When the Emmy Awards are announced Sunday, it's a good bet "Lost" won't take home any. Its top nomination went to left-field candidate Henry Ian Cusick ("Desmond"), who scored a nod for outstanding guest actor in a drama series. That award went out last weekend, and Cusick didn't make the cut.

After a breakthrough first season, "Lost" took some lumps from critics and a few fans last year for its complicated (some say convoluted) plot lines. That may or may not have been a factor in the show's conspicuous absence from the Emmy nominations for best dramatic series.

"I know our ratings didn't drop — they were even better than (the first) season — so it doesn't have to do with the popularity of the show," said Yunjin Kim ("Sun"), who joined cast mates and members of the creative crew at the Turtle Bay resort for the "Lost" second-season DVD release party last week. "I don't know what the nomination process is for the Emmys, but maybe we didn't catch their attention."

The third season of the Hawai'i-filmed show kicks off Oct. 4 with the first of six new episodes. The show then takes a few weeks off to accommodate the filming schedule before returning with an additional 17 new episodes.

"This season we are getting back to the island, and there will be a lot more action and a lot more romance," Kim said. "Hopefully, that will get their attention and their vote."

Evangeline Lilly, who will serve as a presenter for the Sunday Emmy telecast, told The Associated Press, "My first reaction to (the Emmy snub) was, 'Good.' I don't want us to become that show that becomes so righteous, so above everything else, that we're untouchable.

"When we started, our big question was, 'Will anybody even watch this show?' And then when people started watching, we were thrilled. And then when we got recognized critically, we were beside ourselves. So when we didn't get nominated, all we had to do was remember where we came from."

FINE FELLOWS

The University of Hawai'i's Academy for Creative Media has a new endeavor: It's partnered with the Korean Film Council for an inaugural KOFIC Filmmakers Development Lab, which will provide mentorship for five up-and-coming filmmakers.

Similar to the Sundance Screenwriters Lab, the KOFIC/ACM Lab works to help young filmmakers advance projects with potential appeal to both South Korean and American audiences.

The first fellowship class includes Philip Chung, artistic director of the Asian American Lodestone Theater and a columnist for AsianWeek; Kim Young Il, a screenwriter and filmmaker recognized at the Film Independent and Austin screenwriting competitions; Abraham Lim, whose film resume includes indie hits "Fly," "Roads and Bridges" and "MVP"; Jinoh Park, whose films have been screened at Cannes and Sundance; and Mora Mi-Ok Stephens, whose debut feature film "Conventioneers" won the 2006 Independent Spirit John Cassavetes Award for best feature.

Mentors include Johnathan Kim, chairman of the Korean Film Producers Association and president of Hanmac Films; Chul Shin, president of the Shincine production company; Wimal Dissanayake, an ACM instructor and noted Asian film scholar; Barry Sabath, former film development head at Twentieth Century Fox, Columbia Pictures and Robin Williams' Blue Wolf Productions and a senior lecturer at the American Film Institute; Adam Novak, story department head at the William Morris Agency; and Henry Kim, director of the Korean Film Council.

The lab takes place Sept. 4 to 10 in Hawai'i. The fellows will then head to the Pusan International Film Festival in South Korea in October to market their work to film industry representatives.

ATOM SMASH

It's been two years since James Sereno's "Silent Years" was first released (garnering a slew of festival awards), but the 10-minute film based on Lois-Ann Yamanaka's poetry is still attracting new, appreciative fans.

The short, which stars Julie Nagata, Matt Miller, Wil Kahele and Janice Terukina, is ranked the No. 1 dramatic film on Atom films.com. Check it out.

As one viewer wrote in a response post: "It's so important that these stories be told. That these children aren't silenced. It's the only way to ever make the abuse stop. Not easy to watch — but totally necessary."

REEL STORIES RETURNS

Don Brown's "Hawaii's Reel Stories" returns to OC 16 this month with a new co-host and more of the latest goings-on in the local film industry.

Local model and actress Juliet Lighter takes over for Cathy Tanaka as co-host (along with Jason Suapaia). Tanaka is now plying her comedy skills in Los Angeles. Also joining the "Reel Stories" mix is the seemingly ubiquitous Christina Simpkins, who kicks in this month with a profile of actor Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa.

The program airs several times each week on OC 16. Check the schedule at oc16.oceanic.com.

Brown has been busy, not only producing the show but producing short films for Tory Tukuafu's Showdown in Chinatown competitions and programming the new Tuesday Shorts events at rRed Elephant Cafe.

FILM FRENZY

To paraphrase Mr. T, we pity the foo' who tries to keep track of Christina Simpkins these days. A newcomer to the scene when she served as a photographer and unofficial P.R. person for Pacific Films' 2004 submarine thriller "Tides of War," Simpkins has since worn many different hats.

In short order, Simpkins (a photographer by trade) has served as producer on Vince Keala Lucero's film "Wahine o Ke Kai," a production assistant and extra on "Lost," local coordinator for Regent Films (which recently moved the cable series "Dante's Cove" to Hawai'i), a columnist for "IN" magazine, a contributor to Don Brown's "Hawaii's Reel Stories," a publicist and organizer for the Showdown in Chinatown 24-hour film contest, and an actress in several short films. And we are surely forgetting a few other posts.

Simpkins also is in the midst of developing a TV series idea that would give a "Tabloid Wars" treatment to local film contests.

Updates by the minute ...

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.