The Eddie Aikau Big Wave Invitational at Waimea Bay, January 22, 2023 📷 © Renea Gavrilov Stewart
We call ourselves Rock Salt Media. Rock means Pōhaku in Hawaiian. Pōhaku is the very foundation that supports life on land. Salt or Paʻakai, which translates to sea salt, is critical to the preservation and perpetuation of many Native Hawaiian traditions and customary practices. Our name is very meaningful to us.
We are content creators – we write, produce and direct. We listen and learn and the result from our research turns into something special – a documentary, short, PSA and website messaging too. Video, audio, photography and music for every platform –because we do the job we love.
We won an Emmy for our series Family Ingredients which has been nominated multiple times for a Day Time Emmy. We continue our passion to produce high-quality projects from documentaries, television series, commercials, educational videos to website content and more, all supporting our community needs – because we love the job we do.
Based in Honolulu, Hawaiʻi, we’ve been around since the age of videotape focusing on our Pacific Islander communities. We are a trusted organization committed to our community and its preservation and perpetuation of its stories.
we like telling stories
say aloha!
Heather Haunani Giugni and Renea Gavrilov Stewart are co-owners and producing partners of RSM. They have decades of experience in both live events and pre-produced programs. They customize each project with a talented team of individuals and equipment to match. They produce, direct, write and consult.
Works in the Production Pipeline
Wahine O Ke Kai / Women of the Sea (working title)
LOGLINE: Two indigenous women wayfinders bond together over a unique double-hulled voyaging canoe, the potential loss of this three thousand year old tradition and the future of our planet as the ocean changes.
SYNOPSIS: For thousands of years the inhabitants of the largest ocean in the world, the vast Moana Nui (Pacific Ocean) have been skilled wayfinders, navigating without compass, sextant or GPS. Instead Pacific Islanders seafarers looked to the stars, observed ocean currents, felt the winds and followed the path of birds. In the 20th century, this fragile sailing tradition and the vital indigenous knowledges embedded in the cultural practice were almost lost in many parts of Moana Nui, until revitalized by the efforts of master practitioners determined to pass on their knowledge. Organizations like the Polynesian Voyaging Society committed to the perpetuation of this most foundational of our Pacific Island heritage.
Today the tradition continues but the question remains – who will continue the legacy into the future while continuing to use Hōkūle‘a and the many Pacific canoes it has helped to revitalize as beacons of light and hope in a world that has forgotten its basic values aloha ‘āina and malama o ke kai, taking care of our land and sea – and each other?
Wahine O Ke Kai / Women of the Sea (working title), a one hour documentary, will focus on the lives of two women wayfinders – Navigator Kaʻiulani Murphy and Captain Pomai Bertelmann, and their magnificent feat sailing the storied double-hulled canoe Hōkūleʻa, and its crew members from Tahiti to Hawaiʻi, retracing history and inspiring young girls everywhere to follow in their footsteps. Their sacrifice and tireless work to bring Hōkūleʻa safely home has laid a powerful foundation for revitalizing our future and demonstrates how indigenous knowledge must again play a central role in our understanding of and ability to live in harmony with our planet Earth.
Genre: Documentary/Native Hawaiian
Production Phase: Research & Development
Producer/Director: Heather Haunani Giugni
(NIA TERO: Native Stand Fellowship for EFM-Berlinale Native Fellows Toolbox)
Website: www.rocksaltmedia.com
Website: www.familyingredients.com
Email: heather@rocksaltmedia.com
USA/WhatsApp: +01 (808) 864-7211
Director/Producer: Ty Sanga (Sundance Native Lab Fellowship)
Website: www.kumauproductions.com
Email: tyronesanga@gmail.com
A co-production of Rock Salt Media and Kūmau Productions
SEEKING: Initial funding for a trailer; Production funding; Co-Producer; Distribution