Making It Happen

Making ItHappen:

a snapshot ofcreating a historical

documentary

by

Ronnie Otero

Making It Happen - 2

Copyright © Ronnie Otero, Boston, MA

The author filming the IAR aircraft complex in Brasov, Romania



Foreword

About the documentary:Knights of the Sky - Air War Over Romania

In 1940, Romania joined in an uneasy alliance withNazi Germany following a pro-fascist military coup that de-posed King Carol II. An important Ally against Germany dur-ing World War One, Romania's joining of the axis a meretwenty years later was an unexpected shift which highlightedthe political pressures the country endured.

Hitler forcefully cultivated his ally in Eastern Europe,providing military advisors and top of the line German fighteraircraft to defend the most important resource in his strategicpartnership with Romania. Oil.

Romania's petroleum industry, the fifth largest in theworld at that time, was capable of supplying a significant per-centage of the fuel needed to keep Hitler's blitzkrieg rolling.From 1942 to 1944 the U.S Air Force marked the Romanian oilindustry for destruction. The campaign began in 1942 withOPERATION HALPRO, a surprise raid launched from Egyptwhich showed off the long range capabilities of American airpower. A year later, in 1943, OPERATION TIDAL WAVE - adaring daytime low-level raid launched from Libya on the pe-troleum refineries around the city of Ploesti - heightened thegrinding campaign against the Romanian oil industry.

The brutal air war pitted American fighter pilots taskedwith protecting the bombers against Romanian aces who hadsharpened their tactics during massive air battles against theRussians on the eastern front. These men fought and died fol-lowing a code of honor that has all but been forgetting in themodern age of mechanized warfare.

They were Knights of the Sky.



Beginnings

n early 2007 my friend Nick Dimancescu told mehe was starting a documentary film company out ofhis apartment in Boston. It was a big and excitingidea to say the least. The process of creating docu-mentaries from scratch sounded like a great way to

combine Nick's creative vision and our mutual passion for filmand history. Other than student projects neither of us had beeninvolved in any serious filmmaking, but we were well awarethat technological advances of the last decade have changed theway films are made completely. With affordable high defini-tion video cameras and sophisticated computer film-editingprograms, enthusiastic young filmmakers can produce some in-credibly professional results.

I gave Nick's idea an enthusiastic green light, andpledged my support to help get the company up and running. Abig history and mythology fan, Nick dubbed the new ventureKogainon Films, after the sacred mountain revered by theDacian people of ancient Romania. Spiritual allusions aside,taking part in the filmmaking journey with Kogainon Films hasbeen a rewarding baptism by fire for everyone involved.

* * *

At the time of Kogainon Films founding I was fresh offmy experience studying film in college, where I was first intro-duced to a discouraging mantra regarding "making it" in themainstream movie business. As a student, you are constantlyreminded that with talent and hard work it is possible to pursuefilm as a career. However, we couldn't help but notice the quietresignation of most of our professors to the "it's not what youknow, but who you know" attitude. Sadly, for many of my

I



colleagues it was discouraging enough to lead them to abandontheir dream of making films.

Fortunately for me, at that point I was already more in-terested in figuring out a way to combine film and history intomy ideal career, rather than working through the hierarchy ofthe Hollywood system my instructors alluded to. At the time Ihad no idea what the implications of my choice would be forthe type of job I ended up in; I think I was just happy to breakwith the discouraging outlook of doing it the Hollywood way.

* * *

For any subscribers or administrators of theaforementioned mantra, Kogainon Films'portfolio of films is an example of anotherway of doing things. In the two years sincefounding Kogainon Films, Nick has man-aged to pump out a series of short culturalfilms, as well as two 50-minute documenta-ries. The first brings to life his grandfather's

World War One soldier's diary from 1916 to 1918 in Romania.Producing these films independently and entirely in-

house, Kogainon Films is off to a great start. Participating inthe filmmaking process with Nick and the Kogainon team hasallowed me to channel a personal passion for history thatstarted as a childhood obsession.

