As soon as it came out in the fall of 2020, I eagerly streamed the movie “The Plot Against the President”, based on Lee Smith’s book on the Russia Collusion hoax. While I was familiar with the Deep State’s manufactured ploy to destroy President Trump, I was blown away by the film – its clarity, its simplicity in breaking down a complex story and its ability to keep me on the edge of my seat even if the topic was known to me – all done with impeccable aesthetics.

In total, I’ve probably seen it four or five times, and I recommend it any chance I get. It is the definitive account of what is undoubtedly one of the most shocking cases of actual collusion in history, and it needs to be watched by everyone regardless of their political beliefs. For the blatant surveillance and law abuses by these weaponized governmental institutions concern not just President Trump, but every single American, as was conveyed so strongly in the film.

And its success speaks for itself – it went on to be the most watched documentary of 2020, viewed by millions across multiple platforms and in screenings across the US.

Unbeknownst to me at the time, behind the brilliant movie is the brilliant Amanda Milius, producer and director of the Plot Against the President (PATP). I don’t remember how I found out a few months later, but we ended up following each other on Twitter and I “slid” into her DMs: Amanda was one of the first guests I wanted to “call” when I initially thought of starting my podcast.

We immediately hit it off, and you’ll probably get a feel why with this interview: Amanda is a sassy class act and a straight shooter.

She is a patriot, loyal to her country, her friends and above all, to the TRUTH, which is the very essence of what she has decided to dedicate her life.

Obviously, when REN and I talked about starting this series for MAN’s WORLD, it was a no brainer that I’d profile Amanda.

Keep on reading to find out more about what drives her, her vision, and what’s next following the massive success of the PATP.

 

Amanda, the first thing I want to ask you is what is your state of mind after the past year promoting PATP, how you found yourself at the epicenter which allowed you to bring this story to the screen in the first place, and how do you view your role as leader in the burgeoning conservative film industry.

 

Where do I start… well, on the broader level, my biggest focus right now is trying to figure out what makes me different in the conservative movement, or other filmmakers on the dissident side, and how to use that. There are other filmmakers that do this stuff, but I have this

unique position because I actually worked in politics, in the administration. I got down and dirty with all of this stuff, and put my life on the line for it, in addition to just covering it.

I think this is what makes me a little bit more emotionally able to tell the story, than your average person because they’re not intimately connected it to it – their friends aren’t getting harassed by the FBI and the DOJ. Other filmmakers have a distance between themselves and the things that they are making movies about, whereas I’m living it, I’m talking to my friends, I’m in it with my whole life. I don’t have a life outside of this movement, whatever you want to call it… because this is what I’m dedicated to, and it’s by accident.

 

What led you on this path, and in this position?

 

Just because I care about the truth, I have found that God has put me in a position – this is going to sound crazy – but God has put me in a position to be lucky enough that I can work for myself, I can create the company that I want to create, I’m not beholden to anyone or a particular financier. We have a lot of financers but I remain in charge, I don’t have to watch what I say, I don’t have to be careful of who I offend, or anything like that. I can just tell the truth and that’s what I’ve always wanted to do.

That’s what’s appealing to me. The moment I have to be careful about what I say or what I do, or what projects I take, because I could offend somebody who could affect my livelihood, or my life, or the livelihoods of the people who work with me – then I have failed.

I need to tell the truth as I see it, and I feel this is my mission, it’s what I can do for the world, and it’s actually my job. I need to tell the truth, and I need to use the talents that I was so lucky to learn by going to the best film school in the world (University of Southern California)…. because of the luck that I had of being my dad’s (John Milius’s) daughter and the things that he taught me… I have these gifts, and so I have to use them, I can’t just waste my life, just do whatever I want, screw around.  I’m not sure how to describe it, I feel I’m indebted to something bigger than I am, I have a debt that I owe the whole world and I have to strive to do right by it.

 

These are the foundational values and your motivation behind your production company, AMDC Films? Tell us about how you go about choosing your projects.

 

Yes, that’s why this company matters to me, especially the documentary portion that we are focused on right now.

