#188: Veterans...Not Victims - Sheepdog The Movie Filmmaker Steven Grayhm

About this episode

Fran Racioppi interviews filmmaker Steven Grayhm about his film Sheepdog, which addresses the challenges veterans face after their service.

War stories are easy to tell. There’s action, adventure, and good vs evil. For most Veterans their service isn’t defined or explained by their war stories. For most Veterans the story that is far most difficult to write...and to live...is the story they have to write themselves. In this episode, Fran Racioppi sat down with Steven Grayhm , writer and director of Sheepdog , a film dedicated to telling the most difficult story of our Veterans. The story of what happens to us, our families, our friends, and those around us when the war stories fade, reality sets in, and the hard work must actually begin.  Steven explains his 14 year journey to make Sheepdog, the thousands of hours he spent with Veterans of all walks of life, his embedment at VA hospitals across the country, and the reality of independent filmmaking; a blue collar process rooted in grit before the red carpet, where every dollar is raised face to face and every decision carries weight.  The film confronts veteran suicide honestly while reinforcing a simple truth. Ending your life does not end the pain. It ends the possibility of it ever getting better. What drove Sheepdog was not an interest in war, but a…

People in this episode

Host: Fran Racioppi

Guest: Steven Grayhm

Topics covered

• veterans
• mental health
• independent filmmaking
• trauma
• suicide prevention

Keywords

• veterans
• Sheepdog
• Steven Grayhm
• mental health
• filmmaking
• trauma
• suicide

Mentioned in this episode

Books & works: Sheepdog

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