Bert Bedrosian's NASCAR Race Team Sponsorship

HUNTERSVILLE, NC (September 30, 2016) – “Citizen Soldier,” a feature film using real footage that follows an Oklahoma National Guard unit during its deployment to Afghanistan will be the primary sponsor for Regan Smith’s No. 7 Chevrolet at Dover International Speedway on Sunday, October 2.

Produced by Strong Eagle Media and distributed by Gravitas Ventures and Broad Green Pictures, “Citizen Soldier” is a modern day “Band of Brothers” and documents the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (nicknamed the “Thunderbirds”) 2011 deployment. Set in one of the most dangerous parts of Afghanistan at the height of the surge, it is a heart-pounding, heartfelt grunt’s-eye view of the war. The film tells the true story of an exceptional group of young soldiers and their life-changing tour of duty in Afghanistan, offering an excruciatingly personal look into modern warfare, brotherhood and patriotism.

For Baldwin, this film hit home due to a friendship with United States Marine Corps Sgt. Derek Stevenin. Through Baldwin’s friendship with Derek, he learned of his serving five deployments in just eight years and the trials he has faced because of those deployments. This past Memorial Day, TBR honored Derek and 17 of his fallen brothers on the No. 7 car at Charlotte Motor Speedway.

“I’ve always been drawn to support military efforts because of Derek and the NASCAR fans we meet at track each week who tell me their stories of service,” said Baldwin.

“We are honored to have Citizen Soldier Film on our car at Dover to further tell their story during the Citizen Solider 400 race weekend.” “We are honored to have our film ‘Citizen Soldier’ ride with a team as respected as Tommy Baldwin Racing, especially with a proven winner like Regan Smith behind the wheel,” said the film’s producers Bert Bedrosian, Christian Tureaud and David Salzberg. “We know the #7 car will have members of the National Guard all over the country cheering it into the winner’s circle in Dover.”

Tune in to the Citizen Soldier 400 on NBCSN at 2:00 p.m. ET.

About the film, “Citizen Soldier”
Available Aug. 30 on DVD, Blu-ray and On Demand/VOD, “Citizen Soldier” is a dramatic feature film told from the point of view of soldiers in the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s 45th-Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known since World War II as the “Thunderbirds.” “Citizen Soldier” is produced by Bert Bedrosian, Christian Tureaud, David Salzberg with SEM partner Wendy R. Anderson executive producing, in association with Charlie Anderson and Mike Camello of Charlie Mike Productions and John Brenkus, Jason Mergott, and Frank Sinton from BASE Productions. Follow on Facebook at facebook.com/citizensoldierfilm/, Twitter @ctznsldrfilm and Instagram @citizensoldierfilm.

About Strong Eagle Media (SEM)
Strong Eagle Media is based in Beverly Hills, California and is a full-service Entertainment Company that develops, produces, distributes, and markets entertainment content in all mediums Worldwide. Most recently, the Principals at Strong Eagle directed and produced the critically-acclaimed feature-length documentary “The Hornet’s Nest,” produced the feature film entitled, “The Perfect Game,” and the feature length documentaries entitled “Running the Sahara,” “For Right or Wrong,” and ‘La Source.’ The Principals at Strong Eagle Media – Christian Tureaud, David Salzberg, Bert Bedrosian, and Wendy R. Anderson – have collected over 200 awards, including numerous awards at major film festivals around the world. For more information, visit www.strongeaglemedia.com.

Bert Bedrosian: 6th Annual Student Veteran Film Festival shows 'Citizen Soldier'

(Photo: Strong Eagle Media)

Topping off a week dedicated to veterans on campus, Florida State University held its sixth annual Student Veteran Film Festival on Saturday at Ruby Diamond Concert Hall.

Each year the university – in cooperation with Office of the President, Student Veterans Center, Florida State Collegiate Veterans Association, Interfraternity Council, Panhellenic Association, Student Government Association and the College of Motion Picture Arts – showcases a film that depicts the realities men and women face while serving in the armed forces. In doing so, the university hopes to raise awareness of veterans’ issues among the campus and local community.

The festival featured the critically acclaimed documentary Citizen Soldier. The film illustrates the stories behind the members of the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s 45th Thunderbirds Brigade during a particularly volatile time in Afghanistan.

Citizen Soldier currently ranks among the best-selling documentaries of the year because of its unprecedented glimpse into the war in Afghanistan. As the name foretells, the soldiers in the film were called into active duty from the National Guard, changing their statuses from citizens to soldiers within a few hours. The film focuses on Sgt. Eran Harrill, who chose to defer his education and instead be deployed to fight the war.

Last Thursday, the university held a media event with the film’s co-directors David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud along with Vince Williams, president of FSU Collegiate Veterans Association, and Erica Menendez, director of the Veterans Student Union. Frank Patterson, dean of the College of Motion Picture Arts, was also present.

Williams, who became a Marine in 2006 and later pursued a Bachelor’s degree in Information Technology at FSU, told media how the festival continues to raise awareness of veterans’ issues by depicting the struggles of a military service member.

“It gives [our student body] a short snapshot of what [soldiers] go through,” Williams said.

Williams said that oftentimes, veterans on campus are only identified as such because they are older than the rest of the student body, and that student veterans choose to remain humble about their service for many reasons.

“It’s not because they aren’t proud of their service, it’s because they do not want any special treatment,” Williams said.

The university has made it a primary initiative to be a more inclusive campus for student veterans and is currently the only university to host a student veterans film festival. During the media event, Dean Patterson spoke on how film can fuel understanding to those that are not completely aware of emotional complexities of our servicemen and women.

