guarantee applies to every Hawaii camera and production equipment rental quote.
Plan a natural history shoot in Hawaii
Send the species or subjects, the islands and your dates, and the role you need us in. We reply with availability and pricing, typically within one business day.
Related
- Credits
- Cinema — Malaʻe Productions has filmed Hawaii's natural world for broadcast since 2003 — as Directors of Photography and cinematographers on PBS Nature's Sharks of Hawaii, National Geographic's Wild Hawaii: Secrets of the Deep and Wild Hawaii: Land of Fire, and Discovery Channel's Sharkcano and Sharks of the Fire Goddess.
- Stock Footage
- Aerial Services — FAA Part 107 licensed aerial cinematography, thermal survey and location scouting across the Big Island and all Hawaiian Islands.
- Hawaii Video Production Company
- Hawaii Film Fixer
- Contact — Tell us about your production, rental or stock footage needs anywhere in Hawaii. We reply with availability and pricing, typically within one business day.