Navy Cmdr. Bob Anderson, 55, has 30 years in the Navy,
including time as an enlisted man. In his work as director of the Navy's Office
of Information-West in Los Angeles, he helps Hollywood depict the Navy
accurately. Courtesy photo
(Click photo for screen-resolution image); high-resolution image available.
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He had dreamed of working in Hollywood when he studied radio, television and
film production at the University of Wisconsin years ago. Eventually, the Navy
took him there.
Today, Cmdr. Bob Anderson, 55, has 30 years in the Navy, including time as an
enlisted man. As director of the Navy's Office of Information-West in Los
Angeles, Anderson regularly mingles with Tinsel Town movie and television
producers, directors and actors.
"Our mission is to provide liaison between the Navy and the entertainment
industry," Anderson explained, noting that Hollywood interest in producing
military-themed films and television programs seems to have increased since the
9/11 attacks and the ensuing global war on terrorism.
Anderson, a native of Dodgeville, Wis., had his university degree when he
enlisted in the Navy for specialized electronics training while he was in
California looking for work in the film industry.
Later, Anderson became a public affairs officer when he was a lieutenant,
afterward spending his time "bouncing all over the world" until about four
years ago when he applied for and received the liaison job in Los Angeles.
Anderson said film companies often seek Navy support for filming on military
vessels and installations, using military equipment as props or employing
sailors as extras. To obtain that support, filmmakers are required to provide
scripts for Navy and DoD review.
He said he first meets with film and television producers –- some of whom may
never have served in the military -- to explain what the Navy is all about.
A key criterion for Navy involvement in television shows and movies, Anderson
explained, is whether the scripts provide accurate depictions of military life.
For example, one movie script was turned down, Anderson noted, because it had a
four-star admiral running a drug ring – an improbable situation.
Another script that didn't win Navy approval, he continued, depicted an
executive officer on an aircraft carrier stealing money "and strangling people
and throwing them over the side."
"We need to be portrayed accurately in how we do things," Anderson explained.
And while, for example, "bad" sailors may occasionally be depicted on the "JAG"
TV series, Anderson noted that authorities are sure to mete out justice to
unsavory characters by the end of the episode.
Sailors "love to work with the movies," Anderson observed, noting it's exciting
and "has a tremendous impact on their morale," while simultaneously aiding
recruiting and retention missions.
Navy involvement in television and film productions, he pointed out, also shows
U.S. taxpayers "what we do and how we do it and how professional our people
are."
Anderson said he's worked in an advisory capacity with such Hollywood films as
"Behind Enemy Lines," "Antwone Fisher," "Tears of the Sun" and others.
Anderson said he especially enjoyed working on "Antwone Fisher," a 2003 movie
that stars Denzel Washington as a Navy psychiatrist called upon to treat the
film's namesake, a troubled young sailor portrayed by actor Derek Luke.
Washington made his directorial debut on the film.
"Antwone Fisher," which had earned kudos from critics but realized only limited
box-office success, was produced from real life. Fisher, Anderson said, was a
"problem" sailor who turned his life around after the Navy helped him to
comprehend that his angry, antisocial behavior was caused by a brutal childhood
that featured parental abandonment, beatings and sexual abuse.
Fisher left the military long ago, Anderson noted, but he said the former
sailor still praises the Navy.
"For me, it was a special movie, and I'm really proud of our part in it,"
Anderson said. "Antwone will tell you that he's a walking recruiting poster for
the Navy because he said, 'I would have been dead or in jail – for life – if it
hadn't been for the Navy.'"
"Antwone Fisher," Anderson explained, "is a movie about people and how we treat
our people." The Navy, he pointed out, didn't give up on Fisher.
"And, I like to be able to tell that story," he concluded.
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