USMC

Going back through some documents released by the Army on the Transformers films I noticed that some of the notes weren't script notes from pre-production, but were production notes from while Transformers: Dark of the Moon was filming.

The US military has a drinking problem, but like most of its problems it's OK because the entertainment liaison offices are there to make sure Hollywood doesn't draw attention to it. From episodes of Wonder Woman through to blockbuster films, scenes of services members drinking have been edited or removed from scripts. (Read more...)

The military legal drama Rules of Engagement is perhaps the greatest modern example of racist, warmongering propaganda. Unsurprisingly, it benefited from full Pentagon support, in exchange for numerous script changes. The film was eerily prescient, foreshadowing two terrorist attacks in Yemen, and in some ways the entire post-9/11 war on terror. In this episode I […](Read more...)

Rules of Engagement is notable for being possibly the most violent, racist, colonialist film Hollywood has made since the end of the Cold War.  It pre-empted two real life terrorist attacks in Yemen including one on the US embassy.  The film was produced with close co-operation from the DOD, particularly the Marine Corps, in exchange […](Read more...

The Science and Entertainment Exchange (or SEEX) has consulted on over 1300 films and TV shows in less than 10 years, but outside of Hollywood few people know who they are and what they do. This week we pull back the curtain to look at their activities and their agenda.

Officially, the Science and Entertainment Exchange (or SEEX) is the outreach program of the National Academy of Sciences – a non-governmental, non-partisan, non-profit honorific body who give awards and the like.  In reality it is a government-funded entertainment liaison office who work closely with the military to help them accomplish their aims. A full account […](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...)

In this month’s subscriber-only podcast I talk about some of my recent FOIA escapades, including my attempts to track down the 2nd Pentagon-Hollywood database.  The existence of this second database was revealed to me by the Marine Corps communications office, but both the Marine Corps and the Office of the Secretary of Defense deny that […](Read more...)

National Security Cinema is a new book that uses over 4,000 pages of documents to reveal government censorship and propaganda in Hollywood. From the Pentagon's rewriting of James Bond to the CIA's manipulation of Meet the Parents this is the biggest and best book ever written about military-intelligence propaganda in the entertainment industry. And I'm not just saying that because I co-wrote it.

In this month's subscriber-only podcast I look at the notion that Hollywood is a liberal propaganda machine supported by the government. Looking through the reports of the Pentagon's Entertainment Liaison Offices I find examples where a socially and politically conservative agenda, not a liberal agenda, is encouraged, enhanced and promoted by the DOD.