March 1999 – Variety
Looks like “Baywatch” is Australia-bound after a bid to relocate production of the syndie series to Hawaii fell apart Friday at the 11th hour.
Greg Bonann, exec producer and co-creator of “Baywatch,” said the show had reached a deal with the DGA, SAG and IATSE to produce new “Baywatch” segs based on the lower pay rate for longform rather than series production, but the Teamsters local would not sign off on the deal.
Leo T. Reed, the Teamsters official who made the final decision, according to Bonann, could not be reached for comment late Friday.
“Baywatch,” currently a union show based in Los Angeles, has been looking to slash costs and provide a fresh look for the 9-year-old series by setting up shop in another exotic locale.
Producers were headed offshore to Australia, but Hawaii state officials mounted an aggressive counter bid as a means of boosting tourism and pumping up the local production community. Bonann said he was anxious to keep “Baywatch” a union show in the U.S., noting the ever-increasing tide of runaway series and telepic production to Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Mexico.
“I’m heartsick,” Bonann told Daily Variety on Friday. “I wanted to keep this show in America, and all the other (unions) and their reps understood what we were trying to do and how it would help them… It’s just tragic that one guy could wreck it.”
