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Not that long ago, Kelly Blatz worked at a Starbucks in Burbank, Calif., fetching coffee for executives who worked at the neighbourhood TV and film studios. As he puts it, "I used to serve all the people I work for now." Blatz just wrapped production on a second season of the Disney XD series "Aaron Stone" (Family Channel). He was in Toronto earlier this week to promote his latest project, the sci-fi ’tween drama "Skyrunners" (premiering Friday, Nov. 27 on Family). In the TV movie, Blatz plays high school senior Nick Burns, who, together with his younger brother Tyler (Joey Pollari), discovers a UFO has landed in their town. The boys seize the saucer as their own personal spacecraft, and soon, "weird stuff starts happening to Tyler," says Blatz. Not surprising, given that Tyler has been abducted by aliens. Nick has to rescue his brother, distract a persistent government agent and appease an uptight girlfriend - all before he graduates. The TV movie - the first for the U.S. cable channel Disney XD - has an odd history. It all started when Blatz won the lead role of video game ace and secret superhero Aaron Stone by accidentally pulling a fire alarm at his audition. Blatz walked in and sheepishly admitted to the panel of producers, casting agents and network executives that he was the dummy responsible for the racket. The panel smiled, looked at each other and knew they’d found their klutzy super hero. Most young Canadian actors dream of one day making it in Hollywood. Blatz - born and raised in Burbank, where he could walk to three or four major Hollywood studios - boarded a plane and flew to Toronto to shoot "Aaron Stone." When the pilot episode was done, Disney execs told their likable young star that they wanted him for "Skyrunner." Blatz was thrilled. "There was this amazing script, all about alien invasions, very Spielberg-esque," he says. He went straight into production on "Skyrunner," also shot in Toronto. That was in the summer of 2007. Production was halted on the TV-movie while Blatz finished the first season of "Stone." When the filmmakers went to resume work on "Skyrunners" over a year later, Blatz’s co-star, Minneapolis teen Pollari, had grown "like a foot and his voice changed and everything," says Blatz. The filmmakers wrote that into the plot, turning puberty "into the coolest movie special effect ever." Most of the other actors on "Skyrunners" are Canadian. Linda Kash - best known as the angel from those long-running Philadelphia Cream Cheese ads - plays the boys’ mom. Vancouver’s Conrad Coates ("Kyle XY") plays the government agent tailing the teens and the aliens. Toronto has become something of a branch plant for the thriving Disney ’tween sitcom factory. "Aaron Stone" has already wrapped production on a second season in Ontario’s capital. Earlier this fall, the Jonas Brothers, including younger "bonus Jonas" Frankie, quietly shot a sequel to the 2008 summer hit "Camp Rock" in and around the city. Demi Lovato ("Sonny with a Chance") reunited with the Jonas boys on that venture, as did Toronto-native Jasmine Richards ("Naturally, Sadie"). Blatz already has his favourite Toronto night spots, including the Drake Hotel, as well as eateries like Fresh. The 22-year-old is the lead singer of the alternative rock band Capra, named after Frank Capra, the director of such Hollywood classics as "It’s A Wonderful Life" and "It Happened One Night." The group even wrote and performed a song featured on the "Skyrunner" sound track, and Blatz is pumped about an upcoming record deal as well as a new video release. He’s also cool with being one of the few young actors today who is not being fitted for fangs in order to play a brooding vampire dude. "We’re going to all look back on this time and think, ’Why did we have this weird obsession with vampires?"’ he says. "It’s going to die out real soon." - Bill Brioux is a freelance TV columnist based in Brampton, Ont. Top of Page |
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September 2, 2010, 8:49 am |