Sparks fly in teen's low-tech spy flick
By Dana Bartholomew
Staff Writer
CHATSWORTH -- For 13-year-old Angus Forward, seeing killer whales at SeaWorld was cool. And the five days he spent studying stars and rockets at a NASA space camp, way cool.

But nothing could be more cool for Angus and his karate-kicking friends than hanging out in the garage with dad all summer -- lighting firecrackers, igniting gunpowder and setting off rockets to create the explosive effects of his homegrown film "Agent 12," by Detonation Films.

The 12-minute martial arts sci-fi thriller, about a 12-year-old superspy who battles a 12-year-old supervillain and his monster robot, drew rave reviews from viewers who tapped in to see its debut last month on www.ifilm.com.

Last week, the film was submitted to film festivals in Newport Beach; Santa Barbara; Taos, N.M.; and Maitland, Fla.

Angus also plans to enter it in Salt Lake City's world-renowned Sundance Film Festival in 2004.

"This tops it," said Angus, who was 12 when he starred as Agent 12 -- the suave counterpart to 007 and savior of the modern world.

Angus' father, movie animator and producer Bob Forward, said of his son, "He really likes his explosives."

Behind the scenes, Bob Forward, 45, starred as dynamite dad and director.

Son Max Forward, 20, starred as action editor. And off-camera, Sharon Forward starred as concerned mom during the hundreds of explosions rocking her garage.

The action, filmed almost entirely inside the garage of their neo-Victorian house in Chatsworth, opens with the robot colossus towering over a Mojave Desert landscape, making mincemeat out of an army of F-14 fighters and M1-Abrams battle tanks.

But the sparks really fly when the Converse-clad Agent 12 -- who prefers his chocolate milk shaken, not stirred -- comes out of "retirement" to take on his old nemesis, Dr. Vengeance, the evil behind a $12 trillion extortion plot against the cities of the world.

Agent 12, leaping into his F12 rocket car go-cart, squeals out of suburbia to battle the monster in a series of gun and rocket attacks that end in a blaze of martial arts.

The excitement, underscored by brassy music by Frank Becker, is aided by boys mostly conscripted from the Ryu-Dojo Kenpo Karate school in Chatsworth: Brian Silverman, 13, of Chatsworth, as Dr. Vengeance; Josh Elion, 13, of Chatsworth; Lukas McArthur; 12, of Chatsworth; Michael Jurden, 13, of Chatsworth; Nick Battaglia, 13, of Temecula; and Vincent Grob, 10, of Northridge. Each practiced his own stunts.

The film was shot with a Sony camcorder using dime-store planes, remote-controlled tanks, discounted Toys 'R' Us villain robots, an F-14 model jet and a $400 modified go-cart now parked in the back of the garage.

And lots and lots of gunpowder.

"I got used to it after about three months," said Sharon Forward, a storyboard artist for Walt Disney Studios. "I'd be working and hear 'boom, ba-ba-boom!' and I thought, oh God, were going to be arrested."

They weren't; a Los Angeles police sergeant who lives next door was always notified.

Sound effects included broken celery for broken bones. Aerial photography was practiced from an ultralight airplane.

Utmost safety precautions prevented any injuries.

"It takes a certain kind of director to set off huge balls of flame in front of his only children," said Max Forward, "and see huge plumes of smoke coming out of his garage."

Bob Forward, a youthful writer, editor and producer, created the animation on such productions as "Beast Wars" by Mainframe Animation and "X-Men: Evolution" by Warner Bros. He said he hatched the idea for Agent 12 after making a Godzilla-like movie with Angus using smoke bombs and army men miniatures.

"We wanted to do a comic spy film -- a karate film. We knew it was going to be cheesy. So we just said, seize the cheese," said Forward of his family's tongue-in-cheek movie.

"It's fun blowing up stuff," added Josh Elion, who plays a sentry in the film and is now writing a screenplay about Valley gangs and cops. "That was the best part -- and getting my face in a movie.

"Ill definitely be a star."

Bill Ryusaki, who owns Ryu-Dojo and martial arts studios throughout Central and South America, called the film "fantastic" and Angus, a once-fearful student who became a junior black belt, "hot."

The flick, and its comical outtakes, have also been well-received in cyberspace.

"You must be the coolest dad to make this video with your family," said one online reviewer who gave it top marks. "Dang, do you need another son?"

"This one's a winner," said another. "Agent 12 is a terrific Bond spoof. Move over Austin Powers, these guys have taken your crown."

Detonation Films plans on more explosive action. Next summer, watch for a "Return of Agent 12."

This time, with girls. "Agent 12" can be downloaded at www.detonationfilms.com , or can be seen on ifilm at www.ifilm.com/ifilm/product/film--info/0 ,3699,2455491,00.html