Life’s a beach for Blenheim twins
Identical twins Lyriks and Xavier Caldwell, 17, from Blenheim were picked to take part in an advert for Marlborough District Council. Photo: Supplied.
Twin brothers have been making waves with a beach-themed advert geared to help people prepare for an emergency.
Identical twins Lyriks and Xavier Caldwell, 17, from Blenheim were picked to take part in an advert for Marlborough District Council.
Filmed at Rarangi Beach in September, the 30-second film is one of three Emergency Preparedness Videos aimed at New Zealand's young adults.
The duo, who graduated from Marlborough Boys’ College on Wednesday, say they loved making the film and may have found a future career.
“We loved it,” Xavier says, “It was an unbelievable experience to be part of.
“When we first saw the advert when it was released, we were astounded.
“It was so much fun to do and I’m proud of us both.”
The boys who are originally from Kerikeri in the north Island moved to Blenheim 11 years ago.
Both enjoy drama and acting, having recently been in Priscilla Queen of the Desert and say they would be delighted to do more film work.
“It’s been a childhood dream of mine to be an actor,” Lyriks says.
The boys were spotted in the Marlborough Boys’ and Marlborough Girls’ Colleges combined performance of School of Rock.
Producer Jeannie Mark’s daughter, Claudia Mark asked the boys if they’d be keen to take part and they jumped at the chance.
Filming was scheduled for up to an hour-and-a-half, but the boys had it wrapped up within 30 minutes.
The storyline shows the difference being prepared can make when one brother has a full fishing rod ready to go and the other forgets and is forced to use a toy rod.
“There was us in front of the camera and three others filming. Then there were two people there who looked after us.
“It was like being a film star,” Lyriks laughs.
Council says research shows 18- to 35-year-olds are the least prepared for an emergency.
A spokesman says Xavier and Lyriks have “star quality.”
“I hope their performance in our videos helps open doors for them to do more film projects - and whatever other creative pursuits they wish to explore.
“All our actors are volunteers – special thanks to Mannie Tai for stepping in at the last minute and to Claudia Mark for helping find all this Marlborough talent.”
The videos are designed to encourage them to get prepared.
All three videos were filmed in Marlborough but are designed to be used across the country.
They were officially launched at the Emergency Media and Public Affairs conference in Wellington on 19 October.
“The videos have been picked up by other regions for promotion including Auckland, Waikato, Southland and Canterbury,” the council spokesman says.
“So far the Rarangi fishing one alone has been viewed 4,500 times on Council’s Facebook page and I expect the number of views nationally will go well into the tens of thousands.”
View the video at