Durban
The title of a TV documentary series about the city’s lifesavers that will be broadcast around the world, has been changed “in the city’s favour”.
The 10-episode series, which was to be called Heatwave, is now going to be called Durban Beach Rescue, Simphiwe Ngcobo, the KwaZulu-Natal Film Commission’s production and development manager, announced at a recent briefing.
The series was shot at the height of the hectic December festive season when Durban’s heroic lifeguards dealt with massive crowds, dramatic rescues, a suspected shark attack, a mass rescue of 150 bathers at the notorious Wedge Beach, baptism rituals in the middle of the ocean and a 3-year-old boy lost in a crowd of 40 000 holidaymakers.
Speaking from New York, where she is at the moment, the Durban-born executive producer, Bronwyn Berry, said that the series – each episode is 24 minutes – would be broadcast on the Travel Channel and go out in the UK, Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia-Pacific.
The exact date of the premiere has not yet been confirmed, but there are strong hints are that it could be next month, she said.
“The Travel Channel wanted an instantly recognisable title… You know what you are getting with both ‘beach’ and ‘rescue’ – sunshine, shorelines, sexy bodies and some action.
“Travel Channel also considers Durban an internationally identifiable location, a place that most viewers would have heard of, and for some, a prospective holiday destination.”
Berry said that the “phenomenon of Durban during the festive season presented the most incredible story… dynamic characters, real-life drama and gorgeous location.”
The director, Australian Eddie Edwards, experienced it one December and pitched the idea to her and she immediately saw the potential for a TV series.
It was a real-life Baywatch, played out on a popular beach, she said.
“More than 12 lifeguards are featured in the show, and they are all stars. They are heroes, professionals who put the lives of the holidaymakers above their own. They are always mentally and physically prepared for the demands placed on them during the festive season.”
The crew filmed with five cameras as well as five underwater action cameras, and one senior lifeguard, Sihle Xaba, did some of the underwater shots.
“We shot continuously for 28 hours, always on the beach from sunrise to sunset, sometimes filming night patrol.
“The production team and technical crew worked shifts throughout the festive season. Everyone worked on the big holidays – December 16, Christmas and Family Day and New Year’s Day. We were determined not to miss anything – and we didn’t.”
The locations were at all the main Durban beaches from uShaka to the Country Club, “but we also wanted the diversity that uMhlanga offered”.
The show was funded by Travel Channel and the international distributor, Sky Vision.
It qualified for the Department of Trade and Industry Film and TV incentive and the KZN Film Commission made a contribution, while Trade and Investment KZN helped with development funding.
“But we could not have made the show without the support of the City of Durban and the Durban Film Office, which had the foresight to recognise what the show could do to promote Durban’s image internationally as a place of interest and a tourist destination,” Berry said.
“The city provided the production office of our dreams on Dairy Beach, right in the middle of the action, with amazing views of the promenade and the ocean.”
Although Berry and her team have been in discussions with both eTV and SABC for more than a year, “it seems neither broadcaster is able to make a commitment to air the show.
“This is indeed a shame, because these are our stories, the lifeguards are our local heroes, to be adored by all South Africans.”
* Simphiwe Ngcobo of the KZN Film Commission said that Durban Beach Rescue was the first project the commission was involved in to be finished and to be broadcast internationally.
“It says a lot about KZN as a film location,” he said.
The KZN Film Commission began operating in 2013 and now has its full complement of staff. Carole Coetzee, the chief executive, said at the recent briefing that the aim was to create a sustainable film industry, to be a production hub in South Africa and to be known as a destination of choice internationally.
Another local production is also on the cards, having received development funding from the Commission.
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