Coming back to what I just said, I feel like I owe it to somebody to do the right thing, and to tell the right stories, and to figure out what those are, and what won’t – or can’t – be told by anybody else.

A lot of times people tell me “oh you should make a movie about the 2020 election”…

there’s a lot of reasons why I can’t do that, because we don’t have the information. As citizens, we don’t have the investigative power of the state. I mean, that’s the problem with American elections now, they’re in-auditable. Until we get back to paper ballots, there won’t be a way to audit elections in a meaningful way. I hate to tell it to people, but that’s the bad news, nobody actually knows or can prove it.

But we have a line up of so many great topics and ideas, stories that are so important… there’s so much to tell, I could tell stories for the rest of my life and never be finished.

So how I go about choosing projects… I’m having this moment right now where I’m trying to find out, if you want to get spiritual about it, what is God’s intent for my life?

I needed to take some time off to figure that out, because that’s where I take my direction from. It’s not about what I want to do, but what is the most important thing that I can do, for the world. It’s different than what’s going to make the most money, or what’s the cool topic these days…

I don’t listen to what anybody else is doing or saying. I don’t care, all that matters is what I am focused on and what my team and I can accomplish.

I’ve been blessed to have an amazing group of people and friends I can work with. I said this when I was in film school, the greatest gift in life is to work with your friends and the people you love, and I’m thankful for it every day. That’s the way to be happy, is to find a way to work on something that you care about with your friends – not everybody can do that, and I know that, and I am very very lucky.

Anyway, that’s where my head is at right now, I’m grappling with what is my life for? I need my life to have a purpose. I think everybody does, to be happy… so yeah, I spend a lot of time thinking what is God’s intention for me, it sounds crazy but I do really think about that a lot.

 

I think it’s very relatable – I feel the same way too – and we’re certainly not the only ones

 

[Laughs] – We always feel the same way!

Let’s be honest, not to sound like a dumb chick, but I’m been really blessed in my life.

I’m lucky that I can do the things that I want to do, but with that, I need to be conscious, and in constant contact with God to see what it is I’m supposed to be doing, what is the best that I can do.

I have the gift of being able to say things that others aren’t free to say cause I don’t have to answer to anybody, and I’m going to use it!

Same goes for the gift of my education. I went to traditionally the best film school in the world, and not all people making content today in the conservative movement had this opportunity.

Being classically trained, I feel I have this responsibility to bring that information and that knowledge, even if it’s just industry knowledge, if it’s not high-minded, just basic shit that people don’t know – that’s what this company is about. I’m trying to create a factory, I don’t want it to just to be me. By the end of this, I want there to be 10 “me’”s: an everlasting supply of people who are able to make high quality content that tells the stories that nobody else is able to tell. I want to give those people cover, and to be a part of helping raise the voices of my friends and people I don’t even know, people who are just telling the truth, and telling good stories.

Again, it’s not about me. Frankly I’m exhausted! It’s really about helping advance the movement. I try my best to remember that, it’s hard you go through your day to day, and it’s very easy to get caught up in the BS, work is hard, it’s hard to build your company, to explain your vision, hard to find the right people.

At the moment I’m trying not to get bogged down, and instead trying to listen to what I ought to be doing — I haven’t had a chance to do that in six years!

I went from doing film school, a 24 hour a day job, making my thesis film, touring the thesis film, running from that into the campaign, going right from the campaign into the inaugural committee, into working in the administration at State Department, which was a 24hr a day job, then I went into the White House, then back to the State Department, then the second I left the State Department I jumped right in, literally the next day, to form the company and make the movie, and then we started making the movie, and then we promoted the movie – I was travelling for a year and a half and I wasn’t home for more than four days.

It’s no question, all of a sudden it’s five years later and I’m like, “I need to take a break and think about my direction”.

 

How did taking time off make you feel, and what prompted you to decide to slow down?

 

I felt really bad about doing that at first, because I thought I should be working. It took me a minute to accept I need to stop, after six years NON STOP.

Besides taking a breather, I needed to stop and think about my next move, what is the most useful thing for me to be doing, I needed to get back in touch with God, what is the highest good that I can be doing, because that is the only way to be happy.

