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Newly returned actor and screenwriter with local ties will have moment in spotlight during Sundance Film Festival Date published: 1/19/2006 By ROB HEDELT WHEN Danny McBride was growing up in Spotsylvania County in the '80s and '90s, he became fascinated with telling stories. First, it was a love for the epic movies of the time, which he took in with all the hunger of a bear after honey. Before long, he and friends began taking off with the family video camera, making short films As a student at Courtland High School, McBride got involved in the drama department, at one point helping After graduation in '95, he could think of no place he'd rather be than the North Carolina School of the Arts. The choice, as they'd say on the silver screen, was pure kismet. In four years learning movie-making there, with a concentration on directing, the young man from Spotsylvania became close to a core group of 25 or so students who shared his passion. Some of them honed their skills in cinematography, others in screenwriting, editing, lighting and other disciplines. It was always give and take with members of the informal group--volunteering to act or direct a friend's film one week, then asking for help with one's own the next. Some 10 years later, the same thing is still happening, McBride said. But these days, professional collaborations lasting long after college are yielding impressive results, such as these: As the Sundance Film Festival opens today in Park City, Utah, a film written by McBride and School of the Arts pals Jody Hill and Ben Best is drawing critical buzz. Called "The Foot Fist Way"--the literal translation of "tae kwon do"--the comedy about a small-town martial-arts instructor in the South has already sold out all its showings at the internationally acclaimed festival. The 90-minute film, which had a whole host of School of the Arts alums in its cast and crew, is getting attention for Hill, who directs, and McBride, who stars
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