Starting in October 2007, we embarked to create a documentary on the famous Tuskegee Airmen from World War Two. Our production took us along the East coast, with stops in New York City, Philadelphia and Atlanta. We’ve even interviewed Airmen from as far away as Detroit and Los Angeles. At the completion of the production phase, we interviewed 16 of the original Airmen and heard enough stories to fill at least a three part miniseries!

Our first interview, conducted with Lt. Col. Charles Dryden in late October 2007, proved to be both fascinating from a historical perspective, and a truly incredible experience in every other way. We were told we would have about fifteen minutes with "A-Train," who introduced himself saying "My name is A-Train, and I'm dead." After the laughter subsided, he went on to tell us that in the 1995 HBO film "The Tuskegee Airmen," Cuba Gooding, Jr. played a character whose call-sign was "A-Train" that died in a blaze of glory at the end. We sat down with Col. Dryden, and that "fifteen minutes" turned into nearly an hour and a half of mesmerizing information, reflections, personal stories and accounts of combat. At one point, Col. Dryden lowered his head, and used as his hands to demonstrate a "line abreast" formation. Looking at his eyes, we could see that he was back in his cockpit, on the date of June 9, 1943, leading his flight as the 99th Pursuit Squandron encountered their first enemy fighters. At the conclusion of this interview, we knew he had to dedicate ourselves to telling this story.

Nearly a year later and fifteen interviews completed, in September 2008, we found ourselves in the home of Lt. Col. Herbert Carter conducting our final interview. At this point we knew how the story would be told, and had planned specific questions for Col. Carter - but once again, we found ourselves in awe as we listened to him recount his experiences with the group. He graduated in Class 43-F, the fourth class of pilots from Tuskegee Army Air Field, was included in the first group of pilots sent to North Africa, and he also served as the 99th's Squadron Maintenance Officer. He even laughed telling us they would fix bullet holes in the plane's fuselage with flattened cans saved from the mess hall.

As post production began, we realized we had enough "sound bytes" to tell the incredible story of the Airmen without the reliance on narration. Included in the documentary are well known facts about the Airmen, seldom heard personal stories, reflections about their significance in history, and even a few stories that have never been told before. In its nintey minutes, “In Their Own Words: The Tuskegee Airmen” whisks the viewer into laughter and tears; all while telling a historical story of hope and perseverance, and ultimately triumph, in the face of adversity.

It was such a wonderful experience to meet these heroic men from history and we are honored to have told their story.

Since its premiere in January 2009, “In Their Own Words: The Tuskegee Airmen” has seen sold-out showings, regional television broadcasts and a host of acclaim from those in the audience, the media and in the broadcast/film world.

The National Parks Service requested clips from our documentary to be used on a website about the Moton Field National Park Site - the historic airport in Tuskegee, AL, that served as the Airmen's basic flight training ground. The website was set up to highlight smaller Parks that were not featured in the Ken Burns documentary “The National Parks: America’s Best Idea.”

“In Their Own Words: The Tuskegee Airmen” was even requested by Lucasfilm as a reference source for actors portraying the Airmen during the production of “Red Tails,” a Hollywood account of the heroics of the Tuskegee AIrmen. We have even heard reports that "In Their Own Words" was watched on the set of "Redtails" in Prague during principle photography. "Red Tails" will be released January 20, 2012.

Imagine our surprise when those reports were confirmed by receiving a "thank you" letter from George Lucas in the mail. And to go alongside the letter, we got a quote from the director, Anthony Hemingway, to go on the top of the Dvd box when it hits stores - "This documentary is an invaluable piece of American history that proved to be extremely helpful with research for the film"

We were also very fortunate that "In Their Own Words: The Tuskegee Airmen" afforded us a sit down meeting with the legendary Bill Cosby. We sat for over an hour talking about the stories within the documentary, the Airmen's occupations after the war, and the historical significance of the Tuskegee Airmen as it related to the Civil Rights Movement.

Thank you for your interest in our documentary, and your support of the Tuskegee Airmen. We feel fortunate we were able to meet so many of them during the production process, and hope that through the viewing our documentary, you not only will learn more about an amazing part of our American history, but you will be inspired by these heroes and carry on their patriotic attitude and legacy.