GUNMETAL Group, the military and tactical team for film and television production, has started work on NO BETTER FRIEND: A Military Ghost Story. NO BETTER FRIEND tells the story of a US Marine who has returned from the front lines of a near future war accused of a crime so heinous that the death penalty is a foregone conclusion. With the trial looming, the Marine must remember what he has done and why before it is too late.
Matt Sigloch, CEO of GUNMETAL, says, "We've officially entered pre-production on NO BETTER FRIEND and we are currently working with the writer and director to design the combat scenes. It is a challenging project, because the film is set in a near-future, multi-theater middle eastern war. The military faces a widespread, effective insurgency, a humanitarian crisis, and long deployments in a campaign where there are almost no lines to go behind."
Jon Barton, co-founder of GUNMETAL adds, "I think we are uniquely positioned to tell this story. GUNMETAL is a standing team of more than 40 military professionals who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan. We know what ground combat and insurgency look like close up and first hand. GUNMETAL delivers military advisors, stunt men, military FX specialists, military armorers, military trainers, specialty actors ... Having our well coordinated, highly integrated military team working at the very top level of a film production makes for a pretty potent package."
"NO BETTER FRIEND is a ghost story," says producer Nancy Fulton. "It is a military nightmare. Over the years I've interviewed dozens of military professionals. Some supported the Iraq war, some were against it. That was kind of immaterial. What really captured my attention were first person accounts of the war zone and assessments of how military men and civilians might be impacted by a wider war. To hear these very intelligent, hard working, pragmatic people talk about confronting a modern urban war and describing the physical, mental, emotional dynamics of controlling a large region ... I just wanted to capture some shadow of those men and that world. It's really a picture we haven't seen before."
NO BETTER FRIEND is slated to start filming in mid-2008. Principal cast has yet to be announced. More information on the project can be found at www.nobetterfriendmovie.com. To request interviews or find out more about the project, contact the producers at info@nobetterfriendmovie.com.
Former Marine Sergeant Jon Barton founded GUNMETAL Group with retired former Marine Master Sergeant Matt Sigloch in response to the need for a higher level of professional military advisors working in Hollywood. Through GUNMETAL, Matt and Jon have added new depths of military, F.B.I., and S.W.A.T. realism to many shows, including "Punisher, War Zone", Oliver Stone's "Pink Ville", "Jericho", "Criminal Minds", "N.C.I.S.", "C.S.I. Miami", "Shark", "Threshold", "Invasion" and "Sarah Connor Chronicles".
"Combat changes lives. What happens in wars ... in fire fights, months on patrol, years in the military and police forces, is far more complex and far more interesting than what we are seeing in most films," says Matt Sigloch. "We are determined to change that. Our objective has always been to give the productions we work with, and the people who watch the films we work on, a truer picture. Sometimes that picture will be uglier and more cruel than anything they've ever seen. Sometimes it will define the word heroic. The point is it will be more true to life and more human."
For more information on GUNMETAL Group visit www.gunmetalgroup.com.