Mixed Plate Special - WadaLife for Robert Poleki

WadaLife for Robert Poleki

Sunday, March 01 2009

It’s the second weekend of the month, and that means it’s time for another Showdown in Chinatown. The monthly quick-draw short film contest has uncovered some insane local talent and inspired the pursuit of creative visual storytelling. One of Showdown’s main contenders is the WadaLife Film Co., and we’re pleased to bring you a previous entry by promising young director Robert Poleki called “Run It!” The requirements included: the theme “chase”; “What do you want from me?” as a line of dialogue; a camera and headphones as props.

Born in Manurewa, New Zealand, the 26-year-old, self-taught moviemaker moved to Hawai‘i when he was 12. He went to Radford and played football at McKinley before attending Idaho State, where he played football and got a degree in social work. After winning the national title in 2005 as an offensive guard for the arena football team Tri-City Fever, Poleki returned to Hawai‘i, where he now applies his social work degree at the Institute for Human Services, the state’s largest nonprofit homeless shelter operator.

An ‘Olelo class taught Robert the basics of video production, and with that he was off and running after his passion for movies and movie-making. He established WadaLife, an entourage of family and friends who provide unconditional support and constant comic relief. He taps on everyday experiences to get ideas for sketches, and every time he thinks of a way to write humor into a real-life situation, he records it in his phone. To date, he’s got more than 200 skits to recreate.

Mark Twain said, “The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.” Regular Showdown-goers know that WadaLife always kills it; the laugh-out-loud antics of the gregarious Samoans consistently garner top 3 finishes. Check them out tomorrow on ‘Olelo at 9am with their collection of skits dubbed “Friday Night.” Here’s hoping they get picked up by OC16, so we can get our dose WadaLife at home.