The Polynesian Cultural Center Leadership | An Interview with Blair Treu

Blair Treu is an award-winning director whose work includes a variety of feature films, television shows, documentaries, and commercials for over 30 years—from The Power Rangers to Chicken Soup for the Soul. The writer and director of Sharing Aloha and Meet the Mormons, he graduated from Brigham Young University with a bachelor's degree in Theatre and began his career at the Walt Disney Company. More recently, Blair worked with BYUtv to create the series Real Families, Real Answers, and was a co-director of Granite Flats. Links Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Leading Saints community Get movie tickets and details at sharingalohathemovie.com Transcript coming soon Highlights The film Sharing Aloha, directed by Blair Treu, highlights the inspiring stories of students at the Polynesian Cultural Center and their transformative experiences. Blair shares how he became involved with the project, and discusses the unique challenges of capturing the students' stories, emphasizing their resilience and strong family ties. The film aims to showcase the students' journeys, illustrating how the PCC provides them with opportunities for education and personal growth. Throughout the conversation, Blair reflects on leadership principles learned from working with the students and the PCC staff. He highlights the importance of appreciation and compassion in leadership, drawing parallels to church leadership. 00:01:52 - Introducing Sharing Aloha Introduction to the film "Sharing Aloha" and its connection to the Polynesian Cultural Center. 00:03:44 - The Genesis of Sharing Aloha Blair Treu discusses how the project came to be and the inspiration behind it. 00:04:55 - The Abundance of Stories The challenge of selecting which stories to tell from the many available. 00:06:47 - Blair Treu's Background Blair shares his experience and previous projects in film and media. 00:08:44 - The Polynesian Cultural Center Discussion about the PCC and its significance in the film. 00:10:43 - Focus on Student Stories The decision to center the film on the students' experiences rather than the PCC's history. 00:12:14 - Insights on the YSA Demographic What Blair learned about the Young Single Adult demographic through the film. 00:13:37 - Cultural Connections The importance of family and community in Polynesian culture. 00:16:42 - The Film's Format Comparison of "Sharing Aloha" to "Meet the Mormons" in terms of storytelling. 00:18:18 - Funding and Support Details on how the film was funded and its relationship with the PCC. 00:20:38 - Addressing Criticism Discussion on the misconceptions and criticisms surrounding the PCC. 00:22:39 - The Value of Work The benefits students receive from working at the PCC compared to other jobs. 00:24:36 - Leadership in Performance Insights into how the PCC manages its performances and trains students. 00:30:14 - Leadership Lessons from Film Production Blair shares leadership principles learned from directing the film. 00:35:16 - The Importance of Appreciation The significance of recognizing and valuing team members in leadership. 00:38:53 - Final Thoughts on the Film Encouragement to support the film and its impact on the PCC. 00:40:41 - Personal Growth Through the Project How working on "Sharing Aloha" has strengthened Blair's faith and understanding of community. The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org. Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III,

Episode Transcript

(00:05):
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(00:27):
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(00:57):
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Leading Saints is an organization that started as
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and then really caught some traction in 2014
when the podcast started.
We talk about all things leadership in the
context of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter day Saints. We aren't owned by the

(01:19):
church, but we have a great relationship with
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even though we talk about the tough topics.
My name is Kurt Frankem. I'm generally the
voice you hear as the host of the
podcast.
I've tried to get other hosts, but people
demand my smooth tone,
and I really enjoy it. Check out leadingsaints.org
to really get into the weeds of what

(01:40):
Leading Saints is and learn all about our
mission to help Latter day Saints be better
prepared to lead.
Hey. Do you remember Meet the Mormons, that
that feature film documentary series,
that we all saw in the theaters, and
now you can stream it all over the
place? Well, Blair True was the mind behind

(02:03):
that, the director and producer of Meet the
Mormons,
and he's out with another film very similar
to that, same look and feel and experience,
and it's called Sharing Aloha. Now I had
the opportunity a few months ago to actually
see a screening of Sharing Aloha, and it
was fantastic.
I cried. Okay? And you're gonna cry too
when you see this. You've got to see

(02:24):
this movie, and I'm I couldn't help but
invite Blair into,
at least virtually into the studio here and
to talk about this, this film and some
leadership principles that were found therein and what
we can learn about the YSA generation, which
the stories in this film, Sharing Aloha, focuses
on the stories
of the Polynesian Cultural Center. Now I've never

(02:44):
had the opportunity yet to attend a a
Polynesian Cultural Center, but I'm looking forward to
it. This movie
definitely put it on my bucket list. And
those of you who have,
been to the Polynesian Cultural Center just knows
just how impactful it is and the good
it is doing. And so I encourage you
to see this movie, and, I'm excited to
interview Blair and talk about some leadership principles

(03:05):
that he learned, that he observed, and what
he learned about this YSA generation. Those students
at the Polynesian Cultural Center, they're
giving,
so much and focusing on taking their life
to that next level. So,
all the details are in the show notes.
Comes out August 29.
This is definitely one we want to promote
and share and,

(03:26):
share the the good word of of the
good that the Polynesian Cultural Center does. So
here's my interview with Blair True, the director
of Sharing
Aloha.
Alright. Blair, welcome to the Leading Saints podcast.
Cool. Thanks for having me. Yeah. This is
cool. A few months ago, I had the