History Buff

My fascination with history began as a little boy cos-tumed in camouflage fatigues and green face paint, and armedwith a backpack full of rock "grenades" and a rusty old pogostick that doubled as a machine gun. I patrolled and ambushedfor countless hours after school, fanatically practicing war heromoves learned from the Rambo and Arnold movies. I remem-ber sprinting furiously from cover to cover before flopping



onto the ground and unleashing a deadly hail of lead intocharging hordes of enemies, screaming for air support into anold army radio my Granddad had found at the dump. Just as Iwas really getting into it my Grandmother would blast an airhorn to call me home for dinner, no matter how deep into thewoods the battle had taken me.

Aside from popular action movies of the 1980's and90's my childhood enthusiasm for heroics was somewhat en-couraged by my Grandfather, who passed on history books andgood stories he had collected over the years. Some of myGranddad's stories came from friends and colleagues, who inmany ways were a perfect example of the generation that livedthrough World War Two. Veterans of the marines, army, navy,academics, engineers, teachers, and physicists; they were eve-ryday American's who as young people joined in something wenow know was incredible.

I remember listening to our neighbors Lou Cunninghamand Henry Outten - both veterans of aerial dogfights against theJapanese- recall both scary close calls and funny moments inthe same winding story. Back then I didn't connect the brutalityof war to reality until I witnessed the subtle emotions in Louand Henry as they told their war stories. That was a big step inmy early understanding of war. Even to a naïve kid, emotionsimmediately indicated to me the powerful effect that stirring upintense memories can have.

Years later when I studied history in college I realizedthat my growing fascination wasn't only with war, but with thepower of the human element rising above periods of conflict.Since then I've looked for more and more stories, completelyhooked on the honesty of their emotions.

Making Documentaries

I've been traveling with Nick - whose grandparentsemigrated from Romania to the U.S in 1956 - for over a dec-ade. Our first trip together was a trek through the Carpathian



Mountains of Romania. Following gorgeous trails that woundfrom lush rolling foothills to the top of knife-like ridges, wefirst felt a sense of independence and confidence that is inspir-ing for a 16 year-old.

Four years later we worked as interns on a NationalGeographic Magazine sponsored preservation project at a re-mote cave complex, digging for extinct cave-bear bones along-side professional archaeologists. During that trip Nick con-nected with Cristian Lascu, editor of the Romanian edition ofthe National Geographic and an indispensable supporter ofKogainon Films ever since.

Nick's first business idea - an adventure sports touringcompany - also required an extended trip, this time to surveyRomania's various recreational winter sports options. For atwenty five year old, these experiences represent a significantchunk of my life, and collectively contain some of my favoritememories.

Since the start of Kogainon Films three years ago, ourtrips have taken on the added thrill of documentary filmmak-ing. After leaving the University of Massachusetts in 2008 withmy history degree, a serious itch for documentary film, and nolooming post-grad employment, I offered to help Nick with hisfilm projects whenever possible. I had some experience with



camera work and editing from a summer workshop with theNew York Film Academy, and an internship with NPR hadsharpened my editorial and research skills. Those practicallearning experiences ended up coming in handy when I workedon my first project with Nick. The project, Hill 789: The LastStronghold, was Kogainon Films first 50-minute documentary.It was broadcast on TVR1, Romanian national television, inDecember 2009.

Nick and I taking a breakfrom filming "Hill 789: TheLast Stronghold" in 2008. Isnapped this pic of our re-flection in an open tank ofcrude oil.

From the conceptualiza-tion, research, story-boarding, all the waythrough to camera work

and script editing, I've played a multipurpose role at KogainonFilms. It's been a stroke of luck and a huge opportunity to workin a field that I love; especially considering this is all happen-ing in a time where many in our generation are in despair overa lack thereof.

Knights of the Sky

The origins of the current Kogainon project - Knights ofthe Sky - traces back to December 2009, when Romanian his-tory buff Alex Arma told Nick about an incredible World WarTwo dogfight between American pilot Barrie Davis and Roma-nian pilot Ion Dobran. On June 6, 1944, a date most rememberfor the D-Day landings in France, Dobran ambushed Lt. Davisand his wingman Wayne Lowry as they returned from escort-ing American bombers to oil industry targets in Romania.Sneaking up on the two Americans from behind, Dobran un-



leashed a burst of canon and machine gun fire that left Davisunconscious and his P-51 Mustang badly damaged. Lowrychased after Dobran and eventually forced him to crash land,ending the brief but violent encounter with both sides ques-tioning the fate of their adversary. By the end of World WarTwo both Davis and Dobran had both earned the coveted "ace"status by shooting down five or more enemy aircraft, cement-ing their air-battle in the collective war history of both coun-tries.

