Hisako Film Lab
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“Spider-Man: Brand New Day” director and Maui boy Destin Daniel Cretton knows better than anyone that with great power comes great responsibility.
He’s giving back to his hometown with a free summer program called Hisako Film Lab that teaches keiki how to make their own films.
Cretton is using his Hollywood connections to get professional editors and directors to speak with the Film Lab’s students, as well as leveraging his local ties to have their films played at theaters across the state.
The program wrapped up late last month, and HPR’s Kevin Allen had the chance to sit down with Cretton and two Film Lab students, Kai and Cailin.
Interview Highlights
On dreaming of Hisako Film Lab
DESTIN DANIEL CRETTON: When I was in my teen years, I really fell in love with movies, and I fell in love with making movies, and it was really all because of my grandma, whose Japanese name is Hisako. My grandma loaned me my first VHS camera and encouraged me to just do whatever I wanted with it.
And I have five siblings, and we all lived in Haiku, in the country, and we just started making movies together. I was hungry for places to learn more about this craft and to meet more people who were doing it, and I didn’t have too many resources available to me on the island. I didn’t know anybody in the industry. I didn’t really even understand that this could be something that you could do as a job. And so it has been a dream of mine to create a space that is a safe place to really be yourself, to be creative, to take chances, (and) to try things you’ve never done before.
On discovering a love of filmmaking
CAILIN: I decided to join the summer lab, and … it was the first time I had really pitched my own film that I was really invested in, and being chosen and being able to make that in a group was something that really ignited my spark for filmmaking and directing.
KAI: I kind of just grew up in a very film-oriented house. I feel like my family was watching movies a lot more than a healthy amount. So, you know, naturally, that kind of just rubbed off on me. And these days, everything is so accessible. I think pretty much as young as maybe five or six, I would use the iPad or a little camcorder and just make little little skits and stuff and figure out how to edit them together.
CRETTON: What is so cool about the Film Lab is it really does feel like a natural extension of the creative process that I still do every time I do a movie. And I found it very special to be able to play “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” at the theater that I used to go and watch movies at. I used to pay for one ticket and then jump and sneak into (another). You shouldn’t ever do that. But I admit to it. I admit to it when I was a kid.
This story aired on The Conversation on Sept. 4, 2026. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. Annabelle Ink adapted this story for the web.
