Reel News
Viewers passed
on ‘Baywatch’U.S. programming is making a comeback on Indonesian TV, and one of the most-watched imports is "Baywatch Hawaii." Too bad that audience couldn't tune in Friday for "Baywatch Hawaiian Wedding." The two-hour reunion movie landed the Fox network in fourth place in ratings for the night.
No one seemed to care about the old cast. There wasn't even much of a morbid curiosity factor, given some of the cast members' personal woes with drugs, disease and booze ...
Another "Blue Crush" stepchild: MTV has ordered 13 episodes of "Surf Girls," a reality project that follows 15 contestants as they tour world surfing locations, including Hawaii. Viewers will see them train for competitions with some of the world's best female surfers and compete for a sponsorship deal with Roxy. The series premiere is May 12 ...
Maui Film Commissioner Benita Brazier began her new post Monday and this week is meeting with the mayor to discuss film and TV production direction and promotions. Brazier just finished working on the Samuel Jackson film "S.W.A.T." ...
More Hawaii location competition: Fiji is implementing a tax rebate for film and TV productions that spend at least 35 percent of their budgets there. The government also will build soundstages, offices, backlots and hotels linked to an optic-fiber cable system connecting Fiji with Australia, New Zealand and North America on 5,000 acres to be called Yaqara Studio City. The new legislation will provide a 15 percent tax rebate payable by the government to film and TV productions, but expenditures must be between $23,000 and $1.2 million ...
Richard Chamberlain's autobiography "Toward Love: A Memoir" will be published in September. The book deals, in part, with the very private Chamberlain talking about living life with complete honesty. Look for major publicity on this one ...
Reel News unspools every Wednesday.
Contact Tim Ryan at tryan@starbulletin.com.