Patty Gale » interview with jake rademacher

Interview with Jake Rademacher Part II

Patty — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:10:53 +0000

The following is the rest of my interview with Jake Rademacher:

Sidebar: We started talking about the differences between Iraq and Afghanistan and how stable Iraq has become. I expressed concern about my sons going to Afghanistan, and here’s what Jake had to say…

Jake: Iraq? Iraq is so stable right now. What you see are just the few insurgents blowing sh*t up. Here’s something for you. The Iraqis are not emigrating to the US nearly as much as before because their economy is now perceived to be in better shape that ours.

Me: Wow! That’s an eye-opener.

We also started talking about Ft. Bragg and my son going to Afghanistan

Me: Yes, my sons are headed to Bragg shortly.

Jake: With the 82nd?

Me: Yes, they both graduated from ROTC last May and have been finishing up their continued training since they were commissioned and are headed to Bragg within the next several weeks. My son, Matt, next week, and my son, Sean, when he finishes Ranger School.

Jake: Wow, that is really cool. Isaac did Ranger training.

Me: Yes, I know, I saw the patch on his uniform in the movie.

Jake: If it’s any comfort to you all all, you know, the guys in the 82nd take their job very seriously, they are very well trained, very well focused. They really work well together, they train hard all the time. So, the benefit of that from a mom’s standpoint is that there is some comfort knowing they are that well trained.. Isaac went over as part of the 82nd and every single one of his men came back.

Me: There are so many of us out here with a passion, and who have made it our mission to help our soldiers in whatever way we can, whether it be through sending cards or care packages or organizations who help our wounded soldiers and vets……

From your perspective, what else can we do to get this word and your message out so that it becomes bigger and at the forefront of the American public’s eyes?

Jake: This is such a great question. Like, you, we want the movie to become a movement… at the end of the day, it’s the definitive movement of the military family and their sacrifices. What will happen is that more films like this will start to come out.

So, what people can do? I’m shooting a high definition feature film in a war zone. Now here’s the problem.
The movie can’t be done on a scale of 1 – 10. This movie was done out of love and we need other people to do this because there is an audience…so, let’s continue to make these kinds of films.

So, what can people do?

First… take the website Brothers at War, take the Ebert Review… take the front page of the Washington Post article, the 2 minute trailer.. the opening weekend trailer of base visits and put that together in an email, send it every one you know to let them know the film is coming to their town.

Arrange for the movie to be seen with a vets group… buy out the theater…have an event to talk about the film afterward

Here’s the thing. Samuel Goldwin Films only requires 1,000 tickets to be pre-sold for a movie to open up and the first 2 weeks are the most important for a movie. If people don’t come out for opening weekend, it’s sunk. It’s important there are tons of people to come and support the cause.

You can do a press release in town, a big company can pre-buy 1,000 tickets and sell them and sponsor the film, host a big black tie event, donate tickets to local reserve units.

Designate a Sunday for a special event for veterans, or the America Legion or to give tickets to people in their company.

This isn’t just my movie any more… it’s everybody’s movie and we need as many people as possible to help spread the word.

Sidebar: We talked about the Internet, and how we’re using social media, such as Facebook and Twitter to help get the word out.

Me: Jake, the Internet has really allowed us to reach people in ways that were never available to us before, especially Facebook and Twitter. This is how I found out about Brothers at War.
Jake: Yes, the Internet is amazing and very powerful in that way. It’s an awesome tool to use, yet we still need to get people to the theaters.

Me: Right, absolutely.

Me: Jake, I want to thank you again so much for taking the time today to speak with me. You can be sure that you have all my support and the support of people that I know.

Jake: Oh, it’s been my pleasure, this has been great, and don’t forget to call my mom.

Interview with Jake Rademacher from Brothers at War

Patty — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 02:10:24 +0000

I recently saw the Brothers at War movie in Chicago when it opened on March 13th. I happened to be in Chicago for a business conference and the theater was 2 blocks away from my hotel so I knew I wasn’t going to miss it.

This past Friday, I had the privilege of speaking with the director, Jake Rademacher, in a phone interview and wow, talk about a guy who has poured his soul into this movie.

We talked for nearly 45 minutes, so I’ll post this in two sections. Jake was gracious enough to give me his mom’s contact information as I had a question about her. She and I have been trying to catch up with each other since Friday.

Me: Jake, what is the one main thing you want people to learn and understand from your experience in going over to Iraq to see what is happening over there and especially with your brothers?

Jake: In making Brothers at War, I wanted to give the public a window to what is happening on the front lines, something that they can see on the day to day basis and also for the people who are fighting the day to day war… So, now that people can see them on a personal basis, how they are living their lives, why are they are doing what they are doing.

“That is very positive for us.. because it is a movie that no matter what your political viewpoint is, you can see the day to day activities of what is going on over there.”

One of the things I found out there is a real healing benefit for those that are living the war… It’s as if we now have this tool for those who are living this, where we can show the movie wherever we are, and then have a nice conversation about it, especially at the screenings.

Me: Now that you’ve spent that time there, how does the reality of what is happening differ from the media coverage we see, say on our nightly news?

Jake: One of the benefits of making Brothers at War is that I have an hour and 45 minutes to tell the story.. I don’t have to cram Iraq into 30 seconds… so inherently on a big screen in high definition, I already have a head start into Iraq and the military families and allow them to tell you why their doing what they are doing… You get to be there when Isaac is reunited with his daughter, you get to be there when he has to go back.

The film offers opportunities to see this that are just not available to news media because of the different format..

Secondly, I have a very deep personal connection.. I grew up as the older brother… I looked out for them, so when this disconnect was created because of the lack of information from there (Iraq) to here (US), I was willing to go a little further to get to the heart of the story…

That’s a big thing to do…People ask me “how did you get that access”.. part of it was I was willing to make up my mind to get to the tip of the spear to find out the truth. I wasn’t ordered there. I made the choice to go… I didn’t come with a gun…

You have that same deep connection, too… you have 2 sons.. I feel your need to know… my job is to communicate and maybe take a couple of years of my life, well 4 now really, in really digging into it… I don’t look at things from a black & white perspective as I get into the reality of what is going on and why.

Me: Do you see the possibility of doing a follow-up movie to Brothers at War, perhaps not necessarily going back to Iraq, but keeping the message alive of what our military families go through as part of their daily lives, because the American public is not getting that from the mainstream media.

Jake: Yes, I am going to do something… First, though, I’ve already done some of the follow up and have intended … Brothers at War must be seen on the screen because the movie, well, it’s an interesting thing about the backgound. You see it once and then see it again, and you pick up on things you didn’t get in the background the first time… for example, what’s sitting on the humvee, or off to the side of the road.

It becomes very interesting to see what is this emotional roller-coaster. The second time you see it, you have that same emotion, but you pick up on other things that really captures even more about what this movie portrays.

Down the road, the DVD will have 400 hours of footage.. maybe a follow up.. maybe even catch up where these guys are by then.

I’ve also been getting calls requesting if I’ll go into Afghanistan…I’m definitely thinking about it.

Read Part II of my interview with Jake Rademacher > > >