Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/1533577
6 0 P E R S P E C T I V E M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 2 5 to come shoot in their kingdom. With his interest piqued, he passed it along to me with the question —do I really think we could shoot there? I mean… Jordan…kind of the MIDDLE of the Middle East! But in looking at the pictures and discussing with him that his plans for a season arc would take place with a long deployment in Syria… I mean… sure, why not? Jordan shares a border, and a lot of similarities, both geographically and in urban identities, with Syria, and if we could get the go-ahead from the studio to at least start conversations, then let's try. Now as the small world gets even smaller, I'm going to jump back to a few seasons ago when I happened to see the powerful film, A Private War, designed by the wonderful Sophie Becher. The movie is the true story of Marie Colvin, a war correspondent embedded in Syria and the tragedies that unfold there. The last twenty minutes take place in the city of Homs, a devastated landscape of ruins and an absolutely visually stunning setting for the climax of the film. ANYWAY, after seeing this movie, I happen to mention it to Spencer as a kind of "...well, wouldn't it be incredible to be able to do something like that somewhere in our show, and then..." well, that was kind of it. That is until that packet of photos from Jordan arrived. Among the many beautiful and wild places was a some place called Ahel al Azem and under those photos was a notation that along with other projects shot there was, yes, A Private War. This was kind of unbelievable, not really having any idea where this film was shot, and where one could find this spectacular setting. Images of war-torn Aleppo had served me well as inspiration over and over for the previous seasons when we were called upon to create, on a limited scale, some ravaged neighborhood or town square. And of course, with the imagery of the horrors of Mariupol in the Ukraine splashed across our televisions nightly, all of this seemed quite unreal. But now possibly having a chance to shoot in the actual