Kill Joy - an Iraq War Short Film

On routine patrol through a small Iraqi hamlet, a convoy of US Army vehicles is suddenly ambushed. Private McKay, the squadron’s newest recruit, finds himself thrust unexpectedly into his first ever combat experience. 

His ears ring from the shrieking of exploding shells, but McKay hesitates to return fire. In a matter of seconds his understanding of warfare is forever changed as he raises his gun and unloads on the target.

Kill Joy is basically about the danger of socialization, the power of social change, and the effects of warfare on our veterans. While there have been countless war films in the past, Kill Joy seeks to present an unbiased glimpse into the lives of those fighting in Iraq. As an objective film that seeks to neither glorify nor condemn the US invasion, it hopes to encourage viewers to think about their world view and challenges them to make their own mind about armed conflict on a very real, applicable level.

Starring: Mike McNamee, Frank T Ziede, Jasyn Jeffries, Kamil Haque, Sam Puefua, Frederick Lawrence, Patrick Castillo, Nathan Daly, Nicholas August, Lex Rapaport, Mason Bontempo, Ivan Gaspar, Kyle Agnew, Harpreet Shinger, Michael Cook, Haref Topete, Matt Louie and Martin de Bore
Directed by: Brian L. Tan “BLT”
Producers: Steve Nguyen, Alex Valentine, Chris Mogannam
Edited by: Kendra Pasker
Cinematographer: Graham Robbins
Music: Tony Fiala
VFX Supervisor: Matthew T. Lynn
Stunt Choreographer: Martin de Bore
1st Assistant Director: Katryna Shattuck
2nd Assistant Director: Joel Reaves
2nd Unit Directors: Kevin Theal, Sanjay Belani 
Writer: Ty Coughenour 
Associate Producer: Andrea Pasquettin
Production Managers: Simon Wang, Yue Deng, Ryan Domipge Production Coordinators: Kyle Lau, Wayne Altman,
Armorer: Steve Bernard
Script Supervisor: Dina Fiala 
Gaffer: Chris Geukens
2nd Unit Gaffer: Alex Evans
Camera Team: Daniel Fritz, Daniel Pazone, Jace McPartland, Andrew Bemis, Ivan Valadez, Pat Geraghty, Brian Frager, Shamil Erfania, Ron McPherson, Yusuke Sato, Adam Hall
Steadicam: Aldo Valadez
Sound: Monica Lancaster, Chris Wilson
Grips: Levi Jackson, Marlow Nunez, ML Wills, Brandon Cunningham, Joseph Hernandez, David May
Production Designer: Sonny Nguyen
Make Up: Alka Sharma, Karen Crane
Special Effects: Aaron Burgess
Stuntman: Michael Cook
Humvees: Stan Serr
Production Assistants: Cody Coker, Julie Park, Leonard Menchiari, Christina Andrews
BTS Photos: Scott Dee, Hans Wang 
Data Wrangler: Brian Ramirez