'Inspector Kenny' Star Enjoying Spotlight

BY RASHIDA BARTLEY
U/Miami News Service

His movies could have something to do with his stardom. Maybe his bright smile brings about his celebrity. Perhaps it's both.

Kenny Civil, 12, though stricken with severe cerebral palsy and confined to a wheelchair, has nevertheless become a hit with his fellow campers at Shake-A-Leg's Summer Camp in Coconut Grove. That's because he stars as Inspector Kenny, defender of the environment against evil-doers, in movies his camp film crew produces.

Kenny has little range of motion in his limbs. To communicate, he taps on computer screen connected to his wheelchair

'The first time he ever came to film crew, we said `We have a star,' '' said Jared Bistrong, Shake-A-Leg's multimedia coordinator. ``He just has a certain charisma about him.''

That charisma landed Kenny the starring role in the the James Bond-style movies, about three minutes long, which usually have environmental themes. Using a special-effects green screen, the crew transforms Kenny's wheelchair into a helicopter he uses to chase offenders.

After making his first Inspector Kenny movie in 2005, Kenny returned to the camp last year and starred in Inspector Kenny Returns. Shake-A-Leg submitted it to the Miami Children's Film Festival 2006. Kenny is working a new installment this year.

Working with the film crew has turned Kenny into a camp phenomenon.

As he heads the locker room after a session of swimming, girls call out Kenny's name. On his computer, he types, modestly, ``I am special.''

"Inspector Kenny" and Jared Bistrong, multi-media director at Shake-A-Leg Miami.