Because if you just try to go for financial gain only, competition with what other people are doing, you’re not doing it right. I don’t care, I truly want everybody to succeed, and want to support people who are taking a risk.

I’m satisfied, I’m at a very at peace place with the work that I’ve done so far, which allows me to trust myself and that the next thing I do is the right thing, and also, I trust the team.

The team that I’ve gathered around me is incredibly loyal, and there are people who have bet their livelihoods on our success, and that’s a lot of responsibility, and that’s something I’ve never had to think about before, and it’s a blessing and I need to be doing the right thing, and sometimes it takes a minute to figure out what that is.

In the meantime, building the company so that it’s scalable, a factory, so that it’s not just about me but supports other filmmakers, provide the gifts I’ve been given, mainly my education and my 15 years’ experience working in the film industry that people on the right just don’t have – that’s why so many of these stories just get buried, people put this stuff out – and I’m not blaming them – but they just don’t know how to put out super polished work and also do all the behind the scenes stuff that is boring, that people don’t want to deal with. I mean, there’s a reason why our movie is on Amazon and others aren’t.

 

While these corporations are actively against us, it’s a good thing to use them to spread the information and reach a wider audience that needs to hear this

 

Yeah, you could say it would be preferable if we weren’t on Amazon, but that’s what we have to deal with right now, cause that’s how we get the message out to people who are on the fence.

My focus is on getting the content in front of as many people as possible, because I believe that the content is going to stir people’s hearts and minds. And so we if we have to use Amazon, Itunes, and YouTube to do it, then fine – for now.

Of course I’m in touch with other platforms, and I wholly support new up and coming distribution outlets such as Rokfin and Rumble… I’m actually having pretty exciting conversations at the moment, so stay tuned.

 

When did you know you wanted to turn Lee’s book into a movie?

 

As soon as I saw the manuscript, I had that gut feeling. Women have a very good intuition and gut, of course men have it too, but it’s quite striking with women I find, and this is one of the differences that should be celebrated between the sexes. Women and men are different creatures. I love being a female, and hate what the modern left has turned that into.

So it was pure gut I’d say. I wasn’t so analytical when I thought about it, this is how much money this is going to make and it’s going to be successful and this and that, I just had an overwhelming feeling — I could see the movie in front of me, I could see the title, I could see pieces of the movie -I could see it from the future, and I was like “I have to do this”.

During the process though, there were times where I didn’t want to do it, times where I was freaking out. This one time we were editing in Nashville at this really great post production facility and I remember I called one of my friends, Josh, who was the person who handed me the manuscript. He’d just texted me asking how I was doing… I was literally locked up in the bathroom freaking out, “why did I say I would do this? This is an impossible task, it is impossible to make this movie this fast!”

He told me “you’re going to do it, pull yourself together, go have a cigarette, and get back in the editing room”

And he was right… I can get really overwhelmed in my head, a lot of times people have to tell me – go outside, have a cigarette and get back to work. Not to encourage people to smoke, but for me it tends to work…!

 

Well, we’re glad that you smoked that cigarette, pulled through it and gave PATP to the world!

 

The craziest thing – I mean, it’s not like the PATP is like the fucking Godfather or something – but when I watched it for the first time all at once, I thought, I didn’t make that movie,

something else took over, my brain and my hands, and that of the editors, and that of everybody else  who worked on it, and I thought… I don’t even know how this happened, this is fucking perfect, this is the perfect movie, and I don’t truly believe I had anything to do with it.

I mean I directed it, I was involved in every single decision like down to the last T of the freaking font, but seeing it all together was something that came through me, it was not mine.

I don’t know how to describe it, it was as though, this is the message that must be delivered.

 

It transpires each time I’ve watched it, which is quite a few

 

Me too! It’s the only piece of content I’ve ever made that I don’t get that embarrassed feeling, because obviously when you’re a kid, as I’d call myself when I was in grad school, but you make content, I have a very hard time watching my own work – I actually watch that movie sometimes, and I’m like – ‘this is fucking good!’

