TRUE HAWAII | By Sam Potter and Nainoa Langer | Beautiful Destinations
The true beauty behind Hawaii’s white sandy beaches and its green bright mountains.
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
Hello, Sam Potter here, I’ve wanted to tell the story of home since I’ve picked up a camera. This may only be a sliver of what we have to share with the world, but I’m proud of what we’ve captured. This all started with a conversation between Nai (Nainoa Langer) and I as we sat above a waterfall overlooking my childhood swimming hole. I said, “We should start a travel-based series that gives people an in-depth look at cultures around the world,” in hopes that we could create something that encourages greater appreciation, understanding, and respect between cultures. His response was “Let’s start with home.” So, we reached out to Beautiful Destinations with the idea, and boom, here we are, (and what I mean by boom is months of hard work and the many, many hurdles that come with planning and executing a film project, hahaha) but nevertheless, here we are.
My first thought when it came to explaining a place as complex as Hawaii was people need to understand that there are two parts to the culture, the traditional side, and the modern day side. Our modern-day life represented by Kimi Werner, demonstrates our values, the way we care for each other, for our community, and for our environment. The traditional side represented by Micah Kamohoalii, shares a little about the history of Hawaii, the practices of the Hawaiian people, and most importantly, Aloha, what it means and how that too can be practiced.
Nai and I are very excited to be working with Beautiful Destinations to bring you stories like this from around the world. Our goal is to travel with respect, humility, and curiosity so that we may gain new perspectives, and hopefully we may all become a little more understanding and loving towards one another.
If you’d like to follow Nai and I as we travel around the world, you can subscribe to Beautiful Destinations’ YouTube channel and follow us on Instagram.
CREATORS
Sam Potter | Writer, Director & Host | https://www.instagram.com/captainpotter/
Nainoa Langer | Director of Photography, Editor & Sound Design https://www.instagram.com/nainoalanger/
CAST
Kimi Werner https://www.instagram.com/kimi_swimmy/
Micah Kamohoalii https://www.instagram.com/kahoeakamohoalii/
TEAM
Ford Potter & Justin Shigi | 2nd Camera https://www.instagram.com/justinshiigi/
Perrin James | Additional Footage https://www.instagram.com/perrinjames1/
Dan Worden | Additional Footage https://www.instagram.com/adventuremandan/
Alan Potter | Copy Editor https://www.instagram.com/mr_uncle_alan_potter/
FOR BEAUTIFUL DESTINATIONS
Tom Jauncey | VP Content Creation https://www.instagram.com/tomjauncey/
Nick Evans | Co-Founder https://www.instagram.com/nickevansbd/
Remi Carlioz | Chief Creative Officer https://www.instagram.com/remi.carlioz/
Gabor Harrach | Chief Content Officer https://www.instagram.com/beautifulde…
SPECIAL THANKS
Halau Na Kipu’upu’u https://www.facebook.com/halaunakipuupuu/
Hoku Nichols https://www.instagram.com/hokunichols/
Amir Zakeri https://www.instagram.com/amirzakeri/
Ryan Siebring https://www.instagram.com/smt_kauai/
Redefined Media https://www.instagram.com/redefined.media/
Madison ‘PIP’ Stewart https://www.instagram.com/sharkgirlmadison/
Micah Niinuma https://www.instagram.com/micahniinuma/
Pake Salmon https://www.instagram.com/pakegirl/
