Rebecca Ballard decided to pursue a career in the film industry because she has always been fascinated by the ability of this medium to inform and affect us all. Where others might see mundanity, Rebecca perceives stories and experiences that enable us to feel community, enlightenment, and even healing. As a producer, she has taken on numerous diverse tasks that include everything from writing to casting to the planning and logistics that are so essential to the work of her collaborators. Rebecca remarks that, more important than the success and goodwill she has received, witnessing the capacity of filmmaking to directly help others is most impactful to her. As an Associate Producer on the feature documentary Dear Sirs, Ms. Ballard was a direct force in the film reaching its most important demographic: veterans and their families. As many of those who served in World War II are lost, so are their stories; stories that so many have kept to themselves until the end. Dear Sirs’s message is sobering yet powerful in communicating that the wider community rarely understands what veterans have lived through. This film has lightened the burden of breaching the subject for many dealing with the trauma of war.
Rebecca’s reaction to seeing filmmakers Mark and Carrie Pedri’s Dear Sirs was to immediately offer to aid them in helping this historic documentary reach a larger audience. The story is remarkable, yet, without proper exposure, its message would not resonate as loudly as it deserves. As the Associate Producer of Dear Sirs, Ms. Ballard managed the impact campaign that led to a wide and expansive audience gaining access. Rebecca communicates, “Mark and Carrie were keen to expand their impact campaign and reach a wider audience and I was passionate about their message and eager to take on the challenge of working with community outreach.” The design of Rebecca’s plan was to focus on veterans’ organizations in addition to high schools and universities around the world. This approach aimed to serve as a catalyst for catharsis among older veterans and their communities, while also providing an informative and cautionary tale of war to those entering adulthood. Another important aspect of the campaign was that Dear Sirs partnered with volunteer groups for veterans’ fundraising events. Ms. Ballard comments, “It was so meaningful to work with a wide range of community organizations to launch screenings across the country. I was able to connect with volunteers who were so committed to serving their communities and improving the lives of veterans and their relatives. I continue to be in awe of their ongoing work and I know that I will keep that community-serving spirit with me long after working on this project.”
The making of Dear Sirs centered around the quest for understanding the pain of those whom we love. It began when Mark Pedri found a knife under the mattress of his recently deceased grandfather Silvio. In going through Silvio’s belongings, Mark discovered letters that revealed his grandfather had been a prisoner of war, captured by the Nazis while serving in the US Army in WWII. This experience shaped the rest of his life even though he shielded much of it from his family. Mark and Carrie documented the path of Silvio across Europe during the winter of 2019 in an attempt to comprehend the sheer scale of Silvio’s journey through retracing his footsteps. Though it would never be possible to empathize with Silvio’s experiences fully, the venture to connect with some small part of his struggles testifies to Mark and Carrie’s desire to pay tribute to his sacrifices. Rebecca reflects that Dear Sirs’s potential for healing and community connection is what convinced her to contribute to the film. She remarks, “From the very first time I watched the film, I knew that it had the potential to raise awareness for such a complex and overlooked topic – providing greater long term support and understanding for veterans and the lasting impact of their experiences – while the story would stay with audiences long after the film ended. Mark felt that working on this project shifted his understanding of who his grandfather was and he is now able to see their relationship in a new light – and appreciate his grandfather even more. For that reason, Mark was really passionate about sharing the film with communities who might have the opportunity to talk about veteran experiences with loved ones directly.”
Not all of her work involves such gravitas. While she adamantly professes her passion for supporting a film like Dear Sirs, Rebecca points out that balancing this with productions of a more comedic tone helps her to maintain balance. Referring to her role as Producer and Co-Writer of 2021’s Managing, which tells the story of a small Mexican restaurant owner’s fight to keep his business alive, Rebecca confides, “There’s always some stress involved in my job. In this case, we managed to write, produce, and shoot this entire project in less than three weeks; that’s a nearly impossible feat to achieve for any project – and the film turned out wonderfully. The cast in particular had such great chemistry!” The common thread of both Managing and Dear Sirs is that what remains most important in difficult times is family. The vastly different films and emotional tones are woven with the same themes – and they also clearly display the reasons why Rebecca Ballard fell in love with filmmaking.
Writer: Mike Winston