AlphaDogs Meets the Heroes of Vietnam Medevac Mission
The Vietnam War had 496,573 total medevac missions with 900,000 casualties airlifted. 591 medevac pilots and crew were killed and another 545 wounded.
Burbank, CA, January 18, 2018 --(PR.com)-- The role medevacs (aka, air ambulances) played in the Vietnam War is something that most people don’t often think about. It’s estimated that roughly 60,000 American soldiers were killed-in-action during the Vietnam War that lasted from November 1,1955 to April 30,1975. Without the bravery of the medevac pilots who flew into hostile enemy territory to rescue their comrades, the casualties would likely have been much higher.
American Medevac, a new documentary written and produced by Emmy Award-winning news correspondent Morton Dean and producer Greg Cooke, goes behind the story of a TV news report from the Vietnam War where Dean and Cooke first met while working together on assignment with CBS at Hawk Hill in South Vietnam over 40 years ago. Working as a journalist, Dean joined cameraman Cooke on a dangerous medevac mission into the battlefields of the Vietnam War. Their new documentary tells the story of the heroes they met during the 6-month assignment in 1971, including reunions with rescued soldiers and the pilots who flew them to safety out of the war-ravaged jungles.
Dean’s inspiration for the film came from the selfless heroism of medevacs during the war and questioning what had happened to the fearless men he had met. Did they survive the Vietnam War and what other challenges had they faced since then? As Dean explains, the medevacs are the reality of an American ethic. “When the call came in from the battlefield that some wounded American needed help, no one asked what color they were,” said Dean. “No one cared if they were Democrats or Republicans, or what religion they followed. No one questioned if they were born in the United States. All that mattered was—someone needed help.”
AlphaDogs colorist Sean Stack was in charge of color grading the film that included poorly lit archival footage. “There were no re-enactments to try to get a better angle, or fix the lighting,” said Stack. “You simply can’t do that and have the same genuine result. These are not actors, these are real people we’re talking about. The big challenge with this film was making footage look good, even when areas of the frame were blown-out or too dark. These problems were smoothed out using Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve so the story would shine. It’s absolutely a great story with riveting scenes of soldiers being rescued from the horrific conditions in the combat zones of Vietnam into medevac helicopters. True heroism by all.”
AlphaDogs was founded in 2002 when CEO Terence Curren selectively hand-picked a team of multi-talented artists. From the company’s inception, talent has been the key factor for the company’s continued success. Dean comments, “I’m very pleased that I chose AlphaDogs to complete the finish on the film. The team immediately understood and grasped what we needed to do. They were great to work with. The result was nothing less than perfection.”
American Medevac premiered on PBS in New York City in September of last year and has been shown on approximately 40 other PBS stations around the country. Dean and Cooke hope to make the documentary into a feature film for the big screen. For more information and to watch the trailer visit: http://www.vietnammedevac.com/
To watch the film in its entirety visit: http://www.pbs.org/video/american-medevac-j2bezc/
Follow American Medevac on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AmericanMedevac/
About AlphaDogs: Founded in 2002, AlphaDogs is an independently owned full service post-production facility located in the center of Burbank’s media district. AlphaDogs gifted team brings a combination of both creative talent and technical expertise paying extra attention to detail in delivering projects with a personal touch. State of the art editing bays, color correction, audio mixing, visual effects, production offices and equipment rentals are available. To learn more http://www.alphadogs.tv
American Medevac, a new documentary written and produced by Emmy Award-winning news correspondent Morton Dean and producer Greg Cooke, goes behind the story of a TV news report from the Vietnam War where Dean and Cooke first met while working together on assignment with CBS at Hawk Hill in South Vietnam over 40 years ago. Working as a journalist, Dean joined cameraman Cooke on a dangerous medevac mission into the battlefields of the Vietnam War. Their new documentary tells the story of the heroes they met during the 6-month assignment in 1971, including reunions with rescued soldiers and the pilots who flew them to safety out of the war-ravaged jungles.
Dean’s inspiration for the film came from the selfless heroism of medevacs during the war and questioning what had happened to the fearless men he had met. Did they survive the Vietnam War and what other challenges had they faced since then? As Dean explains, the medevacs are the reality of an American ethic. “When the call came in from the battlefield that some wounded American needed help, no one asked what color they were,” said Dean. “No one cared if they were Democrats or Republicans, or what religion they followed. No one questioned if they were born in the United States. All that mattered was—someone needed help.”
AlphaDogs colorist Sean Stack was in charge of color grading the film that included poorly lit archival footage. “There were no re-enactments to try to get a better angle, or fix the lighting,” said Stack. “You simply can’t do that and have the same genuine result. These are not actors, these are real people we’re talking about. The big challenge with this film was making footage look good, even when areas of the frame were blown-out or too dark. These problems were smoothed out using Blackmagic’s DaVinci Resolve so the story would shine. It’s absolutely a great story with riveting scenes of soldiers being rescued from the horrific conditions in the combat zones of Vietnam into medevac helicopters. True heroism by all.”
AlphaDogs was founded in 2002 when CEO Terence Curren selectively hand-picked a team of multi-talented artists. From the company’s inception, talent has been the key factor for the company’s continued success. Dean comments, “I’m very pleased that I chose AlphaDogs to complete the finish on the film. The team immediately understood and grasped what we needed to do. They were great to work with. The result was nothing less than perfection.”
American Medevac premiered on PBS in New York City in September of last year and has been shown on approximately 40 other PBS stations around the country. Dean and Cooke hope to make the documentary into a feature film for the big screen. For more information and to watch the trailer visit: http://www.vietnammedevac.com/
To watch the film in its entirety visit: http://www.pbs.org/video/american-medevac-j2bezc/
Follow American Medevac on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/AmericanMedevac/
About AlphaDogs: Founded in 2002, AlphaDogs is an independently owned full service post-production facility located in the center of Burbank’s media district. AlphaDogs gifted team brings a combination of both creative talent and technical expertise paying extra attention to detail in delivering projects with a personal touch. State of the art editing bays, color correction, audio mixing, visual effects, production offices and equipment rentals are available. To learn more http://www.alphadogs.tv
Contact
Alpha Dogs Post Production
Julie Leibovitz
818.456.4149
alphadogs.tv
Julie Leibovitz
818.456.4149
alphadogs.tv
Contact
Categories