And you know, not to go on about like your one project you did two years ago and you’re still talking about it, but it was something that was really special happened there. That’s why I’m taking my time to allow for that to happen again. Lightning doesn’t strike every day, sometimes you have to build it, set up the infrastructure for it, and then magic happens.

Everyone that participated in this company understands, that this is almost like divine intervention…

this is how and what we’re doing, and it’s worked so far, so we’re going to keep going until it doesn’t work.

 

As a leader in the dissident movie space, who are the other directors whose work you find compelling?

 

I mean, there are quite a few film makers on the dissident right, frankly, that have been making great films, for example Lauren Southern, Alex Moyer, Scooter Downey, Jon Dutoit, and even people as big as Alex Jones and Tucker Carlson… plenty of people who have been making these types of movies for longer than I have, even as I had been working in the mainstream film industry, these people have been doing it on their own, and these are the kind of people that I want to join forces with, that I want to amplify and help.

 

We’ve got a cool group in this movement with people who aren’t competitive but rather lift each other up, and who focus solely on bringing the truth forward – which is very encouraging in these times of chaos.

 

We all have such formidable enemies, who needs enemies on our own side? I try not to criticize, sometimes I can get a litle bit… not in my higher self on Twitter, when I see things that piss me off, just like… I don’t like people that are fake, or are taking advantage of good people, I just don’t like stuff like that. And I feel it’s my job, because I don’t work for anybody so I can say whatever I want, to sometimes get a little bit spicy against people who are hypocritical, grifting on the America First movement or just plain ridiculous.

I think for those of us who are working towards the same goal, it’s really important that we stick together and help each other out according to our abilities.

I’m repeating myself here, but I want to provide my know-how to others, which is the back stuff that’s not interesting to people such as the legal, insurance, strategy, PR, all these little things, those are my gifts, I can do that for people and show them how.

So that’s my hope, where I can get to that point where I can really help folks and make this a competitive industry, because that’s what it has to be – one company is not an industry, I want all these individuals and companies to succeed. It’s an entire industry that needs to flourish, and that’s how we get this content out. This is what’s so great about the magazine and what REN’s doing, and others in the culture dissident world such as IM 1776, that’s taking off. That’s what we need because we also need a world of criticism, we need a world of analysis, and announcing cool new people, and giving insights to all the new projects cropping up.

We need to create our own entire everything, a whole ecosystem, and that’s exciting! Everything is on the table. As we said last time we talked on the phone, how excited are we, that we get to re-create the world, in our own image? That’s fun, it’s going to be cool, it’s going to be a lifelong journey. It’s not just today, tomorrow, this is for our lives – this is what we’re doing.

On the individual level, we each have to ask ourselves: what can I contribute, what is my job, what am I supposed to bring to this table? I believe God has a decision for everyone, and if you listen, you’ll hear it. And that’s what you need to do, because that’s what equals happiness, and success, and doing something worthwhile…

 

This echoes one our common heroes’ message, General Flynn, as laid out in his book, “A Letter to America.” Everyone needs to look where they are in their lives, and find out how they can participate in reclaiming their country, their lives and their freedom.

 

Yes, absolutely. And we mustn’t get discouraged. If you just listen, there’s a place for everybody, and everyone has a role to play, whether that’s local, content, news, being a whistleblower…there are so many things, if people are quiet and listen, they’ll know what they’re called for, and the time to do it is now. The stakes couldn’t be higher.

 

Coming back to future projects at AMDC Films, tell us how you came about acquiring the rights to Mark Eglinton’s book, “No Domain: the John McAfee Tapes” (see Man’s World Issue 6 for my interview with Mark).

