Bannatyne, who cofounded Lucky Hat Entertainment five years ago, is the son of Jim Bannatyne, the former defenseman of the original Dayton Gems.
Jim also played for Muskegon (where Steve was born in 1970) Flint, Port Huron (where he and wife Sue now live and where Steve graduated from high school) and Milwaukee before ending his career in 1984 after playing in a record 1,158 International Hockey League games.
“Wherever there was an IHL team, I was there,” Steve said.
He also learned to play hockey and said his life’s highlight was playing with his dad in an IHL alumni game several years ago in Toledo when Jim’s team was a few players short.
Oddly, a much earlier trip to the former Salem Mall changed Steve’s life more than visiting Hara Arena, where his dad played in the 1970s.
In the spring of 1977, “Star Wars” was released, and Steve went to see it.
“I saw it 14 times,” Steve said, although not all at the Salem Mall. “My friends and I played ‘Star Wars’ for years and pretended we had a camera. A friend’s uncle had a camera and we were going to ask if we could borrow it, but we never did. We never put it on tape. It was just in our heads.”
Now, his best ideas are all on film.
After changing majors from physical therapy to film at Grand Valley State in Michigan, dropping out a couple of times and switching schools, Steve went to work for an independent film maker in Toronto.
He later moved to San Francisco, becoming a production assistant for a company that started him at the bottom.
“I called myself Bagel Boy,” Steve said, laughing. “I asked if I could be credited as a bagel boy on my first movie. They told me to get out of the office.”
His parents thought he was doing Oscar-worthy work. Jim and Sue bought “one of those Dollar Store Oscars,” Jim said. “We put ‘Steve Bannatyne Bagel Boy’ on it and gave it to him.”
Steve progressed from Bagel Boy to script and music coordinator on an animated series, then founded Lucky Hat and moved to Los Angeles.
Checking online during the live broadcast of the Oscar nominations at 5:30 a.m. on Jan. 24, Steve learned he was up for an Academy Award.
His wife Alex and daughter Devin were still sleeping, so he didn’t scream too loudly, but he did wake them up earlier than usual to give them the news, he said.
“I’m thrilled,” Steve said.
His mom and dad will be watching from Port Huron, even more thrilled.
“There are people who never get to where he’s at — ever,” Jim said. “It’s kind of overwhelming to all of us... It’s just unbelievable.”
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2157 or mkatz@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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