'Food Boy' launches film career
NAPERVILLE | Superhero tale marks '00 grad's debut as director
It's a bird, it's a plane, it's ... Food Boy?
Enter the newest superhero: a high school kid named Ezra who discovers he can instantly make apples appear in his hands and milk shoot from his palms.
(Ezra Entertainment)
Ezra learns how to control his ability to produce food in "The Adventures of Food Boy" -- a film directed by a 2000 graduate of Naperville North High School. Dane Cannon, 25, received a bachelor's degree in media arts last summer from Brigham Young University, just in time to spend July and August directing the 90-minute film.
Cannon, who was in fourth grade when his family moved from St. Louis to Naperville, said he was the "science and math" kid in high school but never really enjoyed the subjects.
When Cannon entered Brigham Young University, he signed up for what he thought would be a "blow-off" class: introduction to film.
But he fell in love with it.
"It was really difficult, and because of that, I was drawn to it," he said. "It requires an incredible amount of coordination. It turns out to be a cranial workout, I'd say."
As soon as Cannon attended the first day of class, his mother said, he was hooked.
"He has a very creative side to him, and it doesn't surprise me in that respect," Shirin said. "Dane is one of those people ... he's a magnet, he's a fun tornado."
Cannon met classmate Sam Mangum, who introduced him to his brother Marc. Marc Mangum was a corporate lawyer in Washington, D.C., but had started a production company and was working on his first film.
A few weeks after the three sat down to brainstorm about the film, Marc Mangum started thinking about hiring Cannon as director. Cannon was young and had talent and some experience in film -- just the type of person Marc Mangum sought.
"We kept coming back to Dane," he said. "A lot of it came down to both Sam's experience [with Dane] and what other people thought [of him]. The dude's an easygoing guy, very ambitious, very talented. I love working with the guy."
Then in June 2006, Cannon directed a short version of the film so Marc Mangum would have an example to show potential investors. A little more than a year later, he directed the feature film.
"Adventures of Food Boy" stars Lucas Grabeel, who played the role of Ryan Evans in the Disney television film "High School Musical." Mangum also lined up other actors from the Emmy-winning film, which Cannon says was a smart move for the fledgling production company.
"We feel pretty lucky to get [Lucas] on board," Cannon said. "Getting some of the smaller characters from 'High School Musical' made it solid, as well."
A boy who could magically produce food began as a character in a bedtime story Mangum told to his young son. When he was sifting through plot ideas years later, he remembered the stories.
"I filed that away and didn't think much about it," he said. "This is one of the ideas I kept in the memory bank."
On Saturday, the film will premiere at Newport Beach Film Festival and is slated for a showing May 10 at the DelRay Beach Film Festival.
Sun-Times News Group
