Anyone shoot with armed Forces for feature/short?

[Jeff Patnaude]

Researching posibility of a feature with the Army as a backdrop. It would be pro-military. action-adventure, hiphop shootemup. Basic training and desert scenes.

I've found some info on items needed to get assistance from the US Army, but looking for anyone whose jumped the hoops and has any first-hand info to share?
Expensive? Worthwhile? Easier to bypass their whole process and try to do it yourself? Ignorance may be bliss.

Thanks,

Jeff Patnaude

[Keith Loh]

I don't know how it is in the States but I've spoken extensively with a big producer in Canadian TV (I'm workshopping a military feature film) who made a miniseries about peacekeepers. As I recall, they did receive assistance from the military but they worked more with ex-military consultants. The fact that the script was very realistic gave it a lot of value both to the ex-military and to the uniforms. He said that the script could be negative or positive, it didn't matter as long as it didn't stretch the reality. So the more realistic it is, even if the story is somewhat negative, it at least portrays the challenges correctly. This is why Hollywood involves people like Captain Dale Dye to not only provide correct information and realism but also to provide a face to the military public (most of who will be in the audience, of course) to show that they are treating the subject with proper diligence.

I would think that in the States there are so many ex-military that you should be able to at least get someone to look at your script and spot obvious problems or ways it can be improved.

The rest is up to your budget.