(03:46):
opportunity to see, a screening of this, upcoming
movie,
sharing Aloha and
really just inspiring some fantastic stories,
in so many angles. How did you maybe
like, how did this project come to be?
Well, I got a call just kind of
out of the blue
from Randy
Randy Rigby,

(04:07):
who had been,
you know, he was a service missionary out
there at the Polynesian Cultural Center, he and
his wife, Sandra. And he just called me
out of the blue.
I guess he was talking to a lot
of different folks about, they were trying to
put together kind of a concept for a
documentary film.
I had been there years before. I've filmed
many times at the Polynesian Cultural Center on
various projects

(04:29):
and was already kind of enamored with the
story
of the the scene behind the scenes, you
know, of of what these kids, especially these
kids that come from all over the islands
and work there,
what they go through to get to to
get there, to stay there, and to graduate
from there. And it's just an amazing, story
that's never been told. And so it didn't

(04:49):
take much, he didn't have to twist my
arm too hard to to get me to
do it. And Randy, you know, he's former
president of Utah Jazz and and is a
great guy, just a great guy to work
with.
And so he took on the role of
executive producer and then, hired me to come
out and and,
you know, kind of explore the idea. And,

(05:09):
we batted a few things around. We just
felt like at the heart of the story
had to be the students.
You know, you've got the the the incredible
story of the the symbiotic relationship that exists
between the Polynesian Cultural Center and DOE Hawaii.
You know, kids go there,
or the PCC exists just to
offer provide an opportunity for these kids to
be employed.

(05:31):
So they graduate debt free. So it's a
it's a great symbiotic relationship that exists, but
then there's a backstory behind that.
Yeah. So just we we both mutually agreed
that that's really the story we should explore.
Yeah. And,
the again, it must it's one of those
projects probably, you know, that you didn't have
to think too too hard as far as
to find the stories or what angle this.

(05:51):
I mean, the stories are just there, and
it's just a matter of of recording them.
It's true. It's there's no shortage of stories.
The the difficult part was deciding which stories
not to tell. You know? Because these kids
all have different
situations that they come in from. You know?
Most of them have that common commonality of
being from,
you know, less than desirable circumstances from an

(06:13):
economic standpoint,
and they need help financially.
They've got great heart. These are these are
valiant kids. So they've got that going for
them. And many of them are return missionaries,
you know, as well.
But they just don't have the means to
to go to a four year
university.
And so
that's where these guys fill that need, especially
for kids who live all throughout the Pacific

(06:34):
Rim, you know.
So that's that's it's a great it's a
great opportunity.
Now, this audience is probably familiar with many
of your projects you've done in the past.
Maybe rattle off some of those and help
you put you further into the context. Well,
in the in kind of the
the religious
sector,
you know, I've been fortunate throughout my career
to be able to work

(06:55):
with Disney and a lot of different, entities
down in out in Hollywood.
But in between those, I had a chance
and and wanted to stay close with those
who were producing the church media throughout the
years.
And so I've been involved with on the
church front from the early days, at least
my early days, back starting about mid nineties.

(07:16):
No. I'm sorry.
Mid eighties.
Early seminary films and, Call to Serve was
one of my first documentaries for the church
many, many years ago.
And, then there were probably there were dozens
and dozens of
of films that, you know, if if you
might have suffered through in seminary. I don't

(07:36):
know. I only made the good ones, though,
just so you know. That's right. That's right.
So we we did those. And then,
I think the ones that are more noteworthy
or the little bit have a little bit
more,
following would be probably Meet the Mormons about
ten years ago.
Had a chance to produce and and direct
that.

(07:56):
My producing partner on that was Jeff Roberts,
great guy.
And we,
and that, you know so some of your
viewers may be familiar with that film.
It was initially,
designed for Legacy Theatre,
and then it it tested solo audiences. They
decided to take it out theatrically. And so
it went from
a projected audience of maybe a few 100,000

(08:18):
to many, many millions. And because it had
a successful theatrical run, it then went through
Netflix and,
Hulu and,
you know, went through all the streamers. And
and so that's one that's that's,
of note that people might remember.
And for for your, I don't know, in
your audience, for those who were recently returned
missionaries,

(08:38):
there's a little project I did that I'm
really proud of. It's called the safety zone.
We took a very dry topic of missionary
safety,
and we turned it into a a kind
of an ESPN style
talk show format, you know, sports where they
the the host banner back and forth, and
they show replays, and they argue about what's
what's right,

(08:59):
and they replay stuff. And we thought this
would be a way to,
talk about missionary safety.
Yeah. And it sounds really boring, but it
stuck with the missionaries, and and they've seemed
to I've seen parodies made on it. And
that means that it's sticky that they're remembering
it. Yeah. And I'm proud of it just
because we've seen some significant

(09:19):
reduction of accidents, you know, bicycle and pedestrian
and car
and dysentery and all the things, you know,
and and deaths as well. So it's it's
been a so the safety zone is one
that is still out playing for missionaries.
And then on the non religion on, there's
there's secular and non secular. The stuff I
did for Disney back in the day was
there were some Disney Channel movies.

