Hawaii's film commissioner is a picture of good health.
By Craig DeSilva
Donne Dawson looks at least a decade younger than her 46 years.
Maybe it’s good genes. Or maybe it’s from a lifetime of physical activity. But one thing’s certain – she didn’t get that way being a gym rat. In fact, she’s proud to say she doesn’t even own a gym membership.
Instead, the Hawaii film commissioner gets her physical – as well as inner – sustenance from the outdoors, whether being in the ocean or hiking mountains. “I’m not a five- or three-day-a-week in-the-gym kind of person,” says Dawson. “I feel strength being out in nature.”
As head of the Hawaii Film Office, Dawson loves sharing her homeland with the rest of the world, promoting Hawaii as a backdrop for TV and films to Hollywood producers. Her days are long and the pace is fast; she often travels to Los Angeles or the Neighbor Islands and coordinates location shoots and other behind-the-scenes duties for Hawaii’s film industry.
To escape the topsy-turvy world of show biz, Dawson finds solace on Kahoolawe, the island that for decades was used for military bombing practice. Dawson volunteers to lead access trips to the island for the Protect Kahoolawe Ohana, the grassroots organization working to heal and revitalize the island’s landscape for cultural and educational uses.
Dawson first went to the island four years ago at the encouragement of a friend. “I had just come back from the Sundance Film Festival and was going through personal things in my life with a divorce,” says Dawson. “She told me I needed to go there and that it would be really good for me.”
Dawson was hesitant at first, knowing the island’s inhospitable terrain. There is no harbor at the entry point; visitors are dropped off by boat into the ocean in the early morning and swim to shore with their personal belongings. Containers full of water and food to last the four-day stay are hauled to shore. Visitors camp with no electricity or running water, and help with native plants and other restoration work. The biggest challenge is a daylong hike to one of the island’s highest points.
For Dawson, who’s part Hawaiian, Kahoolawe gets her in touch with her cultural roots and provides opportunities to be outdoors. “It’s put my physical stamina to the test,” she says. “I was completely changed by the experience. There was something so spiritual. Something cultural was ignited inside me that was being fed while I was there. I just had to have more.”
A graduate of La Pietra-Hawaii School for Girls, Dawson participated in swimming, volleyball and basketball. In her adult life, she’d bike up Tantalus, run in the Kilauea Volcano Wilderness Run on the Big Island, and hike the Nuuanu Judd trail in back of her family home. She grew up with older sisters and a younger brother who also excelled in sports. And her mother, attorney Beadie Dawson, is known for always being on the go, whether working in her garden or working out at her fitness club.
Donne Dawson, a former freelance journalist, is learning that her body doesn’t work like it used to, especially her knees. She’s now concentrating on lower impact activities. She’s taking Pilates classes to help build core strength and increase flexibility. And she’s dabbling in her childhood pastimes of surfing and hula. “I probably need exercise way more now than I ever did because of the slowing of metabolism,” she says.
Dawson admits her career makes it hard to find time for exercise. No matter what activity she chooses, it will likely be in the picture-perfect place she’s proud to call home. “I feel blessed we live in a place where we can experience this year-round.”