 

The McAfee story is truly bigger than anything else as of yet that we have taken on, because it is unfolding before us – remember we just passed the one-year anniversary of his death, and his body still hasn’t been produced to his family, no photographs, nothing. Again, it was purely a gut feeling, and it absolutely ties into the theme of my company, to tell the truth and “thrive in the chaos”, which is what we find ourselves in. I believe that McAfee would have agreed with that sentiment. I just feel really bad for his family, who are obviously struggling, and who deserve to know what actually happened… clearly there is something awry and very questionable about the situation to say the least – I’m not going to give away too much about what I believe, cause I think that’s evolving and I think that will come across, but I will say that, again, I think it was a great line up of people, and I think there’s a reason why McAfee chose Mark, to have these final interviews which he didn’t even know were going to be his final interviews, and then there is a reason Mark trusted me and I hope to live up to that. It was Bannon’s idea that Mark and I work together, when we both appeared on the show last year. My job is to live up to all of those men’s trust in me and so that’s a heavy load but I’m up for it and it takes a minute, but we’re going to get there we want to make sure the movie has as many options as possible to be as big as possible.

We weren’t really ready to start optioning new material yet, because we were still building this scalable company which I know it’s hard for some people to understand. When I run into people they’re like “when’s your next movie coming out?!” they don’t realize that it takes time to build an industry piece, as opposed to just churning out movies one after another for profit.

I want to create something that stands the test of time, so it takes longer than people are used to… because most folks haven’t worked in the film industry as long as I have. We actually move at lightning speed but compared to other industries it seems slow, people are like “where’s the movie, we want to see it right now!”

This is something I hope to pass onto people, this is the proper way to do something and for it to live forever and it’s not just a video that you like put out on a random website and then it disappears. This is how you make something real that is like a time capsule that cannot be denied. That’s our goal at AMDC Films.

 

How was your vision of how a movie should be made influenced by both your father and your time at USC?

 

Watching my dad definitely informed how you go about making movies in terms of the process and commitment to quality, and the time it takes.

Other directors’ children have had the same experience, for example, take Sofia Coppola. When she was a kid, she was asked, “what does your father work on, what’s his job?” she replied,

“He works on the Godfather” that was her answer, because throughout her whole childhood, her whole life/consciousness up to that point, that’s what he was working on. Tarantino has made 10 movies in his entire life. We’re talking about the best of the best here.

Regarding my time at USC, learning how to make an independent and a studio film, and all different types of films, but also in my time working at independent film companies, I learned firsthand that even the fastest ones, they take time. It’s not the same thing as putting together clips and posting it on Youtube. There’s also a seriousness to these topics that they deserve the time.

Sometimes it gets stressful, I want to get whatever I’m working on out now! I’m a very impatient person, but at the same time everything needs to be done perfectly because we’re “the right” – if we make any mistake, our credibility is out the door. Everybody else can make mistakes but us, we cannot afford to make mistakes. All I have going for me is my credibility based on my last piece of work, so I have to be careful about that.

 

This is something your dad commented on 30 years ago. From Wikipedia: “In 1992, Milius claimed that he was blacklisted for his conservative beliefs in liberal Hollywood, saying that his flops were not as forgiven as those from more leftist directors. ‘It weighs ten times heavier against me’, he said. ‘If you don’t share the politically correct vision, then you are an outlaw, you are hunted and there is a price on your head, and if they catch you they will hang you’.” Nothing has changed…

 

Hasn’t changed at all… this is why I have to be careful about the projects that I choose, and one of the reasons I have to take the time to make them airtight. Our credibility is everything, and we have no room for mistakes. They’ll jump on every single chance they get to delegitimize the message and take us down.

 

As an industry insider, tell us about the closeted conservatives you’ve encountered in the film industry.

 

Well, there are two categories.

On one hand, I’m not going to blame the people that want to work with us and want to use a fake name because they need to work again. Sadly, we are in a reality where they might not get hired if somebody’s choosing who to hire and they see that they worked on PATP, or they worked on this or that with this particular company they don’t like. These people have families to feed, until we change that culture, I don’t begrudge them at all for thinking about their families, that’s their number one job. If that’s what we have to do to get by for right now then that’s fine.

On the other, I do think it’s ridiculous when people who are of uncancellable status whine about cancel culture but then don’t do anything about it, like promote dissident voices and throw their support behind things they actually support, I think that’s their job now, I think it’s time. Well, it’s well overdue actually.

