Operation In Their Boots

Last updated

Operation In Their Boots (OITB) is a film fellowship launched by the In Their Boots division of Brave New Foundation. The OITB program, led by executive producer Richard Ray Perez, provided five Iraq and Afghanistan veterans with the opportunity to write, produce, and direct their own documentaries about veterans. The film fellowships were fully funded and each participant was provided with a budget to make their film, as well as a stipend for their work. In addition, they were supported by the professional production team at In Their Boots. [1] [2] [3] [4]

Contents

Tristan Dyer (U.S. Army, Iraq War veteran), Kyle Hartnett (U.S. Army Paratrooper, Afghanistan War veteran), Chris Mandia (U.S. Marine Corps, Iraq War veteran), Victor Manzano (U.S. Marine Corps, Iraq and Afghanistan Wars veteran), and Clint Van Winkle (U.S. Marine Corps, Iraq War veteran) were the combat veterans chosen to produce and direct films.

All five of the films premiered on November 9, 2010 at the Downtown Independent in Los Angeles, California and the documentaries are currently online. [5]

Operation In Their Boots was funded by a grant from the Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund (IADIF) of the California Community Foundation. [6]

Operation In Their Boots Films

Enduring Erebus

Tristan Dyer's documentary was shot using stop motion animation. It deals with substance abuse among veterans. Four U.S. veterans, three men and a woman, provide the narrative to his film. [7] [8] [9]

No Religious Preference

Kyle Hartnett's documentary is about his personal quest to gain a better understanding of the challenges Muslim-American service members and veterans face. A majority of his documentary was filmed in Dearborn, Michigan, which has the largest population of Muslims in America. No Religious Preference also includes an interview with James Yee, a former U.S. Army chaplain accused of espionage by the U.S. Army. [10] [11]

The Academic Front

Chris Mandia’s documentary deals with the transition American service members make when they move from the battle field to a college campus. [12] [13]

The Way of the Warrior

Victor Manzano's film focuses on Rudy Reyes, a Recon Marine best known for his role in HBO's Generation Kill, and how Reyes overcame immense hurdles to become a highly skilled combat Marine, a successful actor, and an inspiring self-help author. [14]

The Guilt

Clint Van Winkle's film focuses "on readjustment, highlighting the phenomenon known as 'survivor's guilt,' after his buddies lost a close friend in Iraq in 2005." The majority of the film was shot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. [15] [16] [17]


Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Embedded journalism</span> Practice of attaching journalists to military units

Embedded journalism refers to war correspondents being attached to military units involved in armed conflicts. While the term could be applied to many historical interactions between journalists and military personnel, it first came to be used in the media coverage of the 2003 invasion of Iraq. The United States military responded to pressure from the country's news media who were disappointed by the level of access granted during the 1991 Gulf War and the 2001 U.S. invasion of Afghanistan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bing West</span> American writer and governmental official

Francis J. "Bing" West Jr. is an American author, Marine combat veteran and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs during the Reagan Administration.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2nd Battalion, 5th Marines</span> Military unit

2nd Battalion 5th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps consisting of approximately 800 marines and sailors. They are based out of Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and fall under the command of the 5th Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division. The battalion has seen combat in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Gulf War and has deployed many times in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom and the War on Terror.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Battalion, 5th Marines</span> Military unit

3rd Battalion, 5th Marines is an infantry battalion in the United States Marine Corps. The battalion is based at Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton, California and consists of approximately 1,000 Marines and Fleet Marine Force Navy personnel. The 3rd Battalion falls under the command of the 5th Marine Regiment which falls under the command of the 1st Marine Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Battalion, 7th Marines</span> Military unit

The 1st Battalion, 7th Marines (1/7) is an infantry battalion of the 7th Marine Regiment of the United States Marine Corps. It is currently based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms. Consisting of approximately 1,000 Marines, it is part of the 1st Marine Division.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">3rd Battalion, 7th Marines</span> US Marine Corps unit