“One of the common themes throughout this whole festival has been understanding the humanity of our vets, understanding their lives behind the scenes in ways I just don’t think we all recognize,” Dean Patterson said. “We’re injecting [awareness of veterans’ issues] into the ecosystem that is Florida State University.”

Salzberg and Tureaud were honored on Saturday with the Student Veteran’s Torchlight Award for Outstanding Filmmaking. The two were honored with the same award last year for their film, The Hornet’s Nest. Salzberg, a now familiar friend of the university, commended the school for its efforts.

David Salzberg, co-director of “Citizen Soldier, received FSU College of Motion Picture Arts’ Torchlight award on Saturday.

“Having this school do what it does for veterans is incredible – we need more colleges to do it,” Salzberg said.

The Torchlight Award will be donated to the National Guard Association and the Oklahoma 45th Museum to continue honoring the country’s ‘citizen soldiers.’


Original Source:- http://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2016/11/12/6th-annual-student-veteran-film-festival-shows-citizen-soldier/93741528/

Bert Bedrosian: The Hollywood Reporter- Follow a crew of Army National Guardsmen through a tour of duty in Afghanistan

Relying on hours and hours of helmet-cam footage to capture a first-person account of one combat team’s time in Afghanistan, Citizen Soldier emphasizes the part played in current wars by National Guard members who in regular life hold down varied non-military jobs. Coming many years after other attention-getting docs with similar missions, the film will have a hard time attracting attention outside the community of veterans. But that doesn’t diminish its ability to put us in the shoes of ordinary men balancing boredom with life-or-death action on a daily basis.

Focused mostly on a handful of soldiers in the Oklahoma Army National Guard’s 45th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud’s film bounces constantly between 2011 field footage and interviews held well after the participants’ return home. The effect is largely familiar as the movie introduces its subjects (its focus is too broad to bring many of them to life as characters). But midway through, our experience of action is more extensive than in some other films: Where other good war docs have done more of the storytelling retrospectively, the directors here bounce around in-the-moment POV angles to keep us in the action.

Most extensive is a long, late sequence in which, when one of their number is killed and falls down a mountain, several others must make a grueling and dangerous attempt to retrieve his body while under fire. Mike Trella’s score, appropriately Heartlandsy in other places, takes a brief turn into generic action-movie mode, cheapening the drama a bit. But in the moment and in the comfort of civilian life, the participants make sure we never fail to take it seriously.

Production Company: Strong Eagle Media

Distributor: Gravitas Ventures

Directors: David Salzberg, Christian Tureaud

Screenwriter: Eli Baldrige

Producers: David Salzberg, Christian Tureaud, Bert Bedrosian, Eran Harrill

Executive Producers: Charlie Anderson, Mike Camello, David L. Thompson, John Brenkus, Jason Mergott, Frank Sinton, Wendy R. Anderson, Mike Boettcher, Carlos Boettcher, B. Kevin Turner

Editor: Jason Mergott

Composer: Mike Trella

R, 104 minutes

Read Full Article: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/citizen-soldier-film-review-917659


Taken From:- http://citizensoldierfilm.com/the-hollywood-reporter/

Bert Bedrosian: War Documentary ‘Apache Warrior’ in the Works From ‘Citizen Soldier’ Producers

Strong Eagle Media, producer of “Citizen Soldier,” has signed a multi-picture agreement with A. Smith & Co. Dox to create a slate of film projects with “Apache Warrior” as the first title, Variety has learned exclusively.

“Apache Warrior” focuses on the U.S. Army helicopter crews in the war-torn countries of Iraq and Afghanistan. The film includes real-life footage of the crews providing 24-hour transport, air cover and rescue.

“Apache Warrior” is produced by Bert Bedrosian, David Salzberg and Christian Tureaud for Strong Eagle Media and Frank Sinton, Arthur Smith and Jason Mergott for A. Smith & Co. Dox. Other titles will be announced within the coming weeks.

A. Smith & Co. Dox is a recently-launched division of A. Smith & Co. Productions, which served as co-producer on “The Hornet’s Nest,” “Citizen Soldier,” and “Danger Close.”

“Citizen Soldier,” released earlier this year, is told from the point of view of a group of soldiers from the Oklahoma National Guard’s 45th Thunderbirds Brigade about their tour of duty in Afghanistan. It’s been touted as offering a personal look into modern warfare, brotherhood and patriotism.

“The Hornet’s Nest,” released in 2014, was produced by Bedrosian, Salzberg and Tureaud. It grossed $312,706 in the U.S. and is the only film to ever be enshrined into the National Infantry Museum at Ft. Benning, Ga.

“With the successes of ‘The Hornet’s Nest’ and ‘Citizen Soldier’, we are delighted to unite with our co-producers on a new multi-picture deal under their A. Smith & Co. Dox banner and we look forward to a long and prosperous partnership,” Salzberg said.

Bedrosian negotiated the deal for Strong Eagle Media with Sinton for A. Smith & Co. Dox.

“We’re proud to partner with Strong Eagle Media to tell some of the most gripping stories of our time with content that audiences wouldn’t normally have access to,” said Sinton, president of A. Smith & Co. Dox. “Our documentary films will serve to inform, educate, and lend voices to our veterans who put their lives on the line on a daily basis to protect our freedoms.”

A. Smith & Co. has produced more than 3,500 hours of programming. Current productions include “Hell’s Kitchen,” “American Ninja Warrior,” “Spartan: Ultimate Team Challenge,” “Ellen’s Design Challenge,” “Unsung,” “Behind the Label,” “Acting Out” and “Team Ninja Warrior.”


Taken From: http://www.asmithco.com/news.aspx