Oklahoma D-Day 2008 Paintball Event Will Be Documentary Feature Subject

Paintball fans have enjoyed the world's largest paintball event, Oklahoma D-Day, for years, while honoring U.S. war veterans throughout this premier sporting event. In this special re-enactment, participants will choose either German or Allied sides (the Allies include the British commonwealth, the Americans, and the French).

This popular paintball event, along with Oklahoma D-Day 2008, will take place at 66800 East 175th Road in Wyandotte, Oklahoma. For more information, visit D-Day Adventure Park or call 918-666-3411. Whenever you plan for a big paintball event at this venue, plan early because the popularity and energy increase every year! The event participation cost is $70 for D-Day 2008, which includes air for the week, automatic drawing entry, and free activity participation (no extra fees) except the sniper course ($18 extra).

Even if you can’t make it this year, you'll be able order a very special video documenting the event. This year, Double Six Productions will create an expanded video experience, approximately 80 to 90 minutes long, for this year’s Oklahoma D-Day event, which will take place Monday, June 9 through Sunday, June 15. This film production will offer behind the scenes footage and a high end production plus interviews and other in-depth features. Double Six Productions filmmakers Mike DeChant and Doug Gritzmacher shared more insight into this special production.

How many cameras/camera people are you bringing to the event?

One of the most interesting aspects of the D-Day event is the sheer size and scope of it. There are several fronts, units, commanders, command centers, tanks, planes, etc. So, a lot going on. We're still working out how we and what we're going to cover, but right now for the actual D-Day battle we're looking at least eight cameramen shooting with Panasonic professional HD cameras.

Do you plan to have stationary cameras (for interviews/people in the field/etc.)?

We'll have a camera crew with each of the command centers (one each for Axis and Allies). That's about as stationary as any crew will be, but we'll be doing interviews and profiles all week leading up to the big day.

Any plans for nostalgic/World War II-related or previous D-Day event footage to be incorporated into the work?

At this point we have no plans to incorporate previous Oklahoma D-Day video footage. The video footage shot at Oklahoma D-Day before was mostly for promotional purposes and shot on standard definition. We're making a feature film shot on HD. We're not sure whether we will use WWII footage. The Oklahoma D-Day event is a modern interpretation of the Invasion of Normandy with a lot of modern technology involved, so we're focused on making our film modern in style as well. If we find that WWII footage helps us tell the story we want to tell, then we'll certainly make use of it.

How do you plan on tying in the historical/sport/gaming element of the event?

One of the reasons we were attracted to making a film about Oklahoma D-Day is the multitude of storylines involved. You have the obvious historical connection, but there are also several other important themes such as family, community, escapism, reverence, geography, and, of course, the game of paintball itself. We're touching on all these themes among others.

How is production going? Any new ways people can help (besides what's already on the website)?

We just started the fundraising process two weeks ago with the release of our promotional trailer and website. We're independent filmmakers and independent filmmakers rely on funding from donors, investors, and/or sponsors. Making a feature film is expensive, especially one shot in high definition (which is essential for theatrical release and the increasing popularity of Blu-ray DVD). We also have the added cost of having to have a very large crew, so we can adequately cover the D-Day battle from all the different dimensions. We've already started production as important elements of the story are happening now. We're able to rely on credit cards at the moment but if we don't get funding soon we probably won't be able to continue. But we have faith we will get funding soon as our idea has a cross market appeal, especially for paintballers for whom there really isn't anything in the way of movies that exist for them.

Paintball is the fastest growing sport in America so the audience and hunger for a film like what we are doing is only getting bigger. Additionally, there are the WWII and military buffs that this story would appeal to. We also have a track record of making films about niche subjects that appeal to people outside those subjects, so we're confident we have the ability to attract a large audience of non-paintballers and WWII enthusiasts as well with our film.

A wide age range of participants, the ever increasing scope of the event and wild, exciting action will likely provide more than enough footage and interest for any paintball fan. For more information, visit Soldiers of Paint or Double Six Productions on the web.

Also, this year D-Day Adventure Park also features a pre-D-Day event – the Black Hawk Down paintball scenario game, which will take place on Saturday, April 19 (9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.) through Sunday, April 20 (10 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.). As with D-Day 2008, this event is inspired by the real historic events of what the Army Rangers endured in Mogadishu, Somalia. Event participation costs are $35 a day or $50 for both days. Camping, complete with showers/restrooms, costs $5 starting on Friday and running through Sunday. The Café D-Day will be open throughout this event and attendees can purchase field paint for $55 a case. RV/camping hookups (water/electric) are available at $15.00 a day during the event.