Governor hopes
to strengthen ties
with Hollywood

Gov. Ben Cayetano said he agreed to appear in an episode of "Baywatch Hawaii," not as a possible start of a second career, but to foster ties between Hawaii and Hollywood.

"It was fun," Cayetano said about his brief role filmed Wednesday in Haleiwa.

"And the reason I did it was because it's really important that we strengthen the very positive relationship we have right now with 'Baywatch.' "

Cayetano said "Baywatch" executive producer Gregg Bonann told him the production has never been treated as well and has never received the kind of cooperation as they have here in Hawaii.

It is news the governor hopes Bonann relays to Hollywood.

"We want to make sure we can build on that because we want this guy to go back to the mainland and tell everyone about it," he said.

"This is a new day here in Hawaii, and film and television and movies are important ... to our economy."