Penobscot Bay Media - Printer Friendly

Challenge:
In the Autumn of 2001, Penobscot Bay Media was contacted by the American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons to research, and produce a retrospective multi-media program exploring the roots of modern orthopaedics and the role that World War II had in shaping the specialty. After a very fruitful initial research period, the Academy engaged Penobscot Bay Media in developing a coffee table book, a traveling exhibit, a website and a one hour film about the early pioneers of military orthopaedics.

Penobscot Bay Media's Solution
Over the next twelve months, Penobscot Bay Media set up and conducted film and video shoots with veterans in Normandy, France and surrounding areas as well as Pearl Harbor and numerous shoots across the United States.

During our research we had the great fortune to meet dozens of veterans who were first person witnesses to some of WWII’s most epic moments. In fact, during our research and while working with Navy historians we were even able to correct the historical record about the details surrounding Joe Rosenthal’s famous flag raising photograph, the details of which were included in Clint Eastwood’s movie Flag of our Fathers. Perhaps the most gratifying aspect of the project was that although funded, designed, produced, and intended for a private audience of orthopaedic surgeons and an orthopaedically related audience, the film took the unusual step of being picked up for national distribution by PBS’s newly launched high definition channel and is now a fixture of PBS Veteran’s Day and Memorial Day programming. Wounded in Action won a bevy of film festival awards including a much coveted “Freddie” from the International Health and Medical Media Awards . . . and the Gold, Grand, and Best in Show in Documentaries from the Questar Awards. In tandem with the production of Wounded in Action, Penobscot Bay Media produced a corresponding traveling exhibit that has toured the country for five years (it was only intended for one) and will be incorporated into the fixed exhibitry at the D-Day Museum in New Orleans at the conclusion of its tour.