3rd Annual Awareness Film Festival

some free time this THURS/FRI?

swing up to the Awareness Film Festival and a screening of my documentary "The Academic Front," part of Operation in Their Boots and Brave New Films/Foundation on Friday, May 4 @ 1pm.

should be a smashing good time!

great news: AWARENESS FILM FESTIVAL red carpet treatment and screening !!!

some great news:

my documentary, "The Academic Front," along with ALL our films produced by Brave New Foundation, will be given the red carpet treatment and screened @ the Awareness Festival in Los Angeles, CA.

thinking it'll go down May...ish.

anywho, they've asked us to man a panel and take questions from the audience regarding filmmaking and the Veteran thing.

you know i'll be there -- so should you!

good to be in the mix again...

http://awarenessfestival.healoneworld.com/

The Academic Front

several months -- nose to the grindstone.
great team -- on the ball.
two badass Vets -- Aaron Huffman & Daniel Wong.

take a gander.

my first real deal documentary.

standby for PBS!

THE ACADEMIC FRONT

directed by Chris Mandia

produced by Brave New Foundation

off Culver Boulevard

and a stone's throw from Sony Pictures, you'll find Brave New Films.

here's a couple pix of myself and fellow combat Vets turned filmmakers while soaking in a weeklong production bootcamp.

oo-rah tape striping, release forms, and shooting scripts...

go ahead - live vicariously through me, i don't mind.

just don't go giving me an infectious disease - i'm single and looking...

wink, wink

Operation In Their Boots, Production Bootcamp

Wow.

Just Wow.

The people @ Brave New Films hosted a production bootcamp for five Veterans aspiring to be professional filmakers last week - myself included.

and i gotta say, this has been one of the best experiences in my life.

these men, women didn't just give us lip service; kudos, a yellow ribbon and a pat on the back.

NO.

these men, women @ Brave New Films actually invested money, time, and a wealth of knowledge in a tangible effort to empower Veterans.

in essence, granting us an insiders view of the Industry.

no more assumptions on how it's done - because they showed us how it's done.

and the Veterans themselves -

truly talented individuals.

truly good guys.

and i consider them my friends.

now, it's time to work. time to make a documentary.

and hopefully we'll leave our mark on history.

something that youngins' hundreds of years from now can look back @.

these Marines, Soldiers, Sailors, who fought in the middle-east so many years ago.

WHO WERE THEY?

The Adventures of OITB Filmmaker Christopher Mandia

eyy look!

pissed-off christoff's got an official blog:

Christopher's OITB Blog

writer/director mandia

so i got the job!

won;

accepted;

hired;

etc.

going to write and direct a half-hour documentary for the series, "operation in their boots."

produced by Brave New Foundation, and it can be seen on various public broadcasting stations across the country.

that's right, real television.

in short, i'll be telling the stories of returning warriors and their struggle to get educated.

and i'm damn lucky to get this gig.

well, can't sit around here and shoot the shit, work's to be done.