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With \u201cEntrenched,\u201d Venditti creates a new genre of film that serves to raise awareness for various nonprofits or causes. While he has an extensive background in film, \u201cEntrenched\u201d is the first feature that Venditti will write, co-produce and co-star in.<\/p>\n
\u201c\u2018Entrenched\u2019 is a post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) awareness film. Specifically, it\u2019s a theatrical or narrative vehicle for a nonprofit called Cammies and Canines, so we\u2019re promoting them through means of a film instead of a commercial,\u201d Venditti said.<\/p>\n
This is part of Venditti\u2019s own nonprofit Face the Change, whose mission statement is to promote health and longevity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat my nonprofit has decided to do is to be a pioneer for change. A way of not necessarily creating our own programs but finding out how to supplement or create sustainable innovative ideas for other programs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Cammies and Canines is a local nonprofit founded by Kalani Creutzberg, a veteran who at one point was homeless. Venditti met Kalani through a mutual friend who is a veteran as well. After getting his life back in order, Kalani connected with renowned dog training and canine educational expert Nathan Schoemer to form Cammies and Canines. Schoemer is a former U.S. Marine and founder of the nonprofit Hira\u2019s Legacy, which serves as an educational foundation to improve the lives of dogs and their owners. He is also co-host of Animal Planet\u2019s \u201cRescue Dog to Super Dog\u201d TV show, where he transforms rescue dogs into service dogs to help the lives of disabled people. Cammies and Canines also rescues dogs in danger of being euthanized and trains them to become service dogs. Creutzberg recruits vets who are homeless, have PTSD, or suffer from both, to help train the dogs and run his 289-acre Cammies and Canines complex in Dulzura. These veterans now tend the land and are part of the operations of the facility, which also features a kennel for the dogs they saved from death row. Venditti has incorporated some of the purpose of Cammies and Canines into \u201cEntrenched.\u201d<\/p>\n During the planning of \u201cEntrenched,\u201d Venditti realized the scope of his film was going to be much bigger than anticipated. In order to finish the film, he was going to have to secure additional funding.<\/p>\n \u201c\u2019Entrenched\u2019 itself was too big of a cookie to take a bite out of, so we needed to take a step back, and we ended up writing a prologue for it instead. And that is what we just finished, it\u2019s called \u2018Entrenched Prologue,\u2019\u201d Venditti said. \u201cCreating a documentary can be very informative, but dry for the most part and does not pull at people\u2019s heartstrings. We decided to create a theatrical department where we can find a nonprofit or a cause and make a film about it and have that be the fundraising campaign rather than a commercial. Kalani really liked that idea and he\u2019s actually going to be playing a role that I created for \u2018Entrenched.\u2019 He\u2019s going to be revisiting some demons from the past; it\u2019s a pretty intense scene that he\u2019s doing in the end.\u201d<\/p>\n Venditti filmed the prologue at a San Diego soundstage, which doubles as a realistic combat training school. He and his crew were trained by ex-special forces soldiers in the proper handling of weapons and techniques to insure authenticity on film. Everything from the proper body language, to the correct way to hold a weapon was shown to the cast in an effort to be achieve verisimilitude.<\/p>\n Venditti revealed that \u201cEntrenched\u201d begins with a scenario where the main set of characters has been killed. The prologue serves to introduce the audience to these operators before their ill-fated mission, when they are back home on vacation.<\/p>\n \u201cThe scenario begins to take shape after the team gets the call to go on the mission. It\u2019s about them having their last supper and night together,\u201d Venditti said. \u201cMy character senior officer Dominic Turmalino has a secret that he is holding from his best friend. It\u2019s about holding that secret which is creating inner turmoil, almost foreshadowing the PTSD concept. The prologue wraps up with the team traveling overseas, getting their mission briefing and being inserted into the combat zone and leaves it there\u2026 to be continued.\u201d<\/p>\n Venditti is hoping that this cliffhanger will inspire sponsors to finance the second half of his feature. He has edited a trailer, which he has previewed to a select group of potential backers.<\/p>\n \u201cThe feedback we\u2019re getting is: \u2018Wow, I want to see the combat, I want to see what happens!\u2019 And to that I say, well, that\u2019s why we left you hanging, help us fund that, help us finance part two,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n If all goes well, \u201cEntrenched Prologue\u201d and \u201cEntrenched\u201d will serve as a pilot for a feature or a series. The project may even be pitched to Netflix for distribution. Several other storylines are in the works that will intertwine with the feature to create the series<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re basing that concept off a movie that came out in 2004 called \u2018Crash,\u2019 which is about a bunch of different topics happening where all these different storylines converge in the end. My episodes will involve different forms of PTSD and have them come together as well,\u201d Venditti said.<\/p>\n \u201cEntrenched Prologue\u201d will premiere Downtown on April 27 with a red-carpet event and reception. This will also serve as a showcase for potential sponsors.<\/p>\n \u201cWere getting great feedback. We can\u2019t wait till the premiere. We really feel that we\u2019ll hit the ground running and get the next film financed, which is really the focus of everything, and that\u2019s where we can raise awareness for Cammies and Canines. When we premiere this, it will be like priming the pump. This will showcase the first example of what our pilot program for A Face of Change can do for other organizations.\u201d Venditti said.<\/p>\n There is a female veteran by the name of Kinessa Johnson who is on the East Coast. She is the first female Army Ranger vet to actually help an organization in Africa fight the war on poaching. Her nonprofit Warriors for Wildlife is working directly with Tac Trac. This organization is training locals how to protect wildlife. She\u2019s actually planted in the end of \u2018Entrenched,\u2019 so when one of the characters wheels out of his therapy session, we see her going in. And she opens our next caused-based film which is called \u2018Endangered.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n The red-carpet premiere event for \u2018Entrenched Prologue\u2019 will be held Saturday, April 27, in the IDEA1 apartment complex at 895 Park Blvd. Venditti hints that there will be some theatrical surprises thrown in as well. Tickets are available online at bit.ly\/2ObbYFG<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"Downtown](\"https:\/\/sandiegodowntownnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/04\/crew-1.jpg\")
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