Le Pentagone approuve les films d'Hollywood

Le saviez vous ? Transformers a ete valide par une equipe du Pentagone avant d'etre tourne. Et le Pentagone a autorise que les equipes de tournage filment sur des bases militaires, et des engins ont meme ete loues a l'armee pour l'occasion. 

Ca vous parait bizarre ? Et pourtant, ca existe depuis un moment. Ca permet notamment au gourvernement de s'assurer que les forces militaires americaines aient une bonne image a l'ecran (ca aide au recrutement).

Extrait d'un article du 29 aout 2001 paru dans The Guardian (et a peu pres la meme chose chez USA Today a la meme epoque)

Hollywood film-makers have frequently changed plot lines, altered history and amended scripts at the request of the Pentagon, according to recently released military documents. Producers and directors have often agreed to changes in order to gain access to expensive military hardware or to be able to film on military property.
On many occasions films have been changed so that the US armed forces are shown in a more heroic fashion. Film companies agree to the changes because doing so saves them millions in production costs. If film-makers do not agree to alterations, assistance is withheld.
One internal army memo about Forrest Gump, which starred Tom Hanks, suggested that "the generalised impression that the army of the 1960s was staffed by the guileless or by soldiers of limited intelligance" was unacceptable. "This impression is neither accurate nor beneficial to the army."The documents indicate that the Pentagon sees the film business as an important part of public relations. "Military depictions have become more of a 'commercial' for us," said one memo quoted in an investigation by David Robb in the current issue of the media magazine Brill's Content.
When Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise, opened in the US, navy recruiting booths were set up in cinemas. Cooperation had been given after the character played by Kelly McGillis was changed from an enlisted woman to someone outside the service, as relationships between officers and enlisted personnel are forbidden in the navy.
In GoldenEye, the 1995 James Bond film, the original script had a US Navy admiral betraying state secrets, but this was changed to make the traitor a member of the French navy - after which cooperation was forthcoming.
The writer and producer, Dean Devlin, had told the Pentagon: "If this doesn't make every boy in the country want to fly a fighter jet, I'll eat this script." But a Department of Defence memo concluded: "The military appears impotent and/or inept; all advances in stopping aliens are the result of actions by civilians."
The financial incentives for film companies are great because military hardware is enormously expensive and difficult to hire, with the Israeli air force being one of the few services that rents out its equipment.
Philip Strub, special assistant for the entertainment media at the Pentagon, said yesterday that the military was often asked to help when a film was still in development. He said that after changes had been suggested it was a matter of trust that the film-makers would honour the changes and he was not aware of any injunction ever being taken to stop a film being shown: "It would be anathema to us (to interfere with) the artists' rights and first amendment rights ... We regard it as a success when we work with a film-maker on a project and a lack of success when we don't."
Some films the Pentagon had been unable to assist, he said. Saving Private Ryan was shot in Europe where the US had no second world war equipment. Some projects, like the anti-war Born on the Fourth of July, never asked for help, he said. He added he anticipated that growth of computer-generated imagery meant that requests for help would decrease.
Cheryl Rhoden of the Writers Guild of America West, said yesterday that she was aware of the issue. "Any time that any outside entity attempts to effect changes is of concern to writers," she added.

Grosso modo, si vous soumettez un scenario qui va dans le bon sens, vous etes approuves. Si vous soumettez un scenario ou les soldats passent pour des neuneus, vous etes recales. Mais vous pouvez changer le scenario pour caresser les Pentagonais dans le bon sens du poil.
Quelques exemples de films acceptes : Air Force One, A Few Good Men, Armageddon, The Longest Day, Perl Harbour, Top Gun, Golden Eye, Tomorrow Never Dies (oui, James Bond aussi est approuve par le Pentagone !), Appolo 13.
Et de films refuses : Apocalypse Now, Die Hard 2, Forrest Gump, Independance Day, Mars Attacks (j'aurais pas devine, vraiment...), Platoon.

Du coup on trouve meme des instructions en ligne pour passer une requete et filmer sur une base militaire. Je vous deconseille cependant de le faire pour un petit projet, parce qu'un employe du Pentagone disait la semaine derniere sur CNN "Votre carte de credit personnelle n'y suffirait pas". 

Comment est ce que l'equipe du Pentagone est financee ? Simple, elle recoit un pourcentage sur les recettes du film qui sort. Il fallait y penser, les americains l'ont fait. Savez vous si on dispose de la meme chose en France ?