Patton Veterans Project coming back to UW for film workshop, screening

Benjamin Patton, founder and executive director of the Patton Veterans Project, Inc., was initially inspired to pursue this endeavor for veterans after he spent several summers working with teenagers to produce short films focused on adolescents.

He theorized the same method could be applied to veterans returning from abroad and/or combat to help with their transition to home life. This led to the creation of the “I Was There” film workshops initiative.

“I am a filmmaker and psychologist, and for the last 12 years, I have been running filmmaking workshops,” Patton said. “They are three-day workshops on a weekend for veterans, specifically those who are not connected with mental health resources. They come together, with the help of other veterans and professional film instructors, to make short films that express service experiences.”

Since 2012, Patton and his professional film crews have helped nearly 1,400 veterans by making more than 300 short films.

Patton and his team first came to the University of Wyoming campus for a film workshop last December. A screening of short films that were produced during the workshop was in mid-January with Gov. Mark Gordon also in attendance.

The workshops act as a time and place for veterans to talk with one another and work through the trials and tribulations of service by creating short films.

Patton discovered that servicemen and servicewomen appreciate the safe space to work through their feelings with others who have served. The films are typically fictionalized portrayals, and the veterans collaborate to control everything throughout the filming process with no requirements to be on camera.

“(Since the last visit to Laramie) we’ve done two workshops,” Patton said. “We did one at Aims (Community College in Greeley, Colorado), and one at Colorado State University. So far we’ve had between 11-12 (participants) each. We’re still new (in this area), so we’re still getting the word out, but we can handle about 17-18, and we’ve made six more films.”

The second workshop in Laramie will be at the UW student union, starting at 5:30 p.m. on April 12 and continues from 9 a.m.-5 p.m. April 13-14. It will be led by Patton and his team of professional film instructors, including supervising instructor and Academy Award-nominated cinematographer Chris Ungco, who also won an Oscar for Best Animated Short in early March.

“At the last screening in Wyoming, we showed three films,” Patton said. “We had five people sign-up that night, and then five more people sign-up within a week. We already have 10 (participants for the next Wyoming workshop), and we’re only a less than month away. What that proves to me is that the veterans are the best recruiters because they know where veterans are and which of their friends are really having trouble.”

Following the three-day workshop, a voluntary screening of the films will be also be at the UW student union scheduled for 6 p.m. May 16. It will give veterans the chance to share these experiences with the Laramie community and their fellow volunteers.

For those who are unable to attend the April workshop, another session will be later this year from Sept. 13-15 with a screening on Oct. 3.

All of the workshops and screenings will culminate in a film festival that will take place in November. The festival will showcase several of the year’s best short films and a performance by a Grammy award-winning producer.

“We’re going to show what we think are the best films of the year that we’ve done,” Patton said. “There will be a musical performance by a Grammy winning producer and probably a special speaker — I think it’ll be really beautiful.”

For more information, visit online at pattonveteransproject.org. To register for the workshop email workshops@pattonveteransproject.org or call 970-657-5500.