If a victory for ABC's "Lost" is — by not-so-far extension — a victory for Hawai'i's film and TV industry, what are we to make of the hit show's impressive one-week haul of six Emmy awards and 12 nominations?

"People watch the Emmys very, very closely and I think (the Emmy recognition) speaks volumes about Hawai'i's capabilities as a location that can support a first-rate production," said Hawai'i film commissioner Donne Dawson. "It's a wordof-mouth business and everybody watches and talks about what everybody else is doing."

The awards started rolling in at last week's Creative Arts Emmy Awards, where "Lost" won outstanding special visual effects for a series, outstanding casting for a drama series, outstanding single-camera picture editing for a drama deries, and outstanding music composition for a series (dramatic underscore).

At Sunday's televised awards show, "Lost" took home the prestigious award for outstanding drama series. Series creator J.J. Abrams also won for outstanding directing for a drama series for the show's two-hour pilot.

The significance of the Emmy wins wasn't lost on veteran actor Matthew Fox, who plays "Jack" on the show.

"I didn't expect this to happen," Fox said. "Historically, shows do not win the Emmy in their first year."

Dawson said she was especially pleased for local special-effects expert Archie Ahuna, one of the state's most experienced and most sought-after film professionals.

Ahuna was part of the nine-member special-effects team that took home the award for outstanding special visual effects for a series at the creative arts Emmy Awards.

"It's wonderful to see him get this sort of accolade at this point in his career," Dawson said. "It really underscores the quality of our local crews."

Ahuna called the award "a great honor," but said it wasn't likely to change his life or his work.

"Nah," he said. "I'm just the same old me, the same old guy."

Nearly everyone from the cast attended Sunday's awards show except for Malcolm David Kelley ("Walt") and Yunjin Kim ("Sun").

An ABC publicist said Kelley did not attend because the show ran short of its allotted tickets "and he's a minor."

Kim remained on O'ahu to shoot a scene.

In fact, the production didn't miss a beat, even with actors flying to California and back to attend the awards. Filming resumed on schedule yesterday.

Even before the awards, cast members said they felt pressure following the success of Season 1.

"There's more pressure now because we're not 'the hot, new show,' we're just 'the hot show,' " said Dominic Monaghan, who plays "Charlie." "We've got to back that up now. We've got to deliver."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.