Laguna Beach : ‘Hip’ Producers to Do Film on Water Safety

Madonna, watch out.

The Laguna Beach Lifeguard Assn. has entered the music-video scene, hiring two young rock-video producers to make a stylish and upbeat film about water safety.

The video is aimed at elementary and junior high school students and will discuss the dangers of riptides, powerful waves and diving in shallow waters, lifeguard Mike Dwinell said.

But unlike most educational films, it will contain new music performed by the latest bands and a montage of California beach and surfing images, director Bill Langenheim said.

The film, titled “Be Smart, Be Cool,” will last only eight to 12 minutes. “The attention span of the average 8-year-old is not that great,” Langenheim explained.

Dwinell said he has been considering such a film for about three years. With the backing of the lifeguard association, he dropped off bulletin board announcements at college campuses around Orange County and at the University of Southern California.

Langenheim and his partner, Douglas Gayeton, both students at USC’s graduate film school who have formed their own production company, responded to the announcement and got the job.

“I guess they wanted a hip, young filmmaker approach,” Gayeton said. “Kids aren’t going to buy someone telling them what to do or how to act unless there’s a degree of coolness involved.”

Shooting is scheduled to begin in August. The film will tell the story of how a younger boy learns how to be safe at the beach, while his older brother winds up needing rescuing, Dwinell said. Peter Townend, a champion surfer, has agreed to have a role in the film, Dwinell said.

“Be Smart, Be Cool” is only the first movie in a planned three-film series. Past and current lifeguards in Laguna Beach and local businesses are trying to raise money to pay for the production of this film, Dwinell said. The association is searching for a corporation to underwrite the cost of next two safety films.

Gayeton, who grew up in California, and Langenheim, who spent his childhood in Hawaii, said they both realize the importance of this film. “I’ve seen people getting pulled out of the water, and it’s pretty creepy,” Langenheim said.

Last summer in Laguna Beach, lifeguards rescued 1,500 people, and 100 of those needed medical attention, Dwinell said. He said he plans to hand the film out to local schools and encourage teachers to make copies of it for further distribution.

Gayeton and Langenheim, whose work includes documentary films and several rock videos such as “Cowboy in the Night” by the Killer Bees, said they know they can get safety tips across by using a rock-video style.

“Today’s kids are much more visually literate,” Langenheim said. “They’ve been weaned on TV.” Dwinell agreed: “You know how sophisticated those little guys are these days.”