The 3rd Battalion 7th Marine Regiment is an infantry battalion of the United States Marine Corps. They are based at the Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms and consist of approximately 800 Marines. The battalion falls under the command of the 7th Marine Regiment and the 1st Marine Division. The battalion has seen combat in World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, the Gulf War and was a part of the main effort during the initial invasion of Iraq in 2003. During the Global War on Terror, the battalion saw eleven sequential combat deployments; five in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, three in support of Operation Enduring Freedom, and three in support Operation Inherent Resolve. The unit has a long, decorated history with countless achievements. Its members were described as "true professionals" by embedded reporters during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Desert Camouflage Uniform</span> Arid-environment camouflage uniform used by U.S. military from mid-1990s to early 2010s

The Desert Camouflage Uniform (DCU) is an arid-environment camouflage uniform that was used by the United States Armed Forces from the mid-1990s to the early 2010s. In terms of pattern and textile cut, it is identical to the U.S. military's Battle Dress Uniform (BDU) uniform, but features a three-color desert camouflage pattern of dark brown, pale olive green, and beige, as opposed to the four-color woodland pattern of the BDU. It replaced the previous Desert Battle Dress Uniform (DBDU) which featured a six-color "chocolate chip" pattern of beige, pale olive green, two tones of brown, and black and white rock spots. Although completely phased out of frontline use in the U.S. Armed Forces, some pieces and equipment printed in the DCU camouflage pattern are used in limited numbers such as MOPP suits and/or vests.

Wade Zirkle is a decorated American military veteran of the Iraq War. He is the founder and former executive director of the Vets For Freedom Action Fund, a political action committee whose stated mission is to "help candidates-mostly combat veterans-who believe in achieving success in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the overall War on Terrorism, get elected to the United States Congress and other Federal positions".

<i>The Ground Truth</i> 2006 American film

The Ground Truth is a 2006 documentary film about veterans of the Iraq War. It was directed and produced by Patricia Foulkrod.

<i>Generation Kill</i> 2004 book by Evan Wright

Generation Kill is a 2004 book written by Rolling Stone journalist Evan Wright chronicling his experience as an embedded reporter with the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps, during the 2003 invasion of Iraq. His account of life with the Marines was originally published as a three-part series in Rolling Stone in the fall of 2003. "The Killer Elite", the first of these articles, went on to win a National Magazine Award for Excellence in Reporting in 2004.

The following is a partial accounting of financial costs of the 2003 Iraq War by the United States and the United Kingdom, the two largest non-Iraqi participants of the multinational force in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jon Soltz</span> American military officer and political advocate

Jon Soltz served as a United States Army officer in the Iraq War and is chairman and co-founder of the veterans advocacy group VoteVets.org. Soltz served in both the Kosovo campaign in 2000 and later in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. Based on his service, Soltz became an outspoken critic of the execution of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Soltz deployed in 2011 as part of Operation New Dawn in Iraq.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VoteVets.org</span> American progressive non-profit organization

VoteVets.org is a progressive political action committee (PAC) and 501(c)(4) nonprofit organization in the United States.

<i>Rethink Afghanistan</i> 2009 film

Rethink Afghanistan is a 2009 documentary by Robert Greenwald and Brave New Films, about the US military presence in Afghanistan following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

In Their Boots is a documentary series about the impact the War in Iraq and the War in Afghanistan are having on people at home in the United States. Every episode features a documentary about how the servicemen and women of the American armed forces, their families, and American communities have been changed by the nation's campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan. The show has covered issues such as the effects of deployment, post-traumatic stress disorder, traumatic brain injury, recovery from physical injury, military widows, partners of gays in the military, homelessness, women in the military, and sexual assault in the military. In 2010, In Their Boots launched Operation In Their Boots, which gave 5 combat veterans the opportunity to produce and direct their own documentaries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tommy Sowers</span> American soldier and politician