(09:40):
Your audience, you know, probably have to be
in their thirties, late twenties, thirties to remember
these, but
Paper Brigade or Wish Upon a Star,
Phantom of the Megaplex
was another one.
There was a whole host of there was
five or six others, but and then on
the television front, for those who

(10:01):
have kids that watch Power Rangers or Ninja
Turtles, the live action stuff, I even did
that. So it's kind of a contrast. You
know, you work with
one week, you're working with a brother and
who I really respect and admire, and then
I'm over in the television side doing Power
Rangers. You know? This is many, many years
ago.
I needed to rent money. Okay. I was
just starting. So, you know Sure. So

(10:22):
don't judge me.
No. I don't blame you at all. I
mean, I remember as a, you know, a
young kid, the Power Rangers were were quite
the focus for me. So that's awesome. And
you turned out okay. Yeah. I did. Yeah.
I'm I'm a contributing member of society. So
Yeah.
That's awesome. And so as you,
with this project with the you know, basically,

(10:44):
it's based around the telling the stories of
the Polynesian Cultural Center, which is a I
don't know the best way to to frame
it, but it's a church owned, almost theme
park type of experience. I've never been there
personally yet. I look forward to the opportunity
to to go, and I did. It was
fun to see your film from that angle
where I didn't necessarily have
a a prior context to to put it
all in, but but I was like, you

(11:05):
made me even more excited to to attend,
the the, you know, attend there. Because there's
so many stories to tell. Did you feel
a responsibility to go into the deep history
of the Polynesian Cultural Center as well, or
you just wanna get to the stories? At
first, I did
because it has an amazing history. Yeah.
However,

(11:26):
that's really a different film. And that story
may be told at some point. You know,
it's kind of been told loosely in in
various forms,
short and long, but
the history is so rich. We just decided
it either has to be a historical piece
or it really has to be something that's
contemporary contemporary right in the here and now.
Mhmm. That and so we decided to focus

(11:46):
on that. And we we don't really get
too much into the history of the PCC.
You know, it was a it was a
swampland, and they had to drain it. And
and, I mean, where have we seen that
theme occur before in church history? Right? Yeah.
They used to have you know, it's a
dirt road that ran all the way out
around that side of the North Shore in
Laieux, and they had to, you know, they
had to wave guests in, and they'd have
to they used to have these big where

(12:08):
they would throw the big nets out, and
they'd have the the tourists come in and
throw in a couple of bucks. And they
could go out and stand
with the locals and pull in the nets,
you know, the, you know, the Hooki, you
know, the Hooki Laos song that they maybe
you haven't heard that. But anyway, the, the,
they throw out these nets and bring in
these fish, and that was the way they
got tourists out to that side of the
island and made a little bit of money,

(12:29):
but they used to have to wave people
in off the highway.
So it's gone from that
to be what to,
Hawaii's most popular paid attraction.
You know, you have a million million visitors
a year. They employ about 800 students,
every semester,
and there have been tens of thousands that
have gone through that program in the last,

(12:50):
60. You know, they turned 60 last year.
So, it it has quite an amazing history.
We decided to focus on
really make the focus of this film on
the students themselves.
Yeah. Yeah. For sure. So I'm just curious,
what what comes to mind as far as
what what did you learn about that demographic?
You know, that typically you refer to it
as a YSA demographic.

(13:10):
And I think
the vast majority of these stories were YSA.
I mean, these are students at BYU Hawaii
that Yes. They can, if correct me if
I'm wrong, audition to be a part of
the cast or part of the just the
the the function of the Polynesian Cultural Center,
and that helps them,
you know, get through college and and, graduate
debt free.

(13:31):
What comes to mind as you were learning
about this demographic
that, you're telling these stories about?
There's a whole host of things. The the
first thing on a personal level that I
had to get used to is,
coming from a production background in feature film
and television as well as documentary,
you know, you have
you have only so much resource and so

(13:53):
much time.
Yeah. So it's all about, you know, hey,
let's let's keep this thing moving along.
To make matters worse, I'm German. Okay? So
I'm a very, you know, you have to
get things done.
That goes
contrary
to the vibe in the islands. You know,
there's island time is very real.
Mhmm. And so on a personal level, I

(14:14):
had to learn to just kinda like
and I I don't know that I actually
got there, but I I I towards the
end, I I realized, look, you can't force
things. You have to let things just kinda
happen.
And I learned that if I was gonna
be authentic to these stories,
I had to just be able to go
with it if the kids showed up for
their interviews or their allotted you know, that

(14:34):
their allotted time
or they didn't. I just had to go
with it, and we sometimes I had to
go to their dorms to run them down
and say, hey. Remember, we got this interview
schedule with you, and we wanna follow you
around in class and whatnot. So from a
personal standpoint, that was an adjustment for me.
But I really came to love these kids
because,
they're just they're so genuine.
They're so earnest, and they're so

(14:58):
they come from deeply rooted family backgrounds.
Not to say that the the the kids
on the Wasatch Front or the kids in
Southern California don't, but in the Polynesian
culture, family is everything. And family you know,
everybody's related to everybody.
And so it doesn't take long to to
see how that everybody's connected in one way
or another