 

One topic I’m very interested in is propaganda in Hollywood, and how the industry has been weaponized to shape and control the beliefs of the population. What’s your take on the relationship between governmental agencies/departments and the entertainment industry?

 

I mean, there’s a reason why China took over Hollywood before any other industry, because that’s the way to hearts and minds, and the fastest way to destroy America is to put out a bunch of movies emphasizing how horrible and racist and terrible and sexist and all this other stuff that America is when it’s not – and that’s how you destroy a culture faster than anything and you can take that all the way back to the Iliad, the Odyssey and other stories… myths that cultures perpetuate about themselves are what the people believe.

It has worked magnificently – we have spent the last two decades at least, telling our own population and every other global one, that we are the worst country in the planet, and it shouldn’t be that big of a surprise that a lot of people believe that.

That’s why it’s important that we build this industry and that we continue to grow and get our voice out there, that we get this pro America, pro-nationalist voice out there is essential to reversing all this shit. Nobody else is going to do it if we don’t, and it is also about time!

 

China has certainly played a key role in steering content in more recent years, but this was already going on way before, from within the US.

 

Absolutely, it’s been going on for a long time, incrementally, but it’s hard to trace it back to when it turned “bad”… because our institutions weren’t as bad… there was a time where the DOD used to actually be about America’s defense, and I’m cool with that. Now it’s about destroying the United States primarily, and doing a bit of side cash-out to Raytheon and Boeing.

Hollywood has always had a very very tight relationship with the CIA and DOD, and I don’t think this is a secret or a surprise to anybody. I think it’s about the institutions themselves, and that goes hand in hand with the institution of Hollywood. They’re talking to each other, they understand each other, these things have grown up at the same time, we’re talking about the same generation of bad guys if you will, cooperating with each other.

 

They’re in lockstep, and have been since the first half of the 20^th century I’d reckon… This brings me to the recent release of “Top Gun: Maverick”. I haven’t seen it – and probably won’t actually, I’d rather watch PATP again, lol – what do you make of all the fuss around it?

 

I find it ridiculous how the right gets so excited when there’s one movie that doesn’t completely trash the United States – “this is conservative film coming back!” Guys, it’s one movie, relax.

That being said, I enjoyed it because I loved the original Top Gun, and I do enjoy big dumb blockbusters, airplane movies, fighter jets… I think all this shit is really fucking cool and I love watching it. Hollywood is really good at making spectacular effects, so I had a good time.

And it wasn’t in your face with the woke-ism. Perhaps they learned their lesson, but I’ll remind you that the same phenomenon happened with American Sniper, and nothing changed.

So I’m not going to hold my breath on that. Cause they’ll just do one of these every fucking five years to make us happy, just to recoup their domestic costs occasionally, but then continue putting out all the woke bullshit most of the time.

Anyway, I’m not losing my mind over it, there aren’t any singular lines that stand out to me, I really can’t remember a single line from the movie, just a couple of cool scenes… it’s basically fun to watch and not offensive… it’s not like the greatest movie ever made, it’s not even the greatest Tom Cruise movie ever.

 

I came across the contract between the DOD and Paramount Pictures online for Top Gun: Maverick, stipulating the DOD had extensive oversight on the script, plot changes and even casting. Coming back to the relationship between the government and Hollywood, and this movie specifically, it really reeks of propaganda to get people to enlist – for another upcoming forever war perhaps…

 

So, my dad was obsessed with the military, specifically the General McArthur era of the military, and I mean, the body of his work speaks for itself. His movies were so pro America, people were like “fuck yeah I want to enlist!” after watching them.

We must never lose sight that the people who enlist really love America, and it’s the top brass that is completely corrupted. And there ends up being a disillusion when they get there, because it wasn’t what they were promised. Look at guys like Joe Kent, he believed in America, and it doesn’t mean he was wrong – it means the top brass and our institutions are corrupt, evil.

But that instinct Patriots have to go and defend your country is still something that is really important and I really respect.

