Mitaru Expands BBC Reporting Into 'Act of Service' Doc
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- Ilie Mitaru is directing "Act of Service," expanding his award-winning BBC reporting on a Texas jail's equine therapy program for incarcerated veterans into a feature documentary
- Peabody Award-winner Alex Lieberman is producing the film, with Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) joining as executive producer
- The documentary profiles the VALOR program (Veterans Accessing Lifelong Opportunities for Rehabilitation) in Collin County, Texas, launched by Judge John Roach, Jr., presiding judge of the North Texas Veterans Court and Marine Corps veteran
- Sheriff Jim Skinner (U.S. Air Force veteran), Judge Roach, and Vietnam veteran horse trainer Pat Puckett developed the equine therapy initiative together
- IAVA CEO Dr. Kyleanne Hunter, a Marine Corps veteran who served in Iraq and Afghanistan, praised Mitaru and Lieberman for approaching the project with "rare integrity"
- Format Films, Mitaru's production company, is producing the documentary in association with Bright West Entertainment, alongside executive producer Manuel Gomez
Why it matters: IAVA's executive production of a film focused on a county-level rehabilitation model (VALOR in Collin County) signals the veterans advocacy community's commitment to challenging stereotypes about incarcerated service members — a population often erased from public conversation despite overlapping crises of addiction and PTSD that the documentary directly confronts.
