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Take look to the right...
That is where we are in the chase to
beat the anti-war movie 'Redacted' in six weeks. We started out
last week at around 9%.
We are 32% 35% of the way to beating 'Home
of the Brave'.
And today I saw that Phil Donahue has
produced a documentary--the documentary version of 'Home of the Brave.'
'Home of the Brave' being the threatrical
version of the documentary 'Ground Truth'.
Are you noticing a pattern here?
A pattern that says a Soldier or Marine is only worth filming after
their deployment.
The director of 'Ground Truth' had this
to say about her movie:
I wanted to show how insidious and deep the effects of killing in combat truly are - whether in self-defense or not - so we could create a national dialogue about our 'consciousness of killing'.
My documentaries take a different approach--actually showing Soldiers and Marines IN IRAQ . In 2007 I spent months living with Army paratroopers, grunts, Marines and Iraqi 'Neighborhood Watch' members.
In 2005 I covered one Marine infantry unit during their deployment .
Actually going to Iraq, living down in the dirt with the grunts and making documentaries about what is happening on the ground appears to be a rather novel concept, but I think the best way to understand Iraq is to see it from 5'10" off the ground .
Yesterday I was asked "what will you do if you beat 'Redacted'?"
Short answer: Go back and make another series of documentaries .
But the more pertinent question is what happens on May 7th if we have not beaten 'Redacted'?
My guess is the diarists on Kos, Dem Underground, etc. will herald the rejection of my documentaries.
The Hollywood types who rationalize away the failure of anti-war films saying things like....
No one wants to see Iraq war movies. No matter what we put out there in terms of great cast or trailers, people were completely turned off. It's a function of the marketplace not being ready to address this conflict in a dramatic way because the war itself is something that's unresolved yet. It's a shame because it's a good movie that's just ahead of its time.
....Will take the failure of 'Outside The Wire' to beat 'Redacted' as confirming their spin.
But I think there is a market for a pro-troop, pro-victory documentary. And if Hollywood is about anything--it is about making money.
My thesis is this: If it can be demonstrated that a pro-troop, pro-victory documentary can succeed in the market place by beating the domestic box office gross of an anti-war film like 'Redacted' the money loving side of Hollywood will back a pro-troop movie.
If 2,900 documentaries sell , Hollywood's spin of "No one wants to see Iraq war movies" will be exposed and blame for the failure of movies like 'Redacted' and 'Home of the Brave' will be recognized: the public doesn't want to see anti-war, anti-troop crap.
Then we can test Allahpundit's theory :
"They keep making 'em even though we keep not watching 'em, which shows you how committed they are to the message and/or fearful of testing that "America's not ready yet" hypothesis with a pro-war flick."
So, what would you like to see happen on May 7th? Hollywood's 'America's not ready yet' spin confirmed or exposed?
If you would like to see it exposed, here is what you can do:
- If you are a blogger, blog about the movie
- If you are a show host, have me on your show and/or talk about the movie
This is a real Army of Davids approach.
I don't have any money to run TV ads or radio ads. I don't have the backing of an agency or a PR firm. I don't get invited on the Today Show to promote my documentaries *.
I only have you...and I have a question for you: How much do you want to prove Hollywood wrong?
*(Although when I was in Baghdad filming the 'Baghdad Surge' episode, my project was discussed on 'Hannity & Colmes.' My business partner and co-producer David Chavarria pinch hit. They don't have a satellite uplink at COP Battle.)
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