e.tv has the new international Baywatch-esque TV drama Safe, stylised as SAF3, currently being filmed in Camps Bay in Cape Town which will start on the South African commercial free-to-air TV channel in 2014.
When I heard two months ago about e.tv securing Safe or SAF3, I asked e.tv who them denied any involvement with the new action series produced by Tower 18 Productions, Emmett/Furla Productions and Kalahari Pictures.
Now I can report as fact that e.tv does have the show from Baywatch creator Gregory J. Bonann and will broadcast it in 2014.
Filming on SAF3 which started in August and which also makes use of a 30 by 15 metre and 3 metre deep tank at The Ottery Youth Centre, will continue until 13 December in Cape Town with a estimated injection of R160 million for the local economy.
All post-production on SAF3 with a Babylon 5 type show logo is done in South Africa - a first for an international TV series of this scale, and there's ironic trivia like the lifeguard tower for the show which is actually better than the one used for real on Camps Bay.
The TV drama follows Southern California's elite rescue task force, SAF3 (pronouced "safe") who do daring rescues in dangerous places with Dolph Lundgren, Katie Meehan, Lydia Hull and Travis Burns with Cape Town doubling as Malibu.
"Greg and his team looked allover the world, including America, New Zealand and Australia but chose Cape Town for the production value, labour force and gorgeous scenery they could get here," says Michael Murphy of Kalahari Pictures.
"Cape Town has proved again that it's a film-friendly destination and it's reaping the benefits," says Michael Murphy.
