Sachem Alum Dan Bova is New EIC at Maxim

When Joe Levy stepped down as editor-in-chief of Maxim magazine last month to pursue opportunities in television and film, it opened the door for Dan Bova, his executive editor, to take the reigns.

Bova’s resume speaks for itself and any Google search can tell you his rise from NYU film school to being an original producer at Jimmy Kimmel Live to his days as editor of STUFF magazine and finally his jump to Maxim, one of the world’s premier men’s publications.

What the average person doesn’t know, however, is that Bova hails from the Sachem community on Long Island, growing up in Farmingville and graduating from the high school there in 1992.

Adding to an ever-growing list of Sachemites with unique and interesting positions of power, Bova is tasked with taking Maxim to new heights, while adding his own stamp on the product that, according to Ad Week saw advertising pages drop 8.6 percent in the first nine months of 2011.

For avid Maxim readers you’ll start to notice the shift in editorial philosophy around February.

“I think people who have read it for a long time might notice an up tick,” said Bova. “We’re going to bring some of the humor back, the original smart ass voice to it. We’ve got writers who work on Jimmy Kimmel, The Daily Show, Colbert Report. We’re going to be doing a lot of stupid stuff, bringing a smart ass sensibility to the whole thing.”

That ingenious fulfillment of righteous humor has been percolating in Bova years, dating back to his days as a student in Pete DeBeer’s English class at Sachem South – currently known as Samoset Middle School.

DeBeer, who retired recently from the school district after nearly three decades of educating, had a lasting impact with students who related to obvious and intelligent humor. The insightful messages he relayed, whether lessons about the British boys trying to survive on an island in Lord of the Flies or stories about overcoming personal tragedy, left outstanding impressions. (I know because I had DeBeer in 10th grade too.)

“He had a big affect on me,” Bova said. “He liked when I wrote assignments that were kind of funny. That encouraged me.”

Bova found solace with the drama club. Yes, he called himself a drama geek, but considering he runs a magazine that allows him to hang out with guys like Shaquille O’Neal or Guy Fieri, go fishing with the folks from Deadliest Catch or live a day in the life of an NFL grounds crew member, everything has worked out just fine. Oh, and let's not forget about the gorgeous women who drape the pages of the publication in glorious unison.

It’s uncertain if Bova would have gotten where he is today without playing the voice of the plant in Little Shop of Horrors during his Sachem days, or by skipping class to eat 49 cent bean burritos at Taco Bell almost everyday his senior year.

“I can’t believe we were allowed to drive cars,” he said.

As a junior he was talked into playing the opposing school’s mascot during homecoming pep rally. The plan was to be surrounded by football players and rip the mascot costume off, only to be donning a Flaming Arrows tee shirt in magnificent triumph. It didn’t unfold as planned.

“The football guys got way into it and dove on top of me, all of them did,” Bova recalled. “I passed out underneath, couldn’t speak. I fell down, and they dragged me out of the gym. School spirit gets the best of us.”

Sports weren’t his thing. He said he was cut by many of the teams Sachem had to offer: wresting, basketball, swimming, amidst brief stints of soccer and track.

All the while, Bova had a life aspiration to be involved with film, which led him to NYU. Along the way he realized he enjoyed writing and being behind the camera.

He co-wrote Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead, a musical-comedy horror film from Troma Entertainment, which was released in 2006. The film is about group trapped inside a fried chicken restaurant, being attacked by chicken-possessed zombie demons. You can't make that up if you tried. Bova did.

An internship at Spy magazine, a satire publication with a small staff and good writing opportunities, helped launch him in the direction of magazines.

Bova, who lives in Westchester with his wife and two children, eventually was hired by STUFF magazine, a male oriented publication, for a short while before moving to California to work with Kimmel. He did that for year and moved back to New York, taking over as editor-in-chief of STUFF, which eventually folded into Maxim, where he has worked since and appreciates the break the publication provides readers from everyday life.

“It’s not trying to tell you how to live your life better,” he said, “it’s telling you to just enjoy.”

He revels in jumping into stories and creating content first hand. The Deadliest Catch trip in Dutch Harbor was an eye-opener.

“I was on a crane in Dutch Harbor being dipped into the Bering Sea,” he said. “I said to myself, ‘Where am I and what am I doing right now?’ It’s always a lot of fun. You want to do something different. I think if it’s funny, then hopefully our readers do to.”