(15:19):
to somebody else.
And, and so it was just it was
really great to see for me kind of
that,
kind of a throwback or revival to what
family really can mean
to community.
Yeah. And so that was that was a
real and we had a chance, you know,
in the film. You remember if you saw
it, we we had a chance. I I
don't wanna spoil it for people who haven't

(15:39):
seen it. But I I will say this
much. We had a chance to go back
to the communities where some of these kids
come from.
Yeah. And, we even had to cut a
bunch out because there just wasn't time.
And so I won't say much more than
that, but it was really great to go
back and see where they come from, to
see
their upbringing, you know, that they worked on
these family plantations and farms. And

(16:02):
and they
if one hurts, they all hurt. If one
succeeds, they all succeed. And so there it's
it's very selfless
as opposed to selfish
lifestyle.
Yeah. So it was great to see that.
It was great to just be reminded of
that. And in many ways, it reminded me
of my own family,
but it's kinda my own family on steroids.
Okay? Because it just goes out into the

(16:24):
community.
Yeah. That was something that struck me. I
don't know if that answered your question, but
that's that's something that really and I think
everybody who's been to the the Polynesian Cultural
Center, who spent any time in Polynesia knows
that family
is everything.
Yes. You know? That is everything.
Yeah. And I think just in our, in
our, you know, Latter day Saint culture, the

(16:47):
the Polynesian,
you know, demographic
has been such
a such a highlight
of our tradition and our our culture. I
mean, anywhere you go. I remember I served
in Sacramento, California on my mission. And even
there, you know, we had Tongan speaking missionaries
or, you know, there were Polynesian
various Polynesian wards or or branches. And and,

(17:08):
you know, obviously in Utah, I grew up
in West Valley City. We had a huge
contingent of Polynesians there. And so it seems
like anywhere you go in the church, you
just get to experience a little flavor of
their culture. And it is so endearing and
really inspiring that these are our, our fellow
Latter day Saints. And, this is really a
place to go to
experience that on so many,
different levels. Right? Yeah. There were many times

(17:31):
where I would jokingly walk up to a
cast member,
a student. You know? I I I'm reluctant
to say I shouldn't say cast member because
it's not like that. I'm speaking part that
they were following him. And I just and
I always hold up my arm next to
them, and they always look so tan and
so, you know, I have this beautiful skin,
and I have and I said, I have
brown envy. I wanna be like you guys.

(17:52):
And, and and that's the way I felt.
I just felt like I could be,
I would love to be part of this
community. And so Yeah. You know, that that's
the way I I had a little bit
of envy, you know, through the whole process
that I I wanted to be Polynesian, you
know? Yeah. And would you say this is
the closest thing as far as the format
and approach, the closest thing you've done since,
Meet the Mormons? I mean, it's you're where

(18:14):
you're telling different stories and just definitely has
that kind of feel?
I think so. Yeah.
You know, Meet the Mormons, I guess yeah.
It's true in many ways. You know, Meet
the Mormons is a collection of,
six there are six stories from around the
world. This is a collection of about a
hand same about the handful of stories from
kids who come from,

(18:35):
you know, one's from Las Vegas, one's from
Tonga, one's from Samoa, one's from Fiji,
one's from Australia.
And I probably missed one in there.
So we've got a good representation
of a good cross section
just like we did in Meet the Mormons
where we were ethnically diverse and geographically diverse.

(18:57):
In this case, we're not so much ethn
ethnically diverse,
but we're geographically diverse.
Yeah. And, you know, you brought up an
interesting point. You know, do they actually audition
and whatnot?
We focus
you know, on the film, we're focusing a
lot on the night show and the performance
related jobs.
But
the night show really is just a fraction

(19:18):
of what is there. So from from other
areas, like,
throughout,
the Pacific Rim, you have Japanese students,
Filipinos,
some Chinese.
They tend to work more in the food
services
sector within the Polynesian Cultural Center. So and
you also have, you know, white kids, you

(19:40):
know, howlies like me who also work,
and the tour guides take all kinds. So
they do try to
in in the villages, you know, there's six
villages.
Like in the Samoa Village, they try to
have kids where they can,
from Samoa work in the Samoa Village. Same
thing with Fiji and Tahiti and so on

(20:00):
and so forth in Hawaii.
And so
they they really do try to be very
specific there. But when it comes to all
the other jobs, you know, whether they're grounds
crew
or food services or meal preparation or cleanup
or whatever,
they take
kids from all over the place.
So so there is within that little culture

(20:21):
of the Polynesian Cultural Center, you've got kind
of a,
a real melting pot.
Yeah.
Yeah. And so is this people may wonder,
is the is BYU and Polynesian Cultural Center
behind this, or this was an independently
funded film and,
to tell the story? Yeah. So, as I
understand it, it was funded through

(20:43):
it was supported by the PCC, funded through
private donations,
through private funds.
Mhmm. And the the PCC, you know, I
don't know a lot of the details about
how how that came to be.
And for me, the important thing was that,
you know, typically, just from a financial standpoint,
the movies that I make,

(21:05):
I make my
the lion's share of my money on the
back end when the movie sells, when it
goes out, when people buy tickets.
Yeah. But I'll just say this because and
another reason. I'm not saying this for my
own personal
aggrandizement,
but I didn't wanna do that on this
film.
I wanted to to donate that back to
the PCC because

(21:26):
I didn't I felt like it would be
hypocritical for me to go say needs to
say to people, hey. Go see this movie
because all the proceeds go back to PCC
if I wasn't donating my part.
Yeah.
So,
I was I was paid to make the
movie for sure. And all of everybody who
who worked on the film were paid an
adequate amount, you know, to work on it.

