‘Maw’-velous: Carson City boy in movie

Ryan Maw, 12, an eighth-grader at Carson Middle School, made his film debut this month in the movie, “Dance Off,” which was released in digital form Oct. 7.

“It was a lot of fun,” he said. “I liked getting to meet all the famous people.”

Maw played the part of Young Brandon in some flashback scenes from the main character’s life, played by Shane Harper of Disney Channel’s “Good Luck Charlie” and movies including “God’s Not Dead.”

“Ryan was fortunate to be in the right place at the right time,” said his mom, Angee Maw. “He was hand-picked in Los Angeles by movie director, Amy George, during a tap class at a nationally touring dance convention.”

In the film, Maw acts and dances alongside Young Jasmine, played by Payton Hogan, who was also chosen for her likeness to the female lead played by Kathryn McCormick of Fox’s “So You Think You Can Dance” and the movie, “Step Up Revolution.”

Maw said he was inspired to start dancing at the age of 3 by the movie, “Happy Feet.” His favorite forms of dance are tap and hip-hop, but he dances all genres including ballroom.

His local dance partner, Taryn Encinas, 13, hosted a “red carpet” party to celebrate the movie premiere.

“Ryan is such an amazing friend and always does a lot for me, so I wanted to do something nice for him,” she said. “It was a lot of fun with cool decorations and great people. Everyone had a lot of fun and loved supporting Ry. I am extremely proud of everything he has accomplished.”

Encinas and Maw have been dancing together since 2010 and were national champions last year in the Starbound National Talent Competition. The pair are trained in all styles of dance, and are straight-A students at Carson Middle School.

Maw is represented by the Movement Talent Agency in Los Angeles and has added a few commercials to his resume in the past year.

“Ryan and Taryn will be attending multiple conventions together this year and will keep their fingers crossed for more movie opportunities,” Angee Maw said.

“Dance Off” can be rented or purchased On Demand through iTunesMovies, InDemand, Dish, Directv, Amazon, Vudu, xboxlive, Hulu, and Hulu Plus, and will be available on DVD just in time for Christmas at local stores.