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Honolulu Lite
IT'S ironic that the state Legislature sunk the so-called "Baywatch Bailout Bill" and, then, "Baywatch Hawaii" turned around and bailed out Maili Elementary School. ‘Baywatch’ is a
breath of cold airFilm industry mavens like "Baywatch" producer Greg Bonann and "Destination Stardom" producer Al Masini had asked the state to set up a multimillion-dollar fund to support television series shot in Hawaii. Legislators, tangling with other important issues, like water taxes and state-sponsored nap times, blew off the "Baywatch" bailout. That elicited a large, collective yawn by the public. Hawaii residents are generally suspicious of the film industry, believing that productions are rolling in dough.
I suspect there's also a certain amount of jealousy involved. ("You mean Bonann gets paid to spend all day on the beach with the best-looking chicks in the world and he STILL wants my tax money? Getouttahere!")
Bonann doesn't seem bitter about being rebuffed. Unlike many of the Hollywood types who blow into town to use Hawaii as a backdrop for their productions, Bonann is incredibly accessible to local people.
In contrast, Malcolm McDowall, the star and power behind the short-lived "Fantasy Island" series, was amazingly aloof and arrogant to both those in the production and outsiders. He once ordered an assistant to drive from the Waianae coast to Kahala during heavy traffic just to fetch a newspaper for him.
WHEN I visited the set to write a column about "Fantasy Island", his highness refused to grant me a one-minute audience, apparently confusing me with someone who gave a hoot. I've interviewed everyone from underworld hitmen to U.S. Supreme Court justices. I wanted to tell him, "Malcolm, buddy, you're an actor in a third-rate TV show, you aren't the Dalai Lama." I didn't get a chance. The show was canceled before I could get the column in the paper.
"Baywatch" producers are more down to earth and seem interested in establishing strong local ties. Forget the ritzy high-rise executive office, Bonann works out of a ramshackle cottage at the Diamond Head studios. He returns calls and is willing to talk to local writers. (We have simple needs.)
Generally speaking, national television shows don't need the local press. What some columnist on an afternoon paper in the middle of the Pacific says about them isn't exactly going to cause their Neilson rating to spike. But there is something to be said for creating goodwill in the local community.
Bonann seems to understand that. Which explains why he came to the rescue of Maili Elementary School, where students are forced to endure 100-degree heat in their classrooms, along with the smells from nearby pig and chicken farms.
I've written a lot on the school's problems, to the point of getting a personal call from the governor basically asking me to get off his back. He said Maili had been moved to the top of the repair list and help was imminent, which in government terms, means next school year. Maybe.
"Baywatch" paid for air conditioners to be installed in the school immediately, a word rarely exercised at the Capitol.
Sure, donating the air conditioners could be a publicity stunt. So what? At least for the last few weeks of school, the kids will be able to concentrate on learning instead of heat stroke.
Such involvement in the community from previous television shows would have been a mere fantasy.
Charles Memminger, winner of
National Society of Newspaper Columnists
awards in 1994 and 1992, writes "Honolulu Lite"
Monday, Wednesday and Friday.
Write to him at the Honolulu Star-Bulletin,
P.O. Box 3080, Honolulu, 96802
or send E-mail to charley@nomayo.com or
71224.113@compuserve.com.
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