The story was intriguing enough to get Nick thinkingabout making a film drawing together all the amazing historysurrounding the massive air war over Romania during WWII.The idea gained serious momentum in January of 2010; 66years after Ion Dobran and Barrie Davis met in combat. Withthe help of the Romanian Air Force, Nick arranged their reun-ion in Bucharest. Though I didn't get to witness the event inperson, watching the footage Nick brought home of the twoelderly warriors embracing felt like nothing less than history inthe making. Drawing a sense of purpose from our intimate in-volvement in the historic reunion, we began the daunting proc-ess of constructing the new film from scratch.

***

In May of 2010, Nick, his father Dan, and I traveled toRomania for the production phase of Knights of the Sky, theWorld War Two installment of Kogainon's series on "RomaniaAt War." Our ambitious goal for the trip was to shoot the ma-jority of the footage needed for the film, and to follow up onleads we had identified during the research stage.

Working as primary camera operator, I also tackled thedaunting secondary responsibility of managing the huge pile ofextraneous film equipment we travel with. My first trip withKogainon Films - filming for Hill 789 back in 2008 - was ahistorical treasure hunt that turned up lots of battlefield arti-facts, but unfortunately no living witnesses. Arriving in Bucha-



rest in May, our hopes were high knowing there are literallythousands of people still living who witnessed and participatedin the events featured in the film. In historical documentaryfilms first person testimonials are a crucial element becausethey provide a captivating core of perspective and emotion thatviewers can really connect with. Highlights of the May '10 tripplay back in my memory as a series of colorful vignettes,echoing key moments in the chapters of the film were puttingtogether.

Ronnie and Nick schlepping camera gear during the May 2010"Knights of the Sky" shoot. A frequent sweat-equity pastime

of Kogainon Films.

The first stop on the day's shooting schedule was Galat-eni, a rural village about an hour and a half south of Bucharest.Sixty-six years earlier residents of the small farming villagewatched as several American bombers crashed flaming into thefields around their community; shot down as they returnedfrom missions over Bucharest and the oil facilities aroundPloesti. Filming in the small village was supposed to be cut and



dry; background scenery for the bigger story of the 1942-44 airwar.

We had heard that the Galateni church maintained aburial register that supposedly held the names of severalAmerican airmen who were buried in the small village grave-yard. As we filmed the modest exterior of the Orthodox chapelthe priest appeared carrying a large leather-bound book. Plac-ing the book on a small table inside the sanctuary, the priestbegan flipping through the book, using his finger to scan forthe American names we were looking for. Our small grouphuddled closely around the table, eyes glued to the yellowedpages of the old book. Viewing the names scrolling by in thesharp high definition of the camera, my senses were completelytuned in to the unfolding drama. The priest stopped his fingeron a set of eight American names, dated under August of 1944.The tiny chapel was silenced by the weight of the moment.Written in faded blue ink, the eight names brought to mind asad comparison. A group of American men younger than Nickand I had been buried here almost seven decades years ago. AsI filmed the names I began to think about those young men asindividuals, their background stories tragically brought to-gether by the common denominator of their last few momentstogether.

We wrapped up the shoot and prepared to head back toBucharest, completely satisfied with the amazing material wehad gathered at the church. As we packed up our gear a localman told us that a nearby house had once served as a jail fortwo American airmen who survived crashes in Galateni. Notwanting to pass on the opportunity we took the quick drive tothe jailhouse, completely unprepared for what we were about tofind.

The homeowner and his wife were happy to show usaround their property, which they confirmed had indeed beenthe Galateni Gendarme (Police) station during World WarTwo. Through an interpreter they repeated a story that Nickand I had first heard while interviewing William Giambrone,



the sole survivor of the crash that killed the eight men wefound in the death register.

The farmhouse cellarwhere two American air-men were hidden from aGerman patrol by theirRomanian captors.

