Multitalented lawyer turns passion for Hawaiian history into new film
Lance Collins, who is Filipino and was raised on Maui, wasn’t planning to be a lawyer. He had so many interests that it was difficult to zero in on a single career.
By day, Lance Collins is a lawyer. By night, (and sometimes day) he’s also a filmmaker, book editor and music producer. Now, he can add another title to his eclectic resumé: screenwriter for a feature-length film now available on a streaming service near you.
“When it comes to my time,” Collins says, “every minute is accounted for.”
He did, however, have time for an interview, which took place over Zoom from Collins’ office on the Hawaiian island of Maui. He sat at his desk with huge law books lining the shelves behind him. Collins resembles Mr. Rogers, the beloved PBS neighbor who appeared to find joy and friendship everywhere. Sometimes, during celebrations, Collins unabashedly wears a lei, the Hawaiian symbol of joy, greeting and love.
An unconventional career path
Collins, who is Filipino and was raised on Maui, wasn’t planning to be a lawyer. He had so many interests that it was difficult to zero in on a single career. That’s why he has earned so many degrees: In addition to his law degree, which he pursued after friends and family pushed him in that direction, he earned a PhD in political science from the University of Hawaii at Manoa and a master’s degree in Indigenous politics from the same school.
For the past 20 years, Collins has been focused on his clients, who tend to be community groups or marginalized people who otherwise wouldn’t have access to the legal system. He specializes in public interest litigation, addressing such issues as the environment and Hawaiian land rights. Most recently, he represented victims in the $4 billion settlement stemming from Maui’s Aug. 8, 2023, fire, which killed more than 100 people and wiped out Lahaina, a historic town on the northwest coast of the island.
But if he’s needed elsewhere on his home island, he doesn’t shy away from the challenge—especially when it comes to educating others about Maui’s history and culture. His days are guided by finding joy. If he’s not happy doing something, he doesn’t do it.
“You have to be really clear in your heart about what it is you want to do,” Collins says. “If you’re drawn to something else, you might want to reconsider what your job is. Your heart will tell you what you’re willing to do.” Collins also meditates twice a day to clear his mind and check in with his soul.
Writing his first screenplay
His passion led him into his most recent foray: screenwriting. Collins took a six-week break to write a feature-length script for My Partner, which follows two high school boys in Hawaii. It’s a coming-of-age story about two West Maui seniors who are paired together for a school project and eventually develop feelings for each other. It won an audience award at the 2023 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, and it is now available for rent on Amazon Prime Video, YouTube, Google Play and Fandango at Home. It is also on the Taiwan-based LGBTQ+ streaming platform GagaOOLala.
“For six weeks, I would wake up, go surfing and then write all day,” Collins says, his signature smile on full display. He notes that he never took a screenwriting class or read a book on the process.
Collins wasn’t initially recruited as a screenwriter for My Partner. He originally had taken on the role as an executive producer for the film, which was supposed to be a low-budget streaming series. But writers kept dropping out. Since the film was so important to him, Collins took the bait, starting My Partner from scratch.
“We were about to lose the funding: They said, ‘Produce a script, or the project is over,’” Collins says. The film—which is focused on struggles over water resources, natural resource conflicts and Hawaiian cultural issues—sums up the primary causes for which Collins advocates.
Collins says writing a screenplay isn’t that different from legal writing. “You have to have a very clear story with all the facts,” Collins says.
A lawyer who wears many hats
While the screenplay was a first for him, it may be no surprise that Collins is also an editor. He is the series editor and co-editor of 15 books about West Maui currently in print, ranging from Tourism Impacts West Maui to Thinking about Traffic in West Maui. His 15th book, Historical Investigations in West Maui, was released in August, and a 16th book, Whose Future? Community Planning in West Maui by Lisa Huynh Eller, will be released in November.
In 2017, when there was a shortage of personnel, Collins did a one-year stint as an Ilokano language teacher from at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. It is the only university in the United States where Ilokano—the native language of 11% of the Phillipines’ population—is taught. In Hawaii, 90% of the Philippine population are Ilokano or Ilokano-descended, and they make up the majority of Hawaiian immigrants, according to Collins, who adds that his in-laws and other close relatives are Ilokano.
The one thing all his careers and interests have in common is the history and culture of West Maui.
“I feel that a lack of historical understanding leads people to repeat the same mistakes of the past,” Collins says. “All the non-law-specific things I do are part of trying to make our community better. I see it all as different aspects of the same thing.”
When he’s working as a lawyer, he’s helping locals resolve their disputes. In his other roles, Collins says, he’s representing residents on-screen and in books.
His work is vital to Maui, says Bianca Isaki, a lawyer in Honolulu and a gender studies lecturer at the University of Hawaii at Manoa.
“Maui’s unique history and culture are being erased through the steady onslaught of real estate speculators [and] hedge funds—and well-resourced retirees seem intent on making Maui into a resort enclave for the rich,” Isaki says.
In his very limited free time, Collins, 44, produces music projects and received his first Nā Hōkū Hanohano award (essentially, Hawaii’s Grammy) this year for his work on Kāwili 2, a compilation of Philippine folk songs and traditional Hawaiian music. He also enjoys hanging out with his spouse of 17 years and with his two Labradoodles.
Updated on Oct. 11 to correct information about Collins’s book releases.
