The producers of the big-budget flick "Tropic Thunder" were fined $200 by the state yesterday for building a temporary, 96-foot-long footbridge on Kaua'i without a stream alteration permit.

Tropic Works Productions, which is making the $100 million film for DreamWorks Productions, also was warned it could be fined $5,000 a day for any future violations. "Tropic Thunder," which is scheduled for release next summer, features an all-star cast that includes Ben Stiller, Matthew McConaughey, Robert Downey Jr. and Jack Black. The movie is a comedy about a group of actors shooting a Vietnam War movie who are forced to become the soldiers they are portraying.

On Aug. 17, Tropic Works built a temporary bridge across Kapa'a Stream, two miles upland from Kuhio Highway. The four-foot-wide bridge, which was removed Aug. 28, was needed to allow film crew to traverse the stream. The company should have sought a Stream Channel Alteration Permit prior to building the bridge, according to the Commission on Water Resource Management, which administers state water codes.

The commission found that Tropic Works should have known a permit was needed because the project received a similar permit to build two temporary bridges in May. Those bridges will be blown up during filming later this year.

Tropic Works could have faced fines between $250 and $5,000 a day over the incident. However, the company was fined just $200 because it acted in good faith to apply for an after-the-fact permit and because the bridge did not appear to have created any risk to the stream, according to the commission.

"Tropic Thunder" has applied for state tax credits that give producers a refundable tax credit of 20 percent on the Neighbor Islands. The amount is capped at $8 million per production.

Reach Sean Hao at shao@honoluluadvertiser.com.