Volunteers become stars

The bright lights of the Western Australian film industry shone on Yalgoo last month when the director of western film The Decadent and Depraved came to town.

The Decadent and Depraved was filmed in Yalgoo and across remote areas of the Mid West last year and the cast and crew had St John Ambulance volunteers on call in case of medical emergencies.

Director Jordon Prince-Wright said if it wasn’t for remote communities like Yalgoo, he wouldn’t have been able to pull it off.

“We had (the volunteers) on standby in case an actor fell off a horse, which did happen a few times,” he said. Mr Prince-Wright returned to Yalgoo last month to repay the favour, shooting a short film to promote the importance of community involvement and volunteering for St John Ambulance.

“I’ve been here many times and I love it ... everyone’s always welcoming with open arms,” he said.

“For a filmmaker, we’re usually quite stressed and rushing around doing everything, so to come here and shoot with a stock of people together being so friendly, it’s really pleasing to see,” he said.

Mid West community paramedic Blair Bayens said the ambulance volunteers of Yalgoo donated 80 hours of their time on the set of The Decadent and Depraved.