Request for footage
I got this email, and don't quite know what to make of it. I haven't seen any of his productions, so I can't vouch for him. However, I think anyone attempting to publicize soldiers' personal stories is doing a good thing. In any case, here is the info:
I am a television producer who just finished working on a documentary series for the (Discovery) Military Channel called BATTLEFIELD DIARIES. Three of the 10 hours have highlighted various aspects of the Iraq War – a Kiowa crash rescue in September 2004, the USMC drive towards Baghdad in April 2003 and the 724th Transportation Company Ambush of April 2004.
I am currently developing an exciting new television project for another major cable network that will utilize images personally shot by the troops and some text from various MilBlogs. So I am looking for personal videos and stills of our servicemen & women in Iraq, shot by those same servicemen & women. I'm especially looking for soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines talking INTO the camera...video diaries, having fun, being creative, interviewing one another, explaining what life is like in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, down time, training, explaining what happened to them that day, music videos, etc. Nothing is out of bounds! The good, the bad, or the ugly. Action, down time, fun time, helping Iraqi communities, interacting with Iraqi civilians/children/police/military...anything that has little a story to it or is visually interesting. If you know of anyone that kept a video diary while deployed; or did some "interviews" with his comrades in arms, please ask them to contact me. Any format is probably workable. (CD, DVD, cassette, etc.) All originals will be returned at my expense. If you have some ideas about how I should go about trying to get some footage together, I'm open to suggestions? Are there a couple of websites I should post my footage request on? Also, can you help me by passing the word around to other units? I need to act quickly as I must show the network some sample footage in 8 weeks. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Please pass this email to ANYONE you think might be able to assist with either footage or their experiences as a MilBlogger!
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you and stay safe.
Jake Klim
Normandy Films
Jklim007@yahoo.com
Please Visit - www.NormandyFilms.tv
Update: AlliCadem, Yes, I guess this is by-passing a lot of military protocol. Thanks for pointing that out, as I am not that clear on those kind of things.
Perhaps it puts the burden of checking with Public Affairs squarely on the soldiers' backs.
On the one hand I think you need to go by the book, but on the other, from what I can see the military isn't always behind the 8-ball when it comes to these things, and a request like this might just be overlooked and disregarded. Thus, I don't fault Mr. Klim for appealing to the soldiers directly. So I think that any soldier considering responding to Mr. Klim's request should check with Public Affairs first.
I am a television producer who just finished working on a documentary series for the (Discovery) Military Channel called BATTLEFIELD DIARIES. Three of the 10 hours have highlighted various aspects of the Iraq War – a Kiowa crash rescue in September 2004, the USMC drive towards Baghdad in April 2003 and the 724th Transportation Company Ambush of April 2004.
I am currently developing an exciting new television project for another major cable network that will utilize images personally shot by the troops and some text from various MilBlogs. So I am looking for personal videos and stills of our servicemen & women in Iraq, shot by those same servicemen & women. I'm especially looking for soldiers, sailors, airmen and marines talking INTO the camera...video diaries, having fun, being creative, interviewing one another, explaining what life is like in Iraq and/or Afghanistan, down time, training, explaining what happened to them that day, music videos, etc. Nothing is out of bounds! The good, the bad, or the ugly. Action, down time, fun time, helping Iraqi communities, interacting with Iraqi civilians/children/police/military...anything that has little a story to it or is visually interesting. If you know of anyone that kept a video diary while deployed; or did some "interviews" with his comrades in arms, please ask them to contact me. Any format is probably workable. (CD, DVD, cassette, etc.) All originals will be returned at my expense. If you have some ideas about how I should go about trying to get some footage together, I'm open to suggestions? Are there a couple of websites I should post my footage request on? Also, can you help me by passing the word around to other units? I need to act quickly as I must show the network some sample footage in 8 weeks. Any help will be greatly appreciated.
Please pass this email to ANYONE you think might be able to assist with either footage or their experiences as a MilBlogger!
Please let me know if you have any questions. Thank you and stay safe.
Jake Klim
Normandy Films
Jklim007@yahoo.com
Please Visit - www.NormandyFilms.tv
Update: AlliCadem, Yes, I guess this is by-passing a lot of military protocol. Thanks for pointing that out, as I am not that clear on those kind of things.
Perhaps it puts the burden of checking with Public Affairs squarely on the soldiers' backs.
On the one hand I think you need to go by the book, but on the other, from what I can see the military isn't always behind the 8-ball when it comes to these things, and a request like this might just be overlooked and disregarded. Thus, I don't fault Mr. Klim for appealing to the soldiers directly. So I think that any soldier considering responding to Mr. Klim's request should check with Public Affairs first.
posted by CaliValleyGirl at 9:25 AM
3 Comments:
I got the same e-mail and was going to do the same thing you did -- post it and see -- but you beat me to the punch!!! The thing is, and the part that kinda sketches me out is that he should probably be going through Public Affairs for this. Ask your guy what he thinks, but I think that to make it "safest" for military members, this guy needs to go through military methods and not individuals.... Maybe I'm paranoid...?
Interesting stuff.
Your first commenter has a good point...
I agree. Be careful. I'd hate to see you get taken advantage of...it seems like he should go through proper channels, not directly contacting people.
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