Projects get prestigious honor from veterans group
Fox411: The military veterans non-profit organization, Got Your 6, has announced their new class of '6 Certified Projects'
Got Your 6 is a non-profit working to get military veterans portrayed more accurately in film and TV.
“Our research shows that most people either view veterans as broken or heroic, and the majority of those people say they develop those perceptions based partially on television and movies,” Bill Rausch, Executive Director at Got Your 6, told FOX411. “It’s this duality of extremes that really doesn’t represent any of us. All veterans benefit when stereotypes about the PTSD-ridden or suicidal veteran are broken.”
Every year Got Your 6 releases a list of 6 Certified Projects – movies, TV shows, and now streaming shows and theatrical prodcutions, that the organization says portrays veterans in a more accurate way.
FOX411 got an advance look at the list being released Friday.
- “One Day at a Time.” Premiering January 6, this Netflix reboot of the 1975 original by WWII veteran Norman Lear centers on a present-day Cuban-American family. It stars Justina Machado as Penelope Alvarez, an Army veteran-turned-nurse and a single mom who excels at raising her teenaged son and daughter with the help of her traditionalist mother, played by Rita Moreno.
- “Patriots Day.” The film focuses on the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing and follows the police officers, first responders, investigators, and survivors who sought justice in the aftermath. Peter Berg and actor/producer Mark Wahlberg consulted with, hired, and cast veterans.
- “SIX” HISTORY’s new military combat drama series “SIX.” The show follows members of Navy SEAL Team Six, whose covert mission to eliminate a Taliban leader in Afghanistan goes awry when they uncover a U.S. citizen working with terrorists. Inspired by real missions, the series authentically captures the inside world of America’s elite Special Operations unit – what these SEALs do, their personal lives, combat and the life and-death decisions they make to protect and serve their country. Created and produced by veterans, the show also employed a retired Navy SEAL as the series' technical advisor and associate producer. “SIX” premieres January 18. A+E Studios in association with Weinstein Television.
- “The War Horse News” via Vanity Fair. Appearing as a video feature of November 2016's Vanity Fair article "Inside the Painstaking Recovery Process of a Medal of Honor Marine," medically retired Marine author and journalist Thomas J. Brennan worked with filmmaker George Steptoe to create a nine minute digital short that follows the long medical recovery of then-Lance Corporal Kyle Carpenter.
- “Blueprint Specials.” The second theatrical production to be 6 Certified, the “Blueprint Specials” play scripts were recently rediscovered after going missing for half a century. The Special Services Division of the War Department originally produced this series of plays in 1944 and 1945 with the intention of engaging active duty service members in "GI shows for GI audiences." Debuting January 6, these historical pieces will be brought back to life in performances by both veterans and Broadway stars aboard the USS Intrepid in New York.
Rausch said Hollywood’s representation of veterans is misleading to the general population, and is a disservice to veterans.
“The truth is veterans volunteer, engage with local governments and community organizations, vote, and help neighbors, all at rates higher than their non-veteran counterparts,” Rausch said. “We’re working with our entertainment industry partners to normalize the depictions of veterans on film and television to dispel common myths about the veteran population.”
Rausch broke down how the program worked.
“6 Certified encourages content creators to present a normalized and asset-focused view of our nation’s returning service members, striking down the negative, stereotypical, or extreme depictions of veterans as either ‘charity cases’ or ‘heroes,’” he said. “Studios, producers and other content creators that successfully complete certification earn a 6 Certified badge that they can display during a given film or television series’ end credits.”
Got Your 6’s vision is supported by other veterans like Marine combat veteran and ‘Gotham’ star J.W. Cortes.
“I absolutely believe in, and love, Got Your 6's mission of shifting how Americans and the entire world perceives our veterans community,” Cortes said. “It allows for us to tell our stories. It allows us to share in a way that is beautifully raw, wildly ambitious and at times - poignantly gut wrenching. It is because of the platform that we as a community can bare to appreciate without criticism and can watch with enormous empathy."
For more on the new class of 6 Certified Projects visit www.gotyour6.org
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