Phil Strub

The late Cold War classic Top Gun is one of the most well-liked military movies of all time. It's combination of romance, comedy and never-seen-before aerial action was made possible by extensive support from the DOD, particularly the US Navy.

Marvel have enjoyed a long-running and mutually beneficial relationship with the Pentagon, but there was a falling out during production of The Avengers (2012).  On this month’s subscriber-only podcast I examine two of the MCU films that immediately followed this argument – Iron Man 3 and Captain America: The Winter Soldier – and highlight scenes […](Read more...

In March 2016 I submitted a request to the US Navy for copies of entertainment liaison office reports, script notes and production assistance agreements. Over a hundred emails and three appeals later they have finally released some script notes to me, but the document is almost entirely redacted.

Professor CJ invited me onto his Dangerous History Podcast recently to discuss the research behind National Security Cinema, what we found, and what it means. We talk about conspiracy theories, how I got into this line of research, what methods I employed, the nature of the entertainment liaison offices and some of the more surprising films and TV shows supported by the state.

David Sirota invited me onto his podcast to talk about National Security Cinema and how the DOD and CIA secretly shape pop culture. This was a rapid-fire conversation where we got into examples of political censorship by government agencies, the operations of the entertainment liaison offices, the scale of this phenomenon and whether this constitutes a government limitation on free speech. (Read more...)

Lone Survivor is one of very few recent DOD-supported films that is based on real events from the war on terror.  In a period where the Pentagon is more interested in Transformers and superhero movies, Lone Survivor is an exception.  Reports from the military Hollywood offices called it ‘a two hour infomercial’ about US special […](Read more...)

I am proud to announce that Critical Sociology have today published an article I co-wrote with Matt Alford that sums up the major findings from our research for National Security Cinema.  Titled ‘New Evidence for the Surprisingly Significant Propaganda Role of the Central Intelligence Agency and Department of Defense in the Screen Entertainment Industry‘ our […](Read more...)

The book of Ecclesiastes tells us, ‘The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun.’ Even the idea that there is nothing new is thousands of years old. This week we’re going to look at why Hollywood appears to have run out of ideas despite being one of the most innovative places on earth.

Kevin Gosztola interviewed me for Unauthorized Disclosure about National Security Cinema.

A few weeks ago Matt and I were invited to Portsmouth University to give a presentation on our research and analysis for National Security Cinema. We opted to do an interactive multi-media workshop that explains how the relationship between government and Hollywood works, and how this influences what we end up watching on screen.