The River--Right Smack in the Middle of the Pacific

Last week, I received an invitation to attend a casting call for the a new TV series called "The River."  It is an up and coming sci-fi thriller/adventure from ABC (creators of Grey's Anatomy), the producers of A Paranormal Activity and by the sci-fi master himself, Steven Spielberg. Brent Anbe, a producer and casting director based in LA who has worked with the second season finale of Cougar Town also leads the casting crew for this new series.

"The River" stars Bruce Greenwood as Dr. Emmet Cole, who travels the world to film a popular nature television show. He goes missing in the Amazon, and his family, friends and crew set out to find him. "The shocking truth about his disappearance is out there, somewhere, just waiting to be discovered," says a statement released by the studio. (Honolulu Star Advertiser)

Because of its similar premise and scenario, "The River" is believed to be somewhat conjured from the recently axed ABC series "Off the Map", which was written by  Shonda Rhimes/Dr. Bailey from Grey's Anatomy, Betsy Beers and Jenna Bans, also from ABC's “Grey’s Anatomy” and “Private Practice."). It tells the story of doctors trapped in the jungle, which lasted for just one season prior to being canceled. Although the two shows are similar and both brainchildren of the same network, The River, I think, somehow holds an optimistic promise to hold up a decent amount of seasons, implying the unparalleled prowess of its creators, director and producers. Like "Off the Map," The River initially shot its pilot in Puerto Rico, but later then moved to Hawaii to complete the subsequent episodes. To date, it joins Hawaii Five-O as a TV series filming here in the Hawaiian Pacific region.

With the recent struggles on the debt ceiling, the world plummeting in so many ways and issues identifiable, any industry may only havse so little definite strings to pull or tricks up their sleeves to actually sustain entertainment in a real, potentially bankable show. However though, I'm still actually optimistic and somewhat hopeful for this sci-fi project, being the first of its kind, to succeed, bearing that golden touch only Spielberg can deliver. Which he, most often than not, always turns and materializes into "quantifiable" gold in market reception--that which essentially follows in equal measure, gold in total revenue turnout.  

Dealing with such an early, almost premature series, I have no idea about anything else that might contribute to the fate of the series from here onwards, other than their criteria for casting, but fingers crossed, hopefully the people in Hawaii will patronize it because it's not a walk in the park to have a second flop in a succession of shows shot here in the island, with the same network, and given the fact that there is a bad-ass production crew weaving this altogether in the backseat.

Come to think of it, this actually raised an apprehensive scenario with the locals hating the thought of ABC shooting The River here, when their targeted setting is really, the Amazon River (see Hawaii acts as an approximation of the Amazon) They're fighting for the non-disturbance of the local, traditional Hawaiian spirits  "still" residing in the forests and bodies of water they will have to select to modify to their pegged production venue. (Ooops, there's already one angry audience prior to the completion of the series.) Whether or not this would click, or sink to the bottom of the Pacific, maybe all we could do is hope that this big Hawaiian move was far well worth it. Cause at the end of the day, as what Honolulu Film Office commissioner Walea Constantinau said, “If a show doesn’t find an audience no matter how good it is, it is going to get cancelled.”

...And everybody leaves Hawaii happier than when they came, so, it'd be good not to change that! ;-)