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Talented duo teams up for 'Hanks is Bond' video

Two Hingham High School graduates hope their comedic and musical talents will propel them into the big time.

In a way, they are already there. Their "mashup" trailer of "Casino Royale" - "Tom Hanks is James Bond" - is posted on YouTube, where it has tallied more than 270,000 views.

"Mashups" use footage from other movies to create a parody. The film clips are arranged in a comical way to make two- to four-minute movie trailer.

The video career for Dan Perrault and Matt Dahan, both 21 and 2004 HHS grads, started in high school where, as sophomores, they formed Double D Enterprises and produced videos for the school's student-produced Friday show that included everything from comedy shorts to sports reviews. The videos were shown at school and on local Cable Channel 22. Their popular, two-part "Elevator" series about a haunted high school elevator is also posted on YouTube, as are some of their other high school videos.

Since high school, Perrault, who is now a senior at Emerson College, and Dahan, a senior at Berklee, have been busy in college with their separate careers. Perrault, who is an acting major, is part of the Emerson comedy troupe Chocolate Cake City and Dahan, a musician, is lead singer, piano player and composer with the band "Radio Knights."

Last year, Perrault got a taste of "super-stardom" through what he describes as his "small role" in producing the Chocolate Cake City hit mashup of "Brokeback Mountain," called "Brokeback to the Future," that arranged clips from the "Back to the Future" trilogy in such a way to imply that Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) and Dr. Emmett Brown (Christopher Lloyd) were in a gay relationship.

The mashup, which attracted the attention of some Hollywood producers and Entertainment Weekly, resulted in Perrault participating in a trip to New York for a live comedy showcase hosted by the cast of "Saturday Night Live."

But as "Brokeback" faded in popularity, Perrault was looking ahead to a dull summer after "that incredible spring." He decided to contact Dahan -- whom he describes as a genius musician, great video editor and creative person - and see what Double D Enterprises could come up with.

"I called Matt, and it had been two years since we had done anything video-wise," Perrault said.

Dahan, who had seen the success of "Brokeback to the Future" said he loved the idea.

So the duo started out last summer with the intention of producing a mashup of the "Da Vinci Code" and watched more than 200 hours of Hanks' movies. "Unfortunately 'The Da Vinci Code' flopped," Perrault recalls. "And we knew in the back of our minds that the trailer would not work."

By late August, Perrault and Dahan were watching their 25th Hanks movie when they had the idea of producing an action trailer featuring Hanks as Bond. "Casino Royale" was due for a November release. The Bond mashup idea was helped along by Hanks, who is reportedly a huge 007 fan, and actually says the famous line: "My name is Bond, James Bond" in a scene in the 1984 movie "Bachelor Party."

"I had forgotten what a genius Matt was, and within two weeks, we had a very good trailer," Perrault recalled.

The video was an immediate hit, becoming the headline video on YouTube within a week. It continues to be featured on numerous video sites.

"It was a big accomplishment for us," Perrault recalls. "It was the first time that Double D Enterprises could claim some success outside of Hingham."

Shortly thereafter, Double D Enterprises produced a music video with a crazy chorus dubbed "I like-ah Da Jesus," which won an award as best music video at the Emerson College EVVY awards this year.

Next on the horizon for Perrault and Dahan is a parody of Al Gore's "An Inconvenient Truth" dubbed "This is Why it's Hot" in which Double D rhythmically arranges Gore's phrases and adds music so Gore actually becomes a rapper. (The song "This is Why I'm Hot" is the song that rapper Shawn Mims is most known for).

"This is Why It's Hot" won't be a mashup, which implies more than one movie is used to create the video. Dahan points out all the clips come from "An Inconvenient Truth."

Perrault says the Internet is a great way to get noticed.

"Harrison Ford said he does not have the most talent but was in the right place at the right time," Perrault says. "YouTube is the right place anytime." On YouTube, Perrault explains, someone sees something they think is funny or that they like, they forward it to a friend, and before long, the video has 100,000 views.

"Without the Internet, we would still be doing videos for Channel 22," he says.

Although Dahan and Perrault might go their different ways after graduation - Dahan plans to head for California and Perrault to New York - they share a similar dream.

"Dan definitely has what it takes to get on as a cast member on 'Saturday Night Live,'" Dahan says. He said a dream of theirs is for Perrault to be hosting "SNL" and Dahan to provide the music for the show.