the community newspaper for east oahu since 1987

Good Morning Hawaii to reach Mainland

by MICHELE VAN HESSEN
Sun Correspondent
Archived December 2006 article

"I didn't want to be a suit," said Ernest Cartwright, Executive Producer for KHON's morning show Good Morning Hawaii. As a young man, just out of school, Cartwright went to work for Albert Rubin and Company, a major that provided for insurance in the entertainment industry. "One of my clients asked me to work as a movie grip; and I soon realized I didn't want to get up at 5AM," said Cartwright, sitting under a canopy at Sea Life Park during the filming of a segment for Good Morning Hawaii. "I didn't want to be a below the line guy," he said. In film lingo that means you want to be a director, producer or writer. For ten years, Cartwright lived in New York working in television distribution where he syndicated a first-run sitcom. He is a bilingual savvy producer who also worked at KWHY-TV, a Los Angeles Spanish Independent station owned by the Telemundo network, a subsidiary of NBC.

Cartwright joined Byron Allen, Chairman and CEO of CF Entertainment, and became the Executive Vice President in charge of international library magazine programs. He was the executive in charge of Every Woman. CF Entertainment placed their shows on the Internet averaging 2 million visitors a week. Cartwright and Branscombe Richmond met ten years ago. They got an idea for a series they called American Bounty Hunter. The concept was "greenlit," an industry term meaning the studio commits to allocating the resources for the project; but then the network got a new Chairman of the Board and all projects were cancelled.

The catalyst for Good Morning Hawaii was Cartwright and Richmond meeting for lunch. Upon arriving in the Islands, Cartwright learned that the copyright for the name Good Morning Hawaii was available. Although KITV had produced a show with that name, the management had failed to copyright the name. Cartwright did copyright the name for seventy dollars and the show got a "greenlight" at KHON.

During the last Hawaii earthquake another entrepreneur executive, Joe McNamara, General Manager of the Fox affiliate KHON, aired hourly updates for the Hawaiian community. McNamara and one of his news anchors happened to be visiting the Big Island when the incident occurred. He telephoned in updates and shot video until the station's crews arrived on the scene. The KHON coverage of the earthquake ran on CNN. "Joe McNamara is a savvy broadcaster who has given us the support we needed to create a strong local show," said Cartwright. "He gave the show a great time slot, 11AM Monday through Friday, and the support of the business community." There will be a mainland launch of the show in December through MY NETwork TV syndication; and that will translate into millions of dollars of free advertising for the State of Hawaii.

Good Morning Hawaii with host Branscombe Richmond is airing on Fox with "man on the beach" and associate producer, actor Don Stroud. Sean Na`auao, the multi-talented 1998 Na Hoku Hanohano award winner is the house bandleader. He will be accompanied by his long-time friends the Poi Ponders. So curl up on the couch with a little "Fish and Poi" and tune in to KHON for Good Morning Hawaii. Aloha, a hui hou aku.