Veteran Powered Films was the brainchild of accomplished actress and Navy Reservist Julia Ling. Julia has starred in over twenty independent films and is best known for her roles in the NBC series “Chuck”, “E.R.”, “Grey’s Anatomy” and “House”. The mission of Veteran Powered Films is to empower Veterans and service members to create and tell their stories through film.
2016 was a rough year for Julia. She lost a couple of shipmates and knew several other Veterans who were struggling just like she was. Julia came to the conclusion that doing pushups to raise awareness of Veteran suicides was not sufficiently impactful. She and her partner Micah came up with the idea of helping Veterans get more involved in the film industry. Their first project was “Tango Down” and used Veterans both in front of and behind the camera.
Hira
m Murray is a Marine Corps Veteran who has also pursued a career in acting. He recently played a role in the film adaptation of Jack Carr’s “The Terminal List”. Hiram began his career in the television drama “Now and Again”. While attending film school, he worked with NYPD. When the 9/11 attacks occurred “in his back yard” he decided to enlist in the Marine Corps. He was recruited by Julia to play a role in “Tango Down”. He describes the support of other Veterans in the film industry as “One Team, One Fight”. Julia adds that having some many Veterans working on a film project is advantageous because the crew automatically gels because of their shared military experience.
Julia emphasizes the organization required for making a film is very similar to military structures. “We all take pride in accomplishing the mission.” She adds that one of the most rewarding parts of this journey has been hearing from Veterans from all around the world telling her that Veteran Powered Films inspired them to make changes in their lives.
Veteran Powered Films latest projects is a film called “Homestead”.
TAKEAWAY: “There is nothing special about me. If I can do it, you can do it too.”
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