Can a couple of college students be superheroes? Sir Wade Niestadt and Melissa Loi say they have alter egos -- Madam Mayhem and Manly Man. They have a short film they produced called "Kerflooey."
"It's about a sick superhero who can't really save the world at the moment because he keeps sneezing and stuff..." said Loi.
They attend Cañada Community College in Redwood City. When the two heard about a contest to make a short student film in one week and they decided to give it a shot.
They say the project didn't intimidate them… not until the duo got carried away. Loi wrote the script, she an English major, and Niestadt is a computer wiz who was looking for an opportunity to try special effects.
"The red ball was a little more complicated. That was a red circle with a bunch of other different shades of red circles and we had different effects giving it that electric look on the inside," said Niestadt.
Their professor was blown away by it all.
"It's not the kind of thing you expect to see in a student film," said Paul Nass, the multi-media professor.
That's especially true when one considers that they had hardly any money. How small budget? His cape is a towel.
And yet, Kerflooey was so good that it has already won some significant student awards, which ought to be enough, right? Well last week, there was a big surprise. Their film has been accepted for the Cannes Film Festival. The big one in France and they are going.
It may be beginner's luck. It's also the kind of break that puts a small community college program on the map. Only a couple of super heroes could pull that off.
