Founded as a social enterprise on the Wai'anae Coast, Makaha Studios represents one of the latest steps in an ongoing multi-year effort to improve the education and economy of the Leeward Coast of O'ahu by harnessing the incredible creative talent of our youth and young adults. The history of Makaha Studios begins at Searider Productions , the highly successful integrated journalism and multimedia program at Wai'anae High School.
One result of this effort was the decision to launch a stand-alone for-profit company, which, in addition to the financial goal of making a profit, would also have several social and community-service goals: use a portion of annual profits to support Wai'anae Coast media education programs, offer professional work experience to high-school and college youth through internships and work-study programs, provide meaningful employment opportunities to talented young adults who wish to work in their home community, and encourage these same young adults to start their own digital media businesses by providing financial and technical support.
Makaha Studios was registered as a Hawai'i Limited Liability Company in August 2006, and began working on client projects in December of that year.
Our Mission:
To be Hawai'i's premier professional storyteller through digital media, providing creative services and original, high-quality content for clients and audiences around the world.
Our Vision:
--Our company, profitable and growing, where employees and youth engage in meaningful work, professional development, and personal fulfillment, while adding value to client businesses and the lives of audience members.
--Our Wai'anae Coast community, healthy and thriving, where local residents have access to a world-class education and lucrative careers in digital media production, leveraging the artistic richness of Wai'anae Coast culture to become successful participants in the global information economy.
--Our State of Hawai'i, where local digital media businesses play a significant role in a growing and diversified state economy, making Hawai'i a global leader in media production for the 21st century.
A company's culture evolves and grows with time. It starts with beliefs and values, and a strong sense of where we come from and where we should be going. From there, it develops and is strengthened by a sense of common purpose and responsibility, leading to the codes and practices that guide our every action. At Makaha Studios, our culture is fostered by the unique attributes that translate to who we are and the way we do business. Aloha, integrity, passion, innovation, and a commitment to ensuring customer success while improving our community. These are the elements of our business, our people, and our success.
From these elements come our values:
--We lead the marketplace through vision, service, technical competence, and the highest production values.
--We make a difference, not only in business, but also in our Wai'anae Coast communities, our island home of Hawai'i, and our increasingly interconnected world.
--We are truthful and candid.
--We do what is right and ethical.
--We treat each other, our clients, our partners and our audience with respect.
--We bring passion to everything we do.
--We strive to achieve the best and to make our work extraordinary.
--We inspire each other, we have fun, and we celebrate achievements.
--We are thoughtful leaders and creative storytellers. We advance the state of the art of Hawai'i's media industry by creating innovative media across multiple platforms and by fostering the next generation of professionals.
--We use creativity to resolve problems faster and better.
--We make diversity a competitive strength and demonstrate a superior ability to work together across multiple cultures and multiple generations.
