Durfee senior David Grannum accepted to USC

FALL RIVER – B.M.C. Durfee High School senior David Grannum got a present he never expected for his birthday on Jan. 26: Acceptance to the Film and TV Production program at the University of Southern California. When he got home that night, he was all alone in the house and there was a huge package waiting for him in the mail. “I thought, ‘Wow, if that’s a huge denial I’m going to be really sad’,’’ recalled Grannum. “It was awesome.”

USC was his top choice school. Then all the other schools he applied for starting sending acceptance packages as well: New York University, Boston University, Chapman University, Columbia College Chicago, University of Miami, UCLA, UC San Diego “Those are all really hard schools to get into and I didn’t think I would get into them,” said Grannum.

Ranked as the number one college for film and TV production on many lists, USC alumni includes “Star Wars” creator George Lucas, Judd Apatow and Will Ferrell, to name a few.

Grannum, who made a name for himself locally as a rising star dancer, shares an equal love of TV, film and video production. It all started in an after-school video production program at Kuss Middle School with teacher Sharon Puopolo and School Resource Officer Marybeth Buglio.

Puopolo and Buglio took Grannum under their wings and even took turns driving him to dance classes at On Stage Academy of Dance and to a summer dance intensive at Festival Ballet in Providence to help out his mother, Natalie Grannum, a single working mother of three.

He had a few offers to finish his high school years at prestigious dance schools a couple years back, but they didn’t work out financially. Instead, he continued at Durfee, where he was recently ranked fifth in his class.

When he decided in his junior year to pursue film and television production, Grannum, along with Puopolo and Buglio researched online to find the best film schools. USC, UCLA and NYU were the top three. “I said USC is where I have to go. And they said, ‘yes, that’s where you can go,'” recalled Grannum ironically.

Last June, he headed out to Los Angeles with them for visits to UCLA and USC, and Grannum said he was hooked on USC. “The environment, the weather and the admissions seemed like they really cared about their students and what they want to do in life,” said Grannum. “They kept saying ‘we’re a Trojan family.’”

Highly competitive, USC only accepts about 50 students into its Film and Television Production major and about 200 into the entire Cinematic Arts program, he said.

"We are absolutely thrilled," said Puopolo. "We visited USC, UCLA, and CalArt with David last June and knew that USC was the best college for David. We felt with his talent, strong work ethic, and stellar academic achievement that he was a strong contender for admittance and a scholarship, despite the only 3 to 5 percent acceptance rate. We can't wait to see what he does with this opportunity and are certain we will one day sit in a movie theater and see 'David Grannum' in the credits."

Grannum received the Presidential Scholarship and a university grant to offset the yearly tuition and expenses, which hover around $70,000.

He also plans on taking a minor in Spanish.

Grannum, who started taking dance classes at On Stage Academy of Dance when he was in middle school, said he plans to continue to dance while he’s in college. “All throughout high school I was battling, do I do dance? Do I do film?” he said.

Linda Mercer-Bothelo, owner of On Stage, said she's never been a boy quite like David come through the studio. "He is exceptionally kind, polite, well spoken, extremely smart and talented. I am honored to have been involved in his life and to have witnessed him become the young man he is today," she said. "I am sure that his choice to attend school in California is the best choice for him. The opportunities California has to offer will be endless.  I am excited to see what his future holds and I know we will soon see his name at the end of a movie trailer. I am so happy that his training and discipline from the dance world translates into the work he does in film."

In addition to taking Advanced Placement classes, every morning Grannum is a news anchor on the Top of the Morning with FRED/TV at Durfee. After school, he’s at work at his part-time job at Boston Market or dancing at On Stage.

“When you ask me what I like about film or dance, it’s the empathy part of it — my ability to connect with someone who’s not there, or to a story that’s not mine. To be able to show that, whether it’s physically through my body or in a picture that someone’s watching,” he said. “I would like the audience to live vicariously through my film. That’s what I like most about film – that connection with the audience and seeing everyone’s reaction.”

Grannum credits his mother, and people like Puopolo, Buglia and Mercer-Bothelo for supporting his endeavors over the years.

“I could easily have been that kid in school who didn’t listen or didn’t care. My mom did a really good jpb of taking me out of that stagnant mindset. My mom always told us there’s always something more and with an education you can do what you want.”

Email Linda Murphy at lmurphy@heraldnews.com.