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Outreach Journal: Finding a Way for Soldier's Pay

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Posted on October 1, 2004

by Juan Carlos ZaldÃÂvar (90 Miles, Soldier's Pay)

It all started with a phone call from my good friend and colleague Tricia Regan (Leap of Faith) from Los Angeles. Two days later I was on a plane on my way to co-direct a political documentary about the experience of veterans from the current "Operation Iraqi Freedom."

Warner Brothers refused to distribute Soldier's Pay as part of the re-release of Three Kings.

Warner Home Video had agreed to finance and include our film with both the Theatrical and DVD re-release of David O. Russell's Three Kings. David (Director of Spanking the Monkey, Flirting with Disaster, I ♥ Huckabees), Tricia and I were to co-direct the doc and assemble extra footage to be included in the "Special Features" section of the new DVD.

The story found us. We started the project by collecting testimonies from veterans of the recent Operation Iraqi Freedom. We explored how the American moral code gets altered during combat and how both the soldiers' lives and our larger culture are affected by such a fundamental aberration.

An article in the Los Angeles Times turned us onto a fascinating story about a handful of soldiers who, days after the taking of Baghdad, stumbled upon millions of dollars in US one-hundred dollar bills, stashed in small cabins in Iraqi woods. Ironically, just like the soldiers in Three Kings, they too decided to take the money. Their ensuing tale, which the soldiers shared with us on camera, revealed the US military's overt policy of pillaging money, weapons, artifacts, food and supplies from Iraqis. The footage also revealed the psychological damage waged on our troops who are put into a steady stream on impossible moral situations.

The following five weeks were intense. We were on a hard deadline to complete a 15-30 minute film, flying all over the country and working around the clock with two different editors on two separate AVIDs. But we all felt we had a solid story in our hands. During the editing process, an article appeared in the New York Times describing the film as a volatile political documentary. It quoted David saying that the film would be released before the election and that he hoped it may influence audiences.

A day before finishing our project, Warner Brothers announced that they would not distribute the film. They felt it would be inappropriate to release a political documentary during an election year. Our film was dead in the water without anyone having seen it. It was a grim day, but Tricia, David and I continued working through the weekend, convinced that somehow the film would find its way into the public. A ray of hope came when Warner Brothers announced that they would not shelve the project and that we could buy the film back from them if we found a buyer.

Soldier's Pay will be distributed by Cinema Libre with Robert Greenwald's Uncovered: The War on Iraq

A second flurry of articles in the press ignited a few offers from distributors and we decided to convene at the Toronto International Film Festival so that we could meet the interested buyers in person. By the following Monday, Soldiers Pay had found a home with Cinema Libre, distributor of Robert Greenwald's Outfoxed. They were gearing up to distribute Greenwald's new film, Uncovered: The War on Iraq and thought that Soldier's Pay would make an excellent companion piece for the Uncovered DVD.

The theatrical life of our film has also been ensured: Soldiers Pay opened at the Roxy theater in San Francisco September 29th and in New York CIty at the Quad Cinema on Friday, October 2nd. Ten to thirty other cities will follow in the remaining weeks before the presidential election including Los Angeles on October 8th (at the Laemmle Sunset 5), Atlanta, Portland, San Antonio, Houston and Massachusets among others. Festivals and grassroots screenings are already taking place.

The Warner Brothers' pullout was disappointing and serves as yet another indication that corporate mainstream media has a skewed commitment in the public interest. However, it offered us an opportunity as filmmakers to explore alternative forms of distribution and to ulitmately find a creative solution. We believe that the general public is hungry for the truth and that, increasingly, documentary films are being welcomed as vehicles for its delivery. When big media says "no," there is always another way: If you make it, they will come.

The Independent Film Channel will broadcast Soldier's Pay on the evening of Monday, November 1st at 9:35pm ET. Be sure to tune in!