TalkStory Productions has optioned Rich Figel's revised script for "Menehunes," a feature film about kids who discover menehune are causing mischief at a Kaua'i resort.

This is actually the second version of "Menehunes" optioned by TalkStory, a production company founded two years ago by industry veterans Pam Wallace and Kahie Fong-Yoneda. Figel's original script was written around a boy who comes to Hawai'i after his father is killed in the Sept. 11 attacks and is befriended by a homeless Hawaiian girl. That version was optioned in February 2004 with the understanding that it would undergo a substantial rewrite to be more family- (and Hollywood-) friendly.

"They told me it was almost too good for what we were trying to do," Figel said. "They wanted something more like 'The Goonies,' a more adventurous, light-hearted, family film."

In the latest version, a corporate troubleshooter assigned to a hotel on Kaua'i blames locals for stealing from hotel guests. But his 12-year-old son and the son's local friends discover the truth: The resort was built on a the site of an ancient menehune village, and the menehune aren't happy.

While the script keeps things light, Figel said it does touch on "the ambivalent nature of the relationship between some Hawaiians and the tourism industry.

"On one hand, local people need jobs that hotels and resorts offer," he said. "On the other, Native Hawaiians sometimes feel tourists don't respect their culture or the 'aina itself. Those issues do come up in my script, but not in a preachy or heavy-handed way."

While such projects are highly speculative in these early stages, Figel has reason to be optimistic. The script was recently "attached" to established producers Shutt Jones Productions ("Blue Crush") and Suzy Barbieri, the former VP of Motion Pictures for Imagine Entertainment.

TalkStory is co-producing the new Hawai'i-based series "Boarding School" for MTV's nighttime teen network, The N.

ACT OF 'LOVE'

Film people mixed it up Tuesday at a set blessing and reception in Halawa Valley to kick off independent film project "For the Love of God I," a comedy written by and starring Roger Wilko as a "co-dependent film director," and co-starring Frank South (a writer and producer on "Baywatch Hawaii") as a "gambling-addicted, raging producer."

Cast members include Wilko's local acting students, including Pomai Brown, Margaret Jones, John Murray and Dann Seki, as well as some of Wilko's Mainland friends who are joining the project, including Jack Burns (SCTV troupe member and writer, "The Muppet Show"), Charlie Brill and Mitzi McCall (regulars on the Aku radio show here), and John Murray (Bill Murray's brother).

The film will shoot through November, and possibly December.

AREN'T YOU DEAD?

It's November Sweeps time, and Hawai'i's favorite drama is ratcheting up the intrigue.

In next week's episode of "Lost," Sawyer's wound becomes life-threatening as he, Michael and Jin head to the interior of the island with the tail-section survivors. Also, Shannon sees Walt again, and Charlie gets green-eyed about Locke's interest in Claire. Ian Somerhalder, who was written out of the main cast last season, makes an appearance as Boone.

The Nov. 16 episode, "The Other 48 Days," shows what the tail-section survivors went through in their first 48 days on the island. A week later, in "Collision," Ana Lucia and her group stumble upon the other castaways, and violence ensues.

The month concludes with "What Kate Did," which reveals, well, what Kate did that was such a crime. Also, according to ABC, "Locke and Eko make an interesting discovery about the film, and Michael has a mysterious encounter with the computer."

So notified.

FAN CLUBBED

How much do you really love "Lost"?

$27.95 much?

If so, ignore the snickers of your friends, family and co-workers and sign up for the ABC and Creation Entertainment's Official "Lost" Fan Club.

The membership fee gets you a fan club DVD, T-shirt, Oceanic Airlines carry bag, frequent-flier card and boarding pass, four full-color cast lithos, a Charlie "Missing" poster, a limited-edition trading card, a couple of bumper stickers and access to the club Web site, which is regularly updated with interviews, news, photos and "surprises."

Visit www.lostfanclub.com for details.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.