Honolulu | How public records reveal 'Lost' money

The Honolulu Advertiser, just days away from leaving Gannett, made good use of public records law today to dig up financial data on a wildly popular TV show filmed in Hawaii: Lost.

The ABC series, which airs its final episode May 23, spent $228.2 million in the state from 2006 to 2009, and employed an average of 973 people full-time in each of those years, the newspaper reported this morning, based on a Freedom of Information Act request filed Dec. 24. That spending was well above tax credits granted to the producers, estimated to be at least $32 million.

Nine out of 10 employees were local hires, the state Film Office said, and about 700 vendors benefited from the show.

Sale to close Sunday
The Advertiser, a Gannett paper since 1993, is expected to be sold to owners of its cross-town competitor, the Honolulu Star-Bulletin, in a deal that got the U.S. Justice Department's effective blessing yesterday.

The papers will be be published separately for several months after the deal is finalized, the Star-Bulletin said today, with the sale now expected to close on Sunday. Eventually, the two dailies will be combined under a new flag: the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

The merger is expected to result in hundreds of layoffs. Star-Bulletin owner David Black has not revealed how many employees will be retained from the two papers. The Advertiser employs 600 mostly unionized workers. Hundreds of layoffs are likely, the Advertiser said today.

The cuts at the Advertiser could exceed those at the Star-Bulletin, given the job redundancies at both papers, the Gannett paper said today.

Does your state or city have a film development office subject to public records laws? Post your replies in the comments section, below, or write to jimhopkins[at]gmail[dot-com]; see Tipsters Anonymous Policy in the rail, upper right.

[Image: today's Advertiser, Newseum]