2008 Woodie Awards
Against all odds, this film student is living his dream
Melissa Heyboer
Issue date: 8/24/07 Section: News
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He wanted to play Little League with other kids his age.
But he couldn't.
He wanted to run around outside playing sports in his childhood neighborhood of Bonita Springs, Fla. But he couldn't.
If Daneau ever had plans of becoming a professional athlete, he wouldn't be able to do it.
Not because he didn't believe he could, but because his rheumatoid arthritis wouldn't allow it.
Daneau's arthritis, along with a disease called fasciitis, permanently limited the use of his fingers and hands, and for years, doctors warned his parents, Dan and Linda Daneau, that eventually he may never be able to walk again.
Because of his condition and the uncertainty of his future, he spent a lot of his childhood at Disney World.
"[Our parents] took us to Disney World like every other weekend," Daneau's sister, Christine Daneau, said. "They did everything they thought a kid would want to do while he could still do it."
But Daneau's diagnosis was good. His fasciitis was treatable with the help of medicine, a lot of physical therapy and great doctors, and his arthritis only affected the use of his hands.
So now, the recent UCF grad and current master's student of the UCF Graduate Film Program successfully holds a movie camera instead of a baseball bat.
And he wouldn't have it any other way.
From an early age, Daneau knew he only wanted to be two things in life - a magician or a film director.
That kind of creativity started early when Daneau and his sister, Christine, built forts in their living room and in their backyard as kids - always wanting to create new adventures.
"He used to focus himself on more creative things," Christine Daneau said. "If there was something he couldn't do because of his arthritis, he just accepted it and did something else."
Instead of sports, Daneau played video games.
"He would get so happy when he made it to the end of the game," Christine Daneau said. "Not necessarily because he beat it, but because he wanted to know the story at the end of it. It was all about the stories with him."
At Bonita Springs Middle School, Daneau spent a lot of his time as an anchorman on the school's news program. It was there that he fell in love with the camera.
"The TV show that we put on was supposed to be a news show," Daneau said, "but really it became like this kids' show. It became an excuse to do wacky things. I had such a great time doing it."