Tommy Sowers is an American entrepreneur, academic and politician. He had an 11-year career in the Army, achieving the rank of Major. During his military career he served as an assistant professor at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He went on to teach at Missouri University of Science and Technology, and Duke University. He recently served as President and Chief Operating Officer of a private jet operator. He returned to Duke in 2024 as Faculty Lead in the Duke Initiative for Science & Society's Applied Technology Ethics program.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marine Raider Regiment</span> US Marine Corps special forces unit

The Marine Raider Regiment (MRR), formerly known as the Marine Special Operations Regiment (MSOR), is a special operations force of the United States Marine Corps, which is a part of Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC). Renamed for its predecessor, the World War II Marine Raiders, this unit is the principal combat component of MARSOC, which is the Marine Corps' contribution to the United States Special Operations Command (USSOCOM).

Tristan Dyer is an American film director, stop-motion animator, and Iraq war veteran from Waldoboro, Maine. He served in the U.S. Army for five years and spent one year at Camp Taji, Iraq with an Air Cavalry unit. After being honorably discharged from the Army in 2005, Dyer attended the Brooks Institute of Photography in Ventura, California where he earned a BA in Visual Journalism.

Chris Mandia is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director, and veteran from San Pedro, California. Serving two tours in Iraq as an infantryman in the United States Marine Corps, including 2003 invasion of Iraq and the First Battle of Fallujah. Mandia has won numerous awards for his work and received a Jack Nicholson scholarship to attend the MFA program at the University of Southern California's film school. His short play, "Fighting a Fish" won the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival, Region VIII's competition in 2007 In 2010, he received an Operation In Their Boots fellowship and “Get Some,” a film he authored, was a Cannes Film Festival selection. In 2012 he co-wrote the multimedia physical theatre piece, Trajectories: Transformations with Meron Langsner for Evet Arts. The piece was based on interviews with servicemen from the Iraq and Afghanistan wars and was performed in Boston and Chicago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rudy Reyes (actor)</span> American actor

Rodolfo "Rudy" Reyes is an American conservationist, martial arts instructor, actor, and former active duty United States Marine. He is best known for portraying himself in the HBO TV miniseries Generation Kill.

References

  1. ↑ "Operation In Their Boots". Retrieved October 6, 2010
  2. ↑ " SignOnSanDiego". Retrieved October 6, 2010
  3. ↑ Krinsky, Tamara (May 17, 2010). "War Stories: Brave New Foundation Trains Soldiers to Make Docs". International Documentary Association.
  4. ↑ Zavis, Alexandra (March 7, 2010). "Veterans put their own war stories on film". The Los Angeles Times.
  5. ↑ Vankin, Deborah (November 16, 2010). "'In Their Boots' series lets soldiers call the shots". The Los Angeles Times.
  6. ↑ "Iraq Afghanistan Deployment Impact Fund Grants". Retrieved July 11, 2009
  7. ↑ Hillard, Gloria (October 1, 2010). "Vet Filmmakers Recount War Experiences On-Screen". NPR.
  8. ↑ Hadly, Scott (July 3, 2010). "Veterans tell war stories on film". The Ventura County Star.
  9. ↑ " CNN Blog". Retrieved October 21, 2010
  10. ↑ Hill, Christian (June 28, 2010). "Filming another side of the story". The News Tribune.
  11. ↑ Thompson, Ian (June 15, 2010). "Fairfield man films documentary on Muslim-American vets". The Daily Republic.[ permanent dead link ]
  12. ↑ Sharpe, Margaret (May 1, 2010). "From Battlegrounds to Classrooms" (PDF). San Pedro Today. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2012.
  13. ↑ "Chris Mandia". Retrieved October 7, 2010
  14. ↑ "Rudy Reyes". Retrieved October 7, 2010
  15. ↑ Lubold, Gordon (March 26, 2010). "Veterans film fellow vets coming home". The Christian Science Monitor.
  16. ↑ "Clint Van Winkle" Archived 2010-09-05 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved October 7, 2010
  17. ↑ "Arizona State University" Archived 2011-07-19 at the Wayback Machine . Retrieved October 21, 2010
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.