Instead of movie stars and sports heroes, M’s role model is the guy who created Johnny Bravo.
M started coming into our coffee shop with his dad back during his preschool years. We see a bit less of him these days — he has things to do.
Few of us realized M’s fascinated by first responders — the firefighters, medics, hazmat and animal-protection teams who serve us all.
His parents have taken him to visit his heroes at their facilities. He downloads databases detailing emergency calls published by municipalities, absorbing everything he can get his hands on.
“I’m kind of different.” The thirteen-year-old director and animator has been staging live performances for years, at the same time developing videos with his friend Charlie.
Trying one technique after another, trapped in one dead-end after another, the resolute M has ended up creating a collection of animated videos.
He uses his iPhone to construct stop-motion animation — moving a fire truck across the screen takes 50 or 60 shots. His typical video is shorter than two minutes and takes roughly four hours to complete. There are no scripts or storyboards. M exploits accidents for all their worth
At his tender age, the kid already knows what an elevator pitch is and explains that his work’s about more than sirens and speeding vehicles — it’s about responders risking their lives to rescue others.
His YouTube channel currently has 14.2 thousand subscribers; a recent video has attracted more than three-million visits.
M thinks it’s important to keep a distance from his online popularity. In a world that is insane for celebrity, he has decided to stay anonymous.
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Hmmm...no words appear in M's YouTube videos. Chalk it up to yet another 13-year old wunderkind putting geezer wordsmiths like me out to pasture. Time to first responders to ride to the rescue: copywriter's everywhere are on their last breath!
All seriousness aside, this kid is really special. I'd vote to put him on The Jimmy Kimmel Show. Great story, Pat.