A poster used to promote the short video Ocean Safety. Photo: Joe Franzone.
With the ever-present threat to uneducated visitors who don’t know the south coast’s peculiar hazards, Esperance film maker Joe Franzone’s coastal safety film is now showing before feature films at a local cinema.
Franzone said he filmed the infomercial Ocean Safety with Jonah Symons at the request of Esperance Ocean Safety and the Shire.
“We released it on socials on January 25, 2023 and it went really crazy viral,” Franzone said.
“I think it ended up getting something ridiculous like 60,000 views.
“It got shared all over WA and the police shared it and I think a few other big ones shared it, the message was really well received.”
The message is four-fold: read the warning signs at every beach entrance; never turn your back on the ocean; stay off the black rocks; and if you see something, say something.
The characters are two young men: one taking selfies of himself at the foreshore, just inches from our slippery black rocks, and the other rushing to warn him of the slip hazards and threat of a king wave.
“It is a really serious issue and we wanted to get the message out with a bit of humour but in a way that would help the message stick,” Franzone said.
“As soon as people saw the video they got glued to it and wanted to watch the whole thing, I think that is what it managed to do.”
Anglers and other holiday makers who are new to Esperance are also urged to see the short video which can be found on The Friendzoned Experience Facebook and Instagram profiles.