(21:46):
Sure. Nobody got rich on it. But so
it was labor of love. But I make
that point because for those that are gonna
see it on on, in the theaters,
every dime goes back to the PCC,
and it funds the iWORKS scholarship
program, which helps these kids.
And it also

(22:07):
is going to encourage people, like you said
at the beginning of the podcast, you had
not been there, but it makes you kinda
wanna go there. Yeah. We want that to
occur as well. We hope it increases the
attendance.
Their attendance has really been pretty good throughout
the years, but but we wanna keep that
strong so that it continue it can can
continue to support these kids,
from a financial standpoint through scholarships.

(22:29):
And so,
we're really excited about that.
Beyond that, you know, it's just it's just
raising awareness for the public at large.
And that was one inspiring thing about these
different stories you've you've touched on a little
bit, but just the opportunity it gives to
so many. And and and I love you
know, was it the I remember I forget
the girl's name, but, was she from Tonga?

(22:51):
She went back to the Leilani.
Yeah.
And and, you know, she got this
once, you know, this trip home,
that, that was scholarship.
And she you gotta go see your family.
And and, like, just to see how impoverished
these, you know, these humble farmers are and
to think, wow, like, their daughter
gets to go to a phenomenal university, participate

(23:13):
in a phenomenal, you know, Polynesian cultural center.
And even her story of serving a mission
and going to another mission during COVID and
serving even longer. I mean, it's just Yeah.
I think you it's just so inspiring and
just brought tears to my eyes to see
how this impacts
so many lives for good, especially those students
who and now the the world is her

(23:33):
oyster. You know? She there's so much that
she'll be able to to do.
Yeah. It's really her choice.
You know, back in Tonga, they it's an
agrarian
society. There's they don't have
currency the way they don't use currency the
way we do.
It's barter and trade. And, I mean, they
still use currency, but it's mostly

(23:53):
as I understand it I mean, I'm no
expert here, but as I understand it, you
know, if there's something you need from a
neighbor and there's something that you have that
they need, you just kinda trade and you
barter and you work together and you help
one another.
And Yeah. So it really is, I I
think if the world were were to come
to an end,
some big catastrophe,
I think I'd wanna be in Tonga

(24:14):
because they life would just go on, you
know, while the world around them, you know,
completely collapses.
Life would just go on and and at
least, you know, in its in its simplest
form. And they grow their own food,
And it's it it it's just it's great
to see somebody living that type of a
lifestyle in the here and now.

(24:35):
Yeah. And I appreciate in the film you
touch on this sort of the criticism,
the unfounded criticism that the Polynesian culture centers
received that they, you know, some perceive that
students are being exploited to, you know, work
in this,
this theme park and, you know, give hours
and, and just to see the, just how
much of scholarship funds and, and again, that

(24:56):
new next level of opportunity they receive by,
you know, by working at the culture center,
just like, I think all of us had
all sorts of strange jobs during college just
to make it through. And this is,
a great opportunity where I would I would
guess in Hawaii, there's not a ton of,
you know, college type jobs. I just in
general, I think their economy is, tricky. And
so just to have this opportunity, I've really

(25:17):
appreciated that you unpack that controversy and put
it put it to rest.
Yeah. It is a it's not a widely
held belief, but there are people.
And in my experience because I I had
to dig. I actually went around, and this
little sequence didn't did not end up in
the film.
So this is an exclusive to your podcast.
I love it. It. We'll take it. We
we went around with a hidden camera and

(25:38):
asked people all over the island, the North
Shore in went into Waikiki,
spent a lot of time in Waikiki and
Honolulu
at different places
right on the beachfront and in the malls
and in the, you know, the international center.
And we asked them
we posed as tourists
wanting to know, have you guys been to

(25:59):
the Polynesian culture center? What do you think
of it? What you heard? And we were
really trying to
because we had heard these rumors about, oh,
they they
they, exploit these students. And, oh, you don't
wanna go out there because it's, you know,
it's dry. You know? You can't get any
alcohol out there, and it's boring. And
and they enslave these students, and and there's
there's this kind of this anti Mormon rhetoric

(26:20):
that goes on.
I'd heard about that. And so I thought,
okay. Well, I'm gonna go see if I
can exploit that a little bit, see if
I can get people to talk about it.
And then I will blur their faces and
alter their voices so we can use it
without their permission.
And it was and there were only a
few that said anything
even remotely bad about it. Mostly mostly what

(26:41):
you find
are people who've never been there,
who've never spent any time there, who have
heard something, and then they regurgitate that online.
And so you hear these wild comments about
the exploitation,
and it just
so it's not widely held, but we thought
we had to at least address it because
people are curious about it.
You know, the exploitation of students, and so

(27:02):
that's why we addressed it in the film.
But it's but, you know, you think about
it. These kids, president, Coway mentions this in
his interview.
These kids get a chance to work there,
and
they get not only the the the equivalent
of a d one scholarship, what well, before
the NIL money kicked in.
It was the equivalent of a d one
scholarship for a full ride. You know, tuition,

(27:24):
books, housing, everything.
They also get health care.
And they also get a little bit of
extra cash. I mean, they're not getting rich
because it's going to their education.
But they've done they've done an internal study,
and it's the equivalent of $50 an hour.
Wow. And so where are you gonna find
that? You're not gonna find that working at
the subway,
you know, or you're not gonna find that

(27:44):
at McDonald's flipping burgers. You know, nothing against
those guys, but it it's just no comparison.
You get a chance to share your culture.
You get a chance to to be
a missionary
and to be out front and to to
just share your
your whole belief system with tourists that come
through in a non pushy, non preachy way.

(28:04):
And when compared to the alternative of flipping
burgers, there there's just no comparison.
You know, I don't know what minimum wage
is in Hawaii right now. I'm I'm guessing
it's probably 16, 17,
maybe $18 an hour. I I don't know,
but it's certainly not anywhere close to 50
in terms of the benefit that they get.
Yeah. That's really cool. Really cool.

(28:25):
Another part I I really appreciate you include
is just all of the,
you know, the directors, the the production crew,
all the, you know, people who've been there
for years and years that
get a new,
group of students coming in and and, you
know, get them up to par with their
dancing and their production and all that and,
you know, just move so many,

(28:47):
so many students through
to create really high production
performance.
What what did you notice just about that
group as far as how they lead or
how they do it so quickly? I'm I'm
just thinking of the the primary presidents that
are listening that do primary programs or the
youth leaders doing tracks or, you know,
individuals striving to create an experience.
What did you learn from that group?

(29:09):
I'll tell you, it it is literally
a miracle
that
they can pull this off.
Because every semester, you have
a pretty significant turnover
in the villages
and at the night show.
And, you know, most students work there, you
know, and they might work in a village
for a year or two. So they're they're

(29:29):
multi semester,
or they might work in the night show,
or they might jump back and forth. Mhmm.
Not only that, but within the context of
a typical semester, you have a whole bunch
of students who might have to miss one
particular show because they all have the same
class, and they've got a final in that
class, or they've got some special thing.
And so every night, it's a struggle to
fill those spots on stage.

(29:52):
That means that when you audition for the
night show, you have to be ready to
play
as many different parts as possible.
And and that that is brought out in
the film,
but it's it really is a it's a
it's quite a a it's kinda like human
Tetris. You have to fit things in and
fit see where you can. And so to
your question,

(30:12):
the managers,
you know, I spent a lot of time
with David Tiabe, who's who's who's right there
in the front line, and he's dealing on
a nightly basis with, okay, who's gonna show
up tonight
and who's not gonna be here tonight. And
and so he has to be able to
take somebody who typically works in the Samoan
section of the show, and he has to
put them over in the Fijian section, maybe.

(30:32):
Or and so there's always subbing, and there's
always substitutes. And so the fact that, you
know, in a in a typical Las Vegas
show or in a New York, in a
Broadway show, you've got the lead, and you've
got an understudy. And you might have two
understudies if it's a long running show.
Not in this show.
You have the leads and they might have
three or four understudies.

(30:52):
And so there's constant change out.
And so but I don't know if I
answered your question, but I guess these leaders
possess they just possess,
I think what it is is it's personal
testimony and faith that it's gonna work out.
And they they know why they're there,
and they do they're really serious about
wanting this show to be of high quality.

(31:13):
Yeah. Their goal is always in the ninety
ninety three, 94 percentile,
and they take nightly surveys. And they're they
really I mean, they expect those kids to
step up and do their part.
But there's also a certain compassion that you
don't get
you know, if if you were in a
Hollywood show or a Las Vegas type show,

(31:33):
it's just a completely different vibe. You know,
they do know that these kids, they can't
work more than nineteen hours a week,
and they cannot even if they wanted to
exploit them, they couldn't
because they know why the kids are there.
They're there first and foremost to get an
education.
And
and then secondary to that is, hey. Let's
see if we can put on a really
nice show.

(31:54):
And so they they, you know, they really
are careful with these kids, and they it's
gotta be exasperating. It's gotta be a lot
like being a mission president. You know, you
get these kids that come in the mission
field that are do their best, but they
come at varying levels of maturity.
And you just have to love them all
and do your best, and I'm sure that
that's what they deal with on a daily
basis.
Yeah. That's fantastic. That's really good. Anything else?

(32:16):
I've got a few more kind of
semi related questions to the film. But, anything
else about the film that that you wanna
make sure you you highlight or touch on?
Well, because the the proceeds are going back
to the PCC,
I would just want your
audience to understand that when they go to
the theater to see it, August 29 is
when it comes out of theaters.

(32:37):
It's gonna be playing it's kind of in
it's a little bit in, influx right now.
But because we're adding theaters and we we
believe it's gonna be released, it's gonna be
all up and down the Wasatch Front from
from up north, all the way down at
Saint George and all through the Wasatch Front.
It'll be Northern Southern California, Arizona,

(32:58):
Nevada, and Las Vegas,
Hawaii. It'll be all over the islands.
It'll be in Anchorage, Alaska, of all places.
American Samoa,
Guam, I believe. And other territories might be
added like Florida, Texas
if it does well that first weekend. And
the re and the reason it's important there's
two reasons.
We want people to see it in the

(33:18):
theater.
Because once you see it in the theater
and if it does well at the box
office,
that triggers the algorithm
at once it gets to streaming, and we
get a higher placement.
And if with a higher placement, more people
see it. When more people see it, more
people wanna go.
And it also makes more money just for
the perp you know, more people see it,

(33:39):
that makes more money for the Polynesian Cultural
Center. So
it it's, kind of a way to double
dip, and it just it's gonna so when
you go see it at the theaters on
opening weekend or that open maybe the following
week, it's only gonna be out for probably
a few weeks.
You're actually doing more than just going to
see a movie. You're you're benefiting these kids
in a very direct way.
You're laying down your hard earned money to

(34:00):
go see a movie that I hope is
gonna be worth your while. It's gonna be
entertaining, but you're also gonna be supporting these
kids who come from these
tiny islands
who don't have a lot of financial resource.
And so,
if you have that mindset when you go
see the movie, that's a good that that
go see it because it's entertaining first. You
know? But it's also a great cause. So
that's what I would stress. And then when

(34:21):
it does come out on streaming,
watch it. Share it with your friends, and
and that'll just help keep people going to
the PCC so that it can continue
year in and year out to help fund
the educations of these wonderful students who come
from all over the Pacific Rim.
Love it. Love it. Well, we'll definitely,
include all those links in the show notes
and and make sure people,

(34:42):
know where to learn more and, to get
tickets. So and and, again, it's that opening
weekend that's so crucial.
Blair, I wanna ask you just from the
from your own leadership as far as, I
mean, running,
directing a movie and the production and I
mean, it's
it's it's no small feat for sure.
What what advice do you do you have

(35:02):
just from, that may may translate to church
leadership or, you know, inspiring group of people
or motivating people or uniting people around a
a project or a cause?
Where where do you draw upon to to
make that happen? I'll tell you. That's easy.
When I did Meet the Mormons,
the you know, I I had the the

(35:22):
wonderful opportunity to kinda rub shoulders with,
number of the brethren. But
Elder Holland was so supportive
and so loving and so it just
you know, I I I wanna be careful.
I'm not I'm not, like, exactly on a
first name basis with any of these brethren.
Okay? And I don't hang out with them.
I don't but there was a period of

(35:44):
time where I I would see them on
a fairly regular basis.
But Elder Holland always made me feel like
I was on a first name basis, you
know, and I would never say Jeff. I
would always call him Elder Holland. But in
his responses to me, he always signed it
Jeff. And he always so I'm kind of
taking a page out of his book. He
always made me feel important,
and he always made everybody on our crew

(36:05):
feel important.
And he really,
always behaved in a way that I I
felt like, gosh, that's the way the savior
would be. If he were here, that's the
way he would run things.
And so I've tried, and I probably failed
miserably, but I've tried to to, you know,
help have people around,
on crews that that know that I appreciate

(36:26):
them,
that know that I value the jobs that
they do.
Because,
I I get to be out front here
and and really kinda take the credit, but
the credit doesn't belong to me. First of
all,
any talents that I may have are on
loan. They're not mine.
Heavenly father loans those to me, and and

(36:46):
if I develop them, he he helps me
to develop those.
If I bury it, we knows knows what
happens if if we bury those talents. But
you can never make a film
in a vacuum. You can never make it
by yourself.
I had a whole staff of people on
Meet the Mormons as as on this one,
from editors and and camera people and sound

(37:08):
technicians and,
and composers
and musicians who did the soundtrack, who all
kind of dedicated their own
their own testimony to the whole experience. And
so I think from a leadership standpoint,
we have to recognize that people bring to
the table their own unique gifts,

(37:28):
strengths, and weaknesses.
And
and you have to be if you're not
appreciative of that, you don't get the full
benefit of what they have to offer.
You know? So just like I would bend
over backwards, I would I would charge that
hill, and I would be the first one
over the hill if president Holland asked me
to go because of president Holland. You know?
Yeah.

(37:49):
And I would do the same for the
others. But with with Elder Holland, it was
it was just he made it so uniquely
personal, and he'd look you in the eye,
and he would he would really make you
feel appreciated.
And so
I try
to do that with my crew and with
these students who are in the film. I
try the best I can. I am I'm
nowhere close to

(38:11):
the Elder Holland's level, but people talk about
that all the time back when he was
president of BYU, and they just loved working
with him because his leadership style was one
of,
I appreciate you. I love you.
And so I think that carries over. And,
you know, you think about,
you know, a great bishop or a state
president or a leader or primary president or

(38:32):
elders,
if they if they are warm to you
and they care about you, you you'll do
anything they ask, you know,
because you wanna you know, you're being appreciated.
So that jumps out at me. Cool. For
sure. That's really helpful.
Well, any other story, concept, principle you wanna
make sure we we squeeze in here before
we wrap up, or do we get it
all?

(38:53):
You know, I think,
it's really easy for
people in the film community to to kinda
fall into this
self importance
mentality.
Uh-huh.
You know, we've been lucky at a few
festivals that's done that's done well, and you
see that because you you get so involved
with trying to promote the film that

(39:13):
promoting the film also means you're kinda promoting
yourself.
And it's easy to get hung up on
that.
But I guess the thing that I would
go back to is that whatever,
you know, it it whatever talents we have,
they're on loan.
They're on loan.
And even the weaknesses that we have that
that are there to help make us humble,

(39:33):
to help us hopefully, we can make those
into strengths,
they exist,
to better to make us better.
And so we should own those, but recognize
where they come from.
I guess that would be the the main
claim. You know, I feel very lucky for
very blessed to be able to work on
this project and so many others that have

(39:54):
strengthened my personal testimony of the church.
I'm just I feel really lucky, very fortunate,
very blessed,
to have had this opportunity. There's no question
I worked really hard. I've worked really hard.
I worked very, very hard at what I
do, but but,
it doesn't come close to the
it in no way reflects the the amount
of blessings that I've received.

(40:15):
I still have I I would owe a
lifetime
for those blessings of of hard work, and
I feel like I've done a small amount
and have gotten this much in return.
Love it. August 29 is the release date,
in in select theaters, but mainly, you know,
across the Wasatch Front for sure. And it
sounds like in many of the the islands,
it'll it'll be available as well.

(40:36):
And, again, that that opening weekend is with
any movie, that's that's huge, and it will
help
with distribution and getting this in in more
theaters, maybe in the less typical,
places that, you wanna anticipate. And I'd encourage
people, you know, if you're listening to this
and you're excited about
the
the the movie as far as how it
contributes to the Polynesian Cultural Center and the

(40:57):
students there,
and maybe you're in the middle of Ohio
or something where it's not gonna be in
theaters, you can go online and order a
few tickets for your your family and friends
along the Wasatch Front and say, hey. I
got six tickets to go see, this this
movie this weekend, and that that'll get people
to the theater and and really help out
a lot. So And you can actually request
it. I should say that if you go
to,

(41:17):
I think you should not say w W
W anymore. Right? But I'm I'm an old
fashioned guy. So go to sharingalohathemovie.com.
And then from there, from that platform, you
can see the trailer. You can actually request
it in your city. Oh, cool. If you're
gonna request,
even in Ohio,
if you're gonna request, we'll make sure that
the theaters there see those requests, and we'll

(41:38):
send it out there. So it is possible
to get it. So you can request it
in your theater,
and you can pay it forward and and
actually buy tickets and encourage people to go.
And the website will also have it also
has even right now, it has
it's maybe a couple of days behind, but
it'll show you all the theaters that it's
playing in. And then you can go on

(41:58):
Cinemark or or or,
let's see the, Megaplex
website. You can go on any of those
and see where they're just like anybody else,
you can go on, Fandango and see it.
It's now starting to show up as part
of the Showtime schedule.
So yeah. Yeah. Go opening weekend if you
can. If you can't go, you know, the
week, weeknight, that opening week.
And that the second weekend might be the

(42:19):
last weekend it plays because it's, again, it's
a small film and Yeah. These big tentpole
movies, you know, these big Spider Mans and
whatnot, they they tend to push these out,
so they don't last long. So go when
you can. Perfect.
Well, Blair, last question I have for you,
as you reflect on this project specifically, how
has, leading this project helped you become a
better follower of Jesus Christ?

(42:41):
I think seeing
the faith and the spirit of these young
Polynesian
performers and students at the PCC,
they come in with such,
you can just see it in their countenance.
And so they were an example to me
for sure.

(43:01):
We even had a we even had a
a scholarship recipient who
was supposed to come and get her scholarship
to go home on the homeward bound scholarship,
And she declined because she did not want
to miss her temple session.
Oh, wow.
And,
she still got the scholarship,
but
she didn't feel it was necessary to, to

(43:24):
go through all the pomp and circumstances of
going up and receiving it. She just humbly
accepted it. And so
I think what, what I've learned from that
is I've just learned from these kids. They're
amazing kids. They really are. They have faith
and they demonstrated in their behavior, in their
language, in their department, in their, in every
part of their life. And,
they're not perfect. They struggle like anybody else,

(43:45):
but they are really faithful. And so that,
that was just a faith built faith promoting
and faith building
for me personally, to, to rub shoulders with
them and to be able to spend the
better part of a year capturing their stories.
The end. That's it for this Leading Saints

(44:07):
episode. I encourage you to check out some
of the most popular episodes of the podcast
that we list at the bottom of the
show notes.
If you haven't listened to all of those,
do so now.

(44:28):
It came as a result of the position
of leadership which was imposed upon us
by the God of heaven who brought forth
a restoration
of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
And when the declaration
was made concerning the own and only true
and living Church upon the face of the
earth,

(44:49):
We were immediately put in a position of
loneliness,
the loneliness of leadership
from which we cannot shrink nor run away,
and to which we must face up with
boldness and courage
and ability.