CHESTERFIELD, MO (KTVI-FOX2now.com)—
Two Chesterfield, Missouri, teens gave up their summer vacations for a project dear to their hearts. They had a classmate who is a national champion on the yo-yo and they decided he deserved some recognition for his extraordinary talent. That led to the world premier of their documentary that premieres Thursday at Plaza Frontenac. The movie is called "Bound" and you'll surely hear more about it since it is, reportedly, the first full-length documentary ever made about the art of Yo-Yo-ing.Brock Carey and David Leidy were just graduated from Whitfield High School. Their classmate Shane Smith will be a senior there this year. Shane is the main star of the one-hour and 43-minute production.
Movie maker David Leidy recounts, "We shot it, not really knowing exactly what our story was going in."
So, the movie sort of wrote itself. It's about Shane's pursuit of global recognition. And, it's an examination of yoyoing as a subculture.
Brock Carey adds, "I hope that when people see the movie they'll be interested in being at it."
Curiously, the movie starts out in black and white to add a dramatic realism because David feels the yoyo is seldom taken seriously.
Brock is certainly taking movie making seriously. Next month he'll head for the School of Visual Arts in New York City.
David is heading for southern California to pursue a love that began years ago, "We're really big in movies since I was a little kid and I just got really excited about seeing action flicks."
The movie documents the fact that St. Louis is a kind of Mecca for yo-yo professionals. They hold meetings once a month and always do well in the world yoyo competition held annually in Orlando, Florida.
Nobody's sure when the yo-yo was invented, but some say it dates back to 500 B.C. It hit it's peak in 1962 when the Duncan folks sold a record 45 million of them.
It's popularity has been, well, up and down since then.
The premiere begins at 6:30 pm Thursday, although most of the 95 seats in the Plaza Frontenac Theater are already taken.
