Military Veterans Face Filmmaking Challenge

A Navy reservist wrote the short film “Last Call at Mac’s” about the range of emotions facing a group of Marines on their last night before a combat deployment.

Elizabeth Carol Thompson and Michael Hjelmstad

(LOS ANGELES) - A short film about service members and their families filmed by veterans’ overcomes real life challenges to get their stories told.

"The theme of the film is ‘what’s worth fighting for’”, said Michael Hjelmstad, Producer and Marine Corps Veteran.

“There is some irony in this because a day into filming we lost our location. The bar location tried to leverage us for thousands of dollars even though they signed a much lower agreement. We had to stop production which is a huge financial and emotional blow to us. However, the cast and crew, made up largely of military veterans are now more motivated than ever to get this story told.”

Elizabeth Carol Thompson, a Navy reservist, wrote the short film “Last Call at Mac’s” about the range of emotions facing a group of Marines and Navy Hospital Corpsman on their last night before a combat deployment.

"This is a very emotional time for service members," says Thompson, "You have a lot of feelings, and relationships in different stages and things you are trying to wrap up or figure out before leaving."

The characters in the film represent diversity in the military, ranging from the young Marine with uneasy fear of facing his first combat deployment to the struggles a career Marine experiences by having to leave his family again. “Having so many veterans [a part of this] brings honesty to the story,” said Rafael Cruz, Director and Navy Veteran. “This is not a second hand story written by someone who did a little research. These scenarios are real situations told by real military service members.”

“It’s not just about telling stories but bonding with other veterans pursuing the same career aspirations to support each other, proving we are not alone, we just need to stick together and not give up,” said Thompson. “Last Call at Macs” is raising funds to go back into production this summer to have a completed film for the film festival market next year.

Supporters can join the fight at: http://www.indiegogo.com/Last-Call-at-Macs

Contact: thehollywoodmarine@gmail.com