Directors Bio
Director/Producer
Lawrence Reid is a Los Angeles based filmmaker drawn to human stories that lie at the intersection of seen and unseen. As the principal of Reflective Productions, Reid is a writer/director who has produced award-winning national and international television series, documentaries and commercials for more than two decades. Reid’s latest documentary is “Taking the Hill.”
Director Statement
“Taking the Hill” is a conversation about the disturbing and ever increasing phenomena of post-traumatic stress disorder that plagues our Nation’s military servants. This important film opens dialogue about trauma, pain and recovery for affected veterans and their families.
One of the featured stories is Raul Ries. . . . a Marine combat vet from Alpha Company 1-7 who had really been through it all during a long tour of duty in Vietnam. Ries has a heart for other vets and wanted to do a film to reach out to those who are struggling with post-traumatic stress.
PTSD has been in the closet for years and didn’t go away with “agent orange” . . . . in fact current combat stress is on rise and suicide rate are out of control. We decided juxtapose the stories of the four surviving Marines from Ries’ Vietnam unit with current Marines who have served in the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts. We wanted to explore emotional and spiritual perspectives without pulling any punches about how real this problem is. What we discovered are many deep emotional scars that last a lifetime.
At the same time, we wanted vets to know combat stress is not something to be ashamed of . . . . there are others suffering and help is possible.”
