In his debut film, a rock ‘n’ roll thriller called “Fanboy,” longtime San Diego musician Ben Johnson stars as Fred Proehl, a drummer and over-the-top fan who loves a group called Xenos so much, he is willing to do pretty much anything to be able to say he’s with the band. You could say the same thing about Johnson, who was willing to do pretty much everything in his beginner’s power to bring Fred’s crazy dream to the big screen.
In addition to directing “Fanboy” and playing its loose-cannon lead character, Johnson wrote the script. He was also the film’s co-editor (with David Robles), casting director, casting director, location scout and about a dozen other things. Like everyone else in his (mostly) non-professional cast, Johnson performed even performed his own stunts, and he has the broken pinky to prove it.