June 3, 2018 - THOMAS BIRD (Vietnam vet and playwright) and ANTHONY PEDONE (filmmaker)

Summary: THOMAS BIRD (producer of award-winning doc "Dear America, Letters Home from Vietnam") is our featured guest this Sunday night! THOMAS is a Vietnam War veteran who served with B Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regime, 1st Cavalry Division in 1965-66. He was awarded the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Vietnamese Cross of Gallantry with palm, and all Vietnam Service Medals. On his return to the United States, THOMAS resumed college and his football career, but soon found that his post-war persona responded better to the arts. He studied theater - acting, writing and directing - and ultimately felt that his greater role in life was to give arts experience to other Vietnam Veterans. He created VETCo, the Vietnam Veteran's Ensemble Theatre Company, and, as the company's artistic director, presented 26 plays off and off-off Broadway, including the highly acclaimed "Tracers" at the Public Theatre, for which the company won a Drama Desk Award for "giving voice to the trauma of Vietnam." THOMAS is perhaps best known for his work co-producing the Peabody, Ace and Emmy Award-winning documentary "Dear America, Letters Home from Vietnam." At HBO, hedeveloped a number of film scripts, as well as created further programs to give Vietnam Veterans a voice in society mand to help less fortunate veterans deal with life after war. His newest play, an autobiographical one man show, "Bearing Witness," premiered at the Global Peace Film Festival in Orlando, Florida on September 21st, 2016, the United Nations' acclaimed "International Day of Peace." They play is currently having its West Coast premiere at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles. Also dropping by this Sunday night is ANTHONY PEDONE, independent filmmaker. ANTHONY was born in Texas but spent the formational years of his life on a ranch in Clayton, New Mexico. At 16 he moved back to Texas and played in multiple musical projects while studying music at Texas State University. In 2015, ANTHONY produced "The Strongest Man", written and directed by Kenny Riches, the film had its world premiere at Sundance and was released theatrically and on VOD by Film Buff in North America and Sundance Global internationally. He recently directed his first narrative feature, "An American in Texas." Produced by ANTHONY, "An American in Texas" is a semi-autobiographical account of he and co-writer, Stephen Floyd's time growing up in small town Victoria, Texas.