 

Agreed, which is what makes it even more reprehensible: this top brass and those above them, are using honest Americans’ patriotism to their own detriment, and the detriment of American society, of the nation on the world stage even, not to mention other countries…

 

Yes, it’s complex, it’s not easy, and really fucked up. What they’ve done to the best people in our country who were willing to lay down their lives for a country that they love… it’s awfully hard to grapple with and very sad.

 

Our mutual favorite, Darren J. Beattie (of Revolver.news), wryly and perfectly makes the case in his tweets and articles that tragically, these Patriots are laying down their lives for Raytheon and Lockheed Martin.

 

Darren’s not wrong, Darren’s not wrong about a lot ok – Darren’s pretty much right about everything he says!

But I’m of two minds, and we can’t generalize, it’s just so complex. Just like in the intel community, you have people that are fucking pissed off like the rest of us. However, they are few and far between.

 

Yes, there are factions within all these institutions, and that also means good guys who are trying to re-infiltrate an infested agency or branch of the government…

 

And they are truly heroic, and up against an impossible task…

Listen, coming back to that relationship between the government and Hollywood, we now know they’ve been doing that since WWII. Entertainment has consequences, and yes Top Gun is going to make a lot of boys go enlist. So did my dad’s movies – but yes, the infiltration wasn’t as extensive, and wasn’t as known… there’s so much we’ve learned since then…

That’s not fucking good, a full on contract, picking cast members? I mean, it’s actually not shocking. Remember, the CIA has an office in the CAA (Creative Artist Agency) building, one of the biggest talent agencies in LA… they’ve been working together on everything, not just the war movies, but on the culture movies, on everything. This is another reason why we have to break away and make our own movies. We must create our own industries because we really can’t trust this one. It’s also another reason why I want to get to the point where I make this one particular scripted movie about Afghanistan that I’m really excited about, that has, I can promise you, no input from DoD!

So yeah, don’t hold your breath with this one, it’s the same old, DoD propaganda, that just happens to be a little bit less woke, which can be thankful for, but at the same time keep a skeptical mind.

 

It was probably a deliberate calculation not to make it too woke I’d say

 

Because the guys they want to recruit with this movie don’t like the woke stuff. We’re not the only ones who know about that, they’re not dumb. They want white, middle to lower class Americans, lower income boys, to go out there and fight their wars, and so if they have to put out movies that appeal to them occasionally then they will.

 

Being on the inside of the government machine, what was your personal experience working at the State Department with some of these people?

 

In theory, you would think someone like me who is anti-war would fit in perfectly, despite what you might easily call a non-diplomatic personality that is fairly divisive (laughs) — but it makes sense I wouldn’t, considering what the state has become and how all of these institutions have strayed so far from their originally stated “missions”. I became most disillusioned about these agencies, whether that was State, DOD, DOJ, the FBI, the CIA, etc, when I saw in person that they’re now in fact working uniformly against these missions, whether they know it or not. I’m actually the one saying “Shouldn’t we be more focused on what actually protects Americans?” And these people are so caught up in US politics they’re far more interested in trying to find a way to cancel Fox news as propaganda and call everyone who’s not a democrat a Russian spy and jail their opposition. They’ve become soviet style freaks all while racing one another to spend the most taxpayer money on the dumbest worst programs they can think up for a promotion. Disillusioned is putting it mildly.

 

Which is exactly why all these institutions must be reclaimed and cleaned up. Let’s wrap up on a lighter note… There’s something we have in common: we love clay pigeon shooting, and we have to go when we meet in person. So tell me, how did you get into this sport?

 

YES! Love that!

So I got into it because it was the only way to spend quality time with my dad when I was growing up, you know, without any hangers-on or freaks! I guess I started sporting clays from about the age of 8. I’m still kind of deaf from my right ear cause dad would sometimes forget to bring the protective earphones! He encouraged really bad behavior, but it was fun. Like learning how to smoke cigarettes at the cigar club, or playing with little explosives on set with my brothers… Anyway, I love that I’m still good at shooting and can’t wait to go back to the range with him. This is what I intend to do part of this summer when I get back to LA.

But yeah, we are going to have the greatest shooting video when we get together – the Internet’s going to explode!