Giambrone and anothercaptured American air-man where brought tothis farmhouse aftertheir capture by the vil-

lage police. Instead of handing the men over to the local Ger-man unit - who they feared would abuse the airmen prisoners -the Romanians decided to hide Giambrone and the other pris-oner in the basement of the Gendarme station for the night. Asthey lay silently in the cramped basement, Giambrone and theother American must have been aware of the risk his captorswere taking. Romanians were sticking their necks out to sparethe American prisoners from the brutal treatment they wouldreceive if discovered by the German patrol. When the Ameri-cans were transferred to a P.O.W camp in Bucharest the nextday, the villagers used the yard of the jailhouse as a scrap metalcollection point during the clean-up of the crash sites aroundGalateni.

Nick and I listened intently to the homeowners, men-tally connecting the dots of the research we had done beforethe trip. And then it happened. Ten minutes into our time at thefarmhouse Romanian aviation historian Dan Melinte spotted anunusual piece of shiny metal in the chicken fence surroundingthe property. My eyes remained glued to the camera monitor asMelinte explained that the piece of aluminum patching the di-lapidated fence was most likely a piece of the skin of anAmerican B-24 bomber, one of the last remnants of the wreck-age brought to the farmhouse after the crashes.



With B-24 fragments recovered from Galateni. Taken at the Athenee Pal-ace Hotel in Bucharest.

It was a huge moment for everyone present. Never be-fore had I been in a position to physically connect with some-thing so historically charged. With the help of the homeownerwe ended up recovering several other small pieces of alumi-num that were buried in the yard. Completely worn out fromthe events of the day, I dozed off during the drive back to Bu-charest. I slept almost the entire way, undisturbed by the clatterof metal artifacts rattling around in the back of our truck.

***

A whirlwind eight months after the historic reunion ofBarrie Davis and Ion Dobran, the production of Knights of theSky has built an impressive international network of peopleconnected by mutual experiences involving WWII in Romania.



Despite the speed at which the production has moved sinceJanuary, it isn't always smooth sailing.

In order to make this film happen on short time andlimited funding, Nick and Dan have brought together a team ofinternational people to fulfill one simple goal: produce aunique film which tells an amazing true story. As a member ofthat team and a witness to the last eight months of collabora-tion, I can definitively say that the process of assembling aquality documentary film takes serious work. Creating Knightsof the Sky with serious history buffs in mind, while also makingit accessible to a more general audience is a problem we'vebeen chewing over since the early days of the project. The so-lution by Nick and editor/digital effects guru Kyle Brandse hasbeen putting in the extra work and travel necessary to create anoriginal story-telling concept that keeps the films on pace withthe technology available today. Combined with Kyle's progres-sive visual design of the film, Nick's approach to filmmakingadds a genuine sincerity that is palpable when viewing hisfilms. Instead of acting as a detached director and narrator,Nick has taken part in every interview, research trip, and filmshoot conducted by Kogainon films.

Knights of the Sky channels the 1940's war stories ofRomanian, American, and German's through the unique per-spective of a young Romanian-American revisiting the scene66 years later. Using that modern perspective to move the filmalong, this project is an encouraging example of where historystorytelling should be in 2010. Knights of the Sky is a serioushistory film which focuses on the stuff I have always valuedmost: the amazing stories of people who were there.

Filmmaking

The journey from inception to where we are today onthe production of this film has seriously reinforced my faith inthe power of historical story telling. My personal journey fromchildhood afternoons spent playing war to the travel and film-



making experiences I've had with Kogainon Films has far ex-ceeded my expectations for what I thought I would be doing atthis stage in my life.

I firmly believe that going about it the Kogainon waycultivates the creative focus needed to complete a project as te-dious as getting a film made. Imagine visiting the same roomperiodically for over a year and seeing the team of people sit-ting in front of computers, reviewing footage, editing se-quences, and adjusting color and sound levels; that’s the typeof daily grind this process is.

For aspiring young filmmakers: if you think your pas-sion could create that type of a work ethic, I hope I've providedone example of how current technology is changing the gamefor people willing to take their project from idea to finishedproduct.

For myself, Nick, Dan, Kyle, and all the other peoplewho have contributed to Knights of the Sky, the last year hasbeen about one thing. Making it happen.

***



Shooting Scenes - Romania 2010

Making It Happen

Documents

Transcript of Making It Happen