Island Voices
'Baywatch' did a lot for the local scene

By Scott Rogers
On-set acting coach for "Baywatch Hawai‘i"

I was the on-set acting coach for "Baywatch Hawai‘i" (yes, there is acting on "Baywatch") this past season. I was a local hire, and while I agree with much of Lee Cataluna’s Feb. 11 column, I must mention a few facts:

"Baywatch" did spend about a million dollars a week here while in production.

It hired almost entirely local crew members (unlike many films that shoot here).

The "free" hotel rooms were supplied by the hotels in trade for on-air exposure.

Hawai‘i will benefit from years of reruns because of the increased exposure we will get.

I witnessed many occasions in which executive producer Frank South sacrificed time and, yes, even money to be culturally accurate and sensitive. The writers were advised by many of the top cultural experts in Hawai‘i. The writers and cast went to "boot camp" with Brian Keaulana to learn accurate lifesaving techniques.

This season, "Baywatch" hired a local writer "discovered" at the Maui Screenwriters Conference (who works for your competitors). The point is, the effort was made, even if success was not always achieved (and I’m the first to admit that it wasn’t).

Now, having said all that, I also agree that much of what Cataluna says is right. The money the state invested in "Baywatch" should be invested in local films and TV. Unions should be giving concessions to our own projects.

For example, Hawai‘i has a studio but no real post-production facility. So production companies still must use facilities on the Mainland. We would need to have three or four productions shooting here in order for a post-production facility (and the chemicals it would require) to be viable here in Hawai‘i, unless the state were to get involved and invest in the local film industry by helping to provide such a facility or offsetting some of the operating costs.

This would make it much more financially viable for the big films and TV shows to shoot here (with less concessions by our unions) and our local work could be made much more cost-effective. If the state is going to invest in the film industry, I propose that this is the place to do it.

There are, obviously, many areas where the quality of a show like "Baywatch" could be improved. But let’s keep in mind that it is what it always was, a show about beautiful people.

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