The HI Rise story started in 2016 when creators Josh Ballauer and Chelsie Settlemier thought it would be fun to create a movie about what it's like to live in Puna. Puna is a district of the Island of Hawai'i (Big Island). It is most prone to lava flows because it is located near one of the most active volcanoes in the world, Kilauea. Filming of HI Rise was paused during the 2018 eruption because a major natural disaster was occurring in the community. During this time, the filmmakers focused on capturing video of the volcano and the community's reaction to it's destruction. Because such unique footage was obtained, it was decided to change the end of the movie to include the lava flow.
This movie was made possible by many individual artists coming together and sharing their talents. There was no budget for this movie and everything was done by the cast and crew volunteering their time. Your support is greatly appreciated and will be used to help create the next movie.