Exclusive look at new Hawaii Five-0 home

Exclusive look at new Hawaii Five-O home Posted: May 20, 2013 10:37 AM PDT Updated: May 20, 2013 10:56 AM PDT By Tannya Joaquin

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HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Kono is on the run for a murder she didn't commit and faced with a difficult decision between her boyfriend and Five-O family. The English translation of this episode is "Farewell and Take Care" and the promo for the finale says by the end, "This team of 4 becomes 3." We were granted exclusive access to the new home of Hawaii Five-O. "If I did some snooping around, could I tell. This 4 becomes 3" asked Tannya Joaquin to Associate Producer Angela LaPrete. "Um, It's exciting" answered LaPrete. "You just have to watch. There's some surprises as always." While the stars are on break, there's a lot of action at their new studio. It's the same sound stage where the original show filmed more than 30 years ago. After a move from the old Advertiser building in Downtown to Diamond Head, crews are busy building, painting and prepping sets for Season 4. LaPrete has worked on many projects at the film studio including Baywatch and appreciates the Hawaii Five-O history. She says, "I think it's really cool. It's really come full circle. This is where we should be and should have been all along." Hawaii Film Commissioner Donne Dawson is excited as well. Dawson says, "We are so pleased it worked out for Hawaii Five-O to come home to the Hawaii Film Studio at Diamond Head and we've been amazed at what they've been able to do to make the space ready for them." Hawaii Five-O has built key sets like Steve McGarrett's home, the Crime Lab, and the Morgue where the original stage has been collecting dust as storage space. A brand new facility is going up right now to house all McGarrett's cargo pants, and the other stars' wardrobe. "One of the beautiful things about having Hawaii Five-O back home" explains Dawson "is that they've really been able to take advantage of maximizing space, making it a better facility. That's a benefit to the State and ultimately it's going to be a huge benefit to productions coming down the road." The Hawaii Five-O reboot is the State's most high profile success story right now that shows the upside for incentives to lure productions to film in the 50th State. The show's exposure is a real plus according to Associate Producer and local girl Angela LaPrete. "One of the main things is showing the locale, Hawaii as Hawaii. That's been a really big deal" says LaPrete. "A lot of the productions that come here don't do that. And our crew. We have I think 90 percent local crew." A crew that's rushing to get their new headquarters ready in time for shooting for Season 4 in July. Copyright 2013 Hawaii News Now. All rights reserved.