as seen in the july 1, 2010 issue of thr the hollywood reporter.
press release:
discovery network producers set to finance sequel to ed harris film "return to tarawa" in the pacific august 8-31, 2010
award winning filmmakers steven c. barber and tamara henry are set to film august 2010 the congressionally enacted sequel to his first film "return to tarawa". barber's now calling for non-profit donations, partners and editors to join this noble recovery team mission.
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filmmaker steven c. barber's return to tarawa on larry king live www.youtube.com/stevencbarber
for immediate release
prlog (press release) – jun 24, 2010 – award winning film maker, steven c barber hit a grand slam with his very first attempt at film-making. it wasn't spielberg and hanks' the pacific, nor kathryn bigelow's oscar-winning hurt locker, but barber's independent documentary film "return to tarawa: the leon cooper story" (which was boot-strapped by the last ancient warrior and star of the film) that sent a ripple effect through congress and caused it to pass legislation so that now jpac will be leading its team back to the pacific battlefield this august in a csi-style recovery mission through the largest forensic anthropology lab in the world, while barber films. barber's independent film company vanilla fire productions is scouting for another a-list celebrity to have the privilege of narrating, and follow in the footsteps of the nobility that ed harris brought to the first film.
wwii vet leon cooper of malibu (who also serves as executive producer) endearingly calls his director "steven carberundum barber" for his cannonball won't-take-"no"-for-an-answer style. (carberundum is the hardest metal on earth, which actually began as a failed experiment! it occurs in nature as the extremely rare mineral moissanite, an abrasive, high endurance crystal used in bulletproof vests and in high-temperature/high-voltage electronics.)
the barber-cooper team was on cnn american morning after a tour of the walter reed army medical facility where he received the commander's coin in front of 300 disabled vets after an exclusive premiere of his second film unbeatenthemovie.com. barber and cooper were also on cnn larry king live with ed harris: http://www.youtube.com/stevencbarber
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the working title is "tarawa: the un-recovered." in 2008, mr. barber and a film crew went out to the atoll of tarawa in the island nation of kirabati. accompanying him was 88-year-old leon cooper who was a 22-year-old higgins boat commander in the 1943 battle of tarawa where 1,113 marines were killed in a 3 day battle of epic proportions. while on the island, mr, barber had heard rumors of forgotten and lost marines that were never repatriated after almost 7 decades. these rumors could not be substantiated, but upon returning to the states and striking an immediate film deal with discovery's/military channel, mr barber and mr. cooper would receive hundreds of emails from families from around the united states seemingly corroborating the rumors that were first discovered while filming inclu