State Buildings & Facilities

Hawaii offers a wide range of historical buildings such as Iolani Palace, Queen Emma Summer Palace, HiSAM and more. Discover some of the locations that are popular among the filming industry below. If you are curious about filming at a state building or facility that you are unsure about feel free to email us at [email protected] for more information. You can also verify a locations jurisdiction by looking up the TMK here.

Iolani Palace

Before submitting your Standard Film Permit Application you must first obtain approval from FOIP (Friends of Iolani Palace).

FOIP Contact: Lori Christy [email protected]

Notify the film office at [email protected] upon approval.

Iolani Palace is overseen by Division of State Parks.

Fees for State Parks include $100/site +$25/car per day for parking.

Drones are not allowed to fly over the 11 acre parcel.

Queen Emma Summer Palace

Before submitting your Standard Application you must first obtain approval from the Palace Staff.

Notify the film office at [email protected] upon approval, including the Palace Staff with whom you corresponded.

Queen Emma Summer Palace is overseen by Division of State Parks

Fees for State Parks include $100/site +$25/car per day for parking

Hawaii State Art Museum

Before submitting your Standard Application you must first obtain approval from the Museum. Read the instructions

Submit the HiSAM application to Karen Ewald [email protected]

Then submit a Standard Film Permit application to our office at [email protected]

HiSAM is over seen by our office at DBEDT

No Fees to film here

State Properties & Facilities permitted by the State of Hawaii Film Office

  1. Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism (DBEDT) – state property under the Hawaii Community Development Authority and Natural Energy Lab of Hawaii;
  2. Department of Defense (DoD) – facility at Diamond Head;
  3. Department of Public Safety – state jails and prisons
  4. University of Hawaii – only Mauna Kea Observatory and Haleakala Observatory (for educational and scientific filming only);
  5. Judiciary – state courts

The State of Hawaii Film Office does NOT process film permits for the following state properties or facilities.  Please contact these entities directly to inquire about their filming policies:

  1. Department of Education (Public Schools) – contact the school principal;
  2. State Libraries – contact the library;
  3. State of Hawaii Public Charter Schools – contact the school principal;
  4. University of Hawaii facilities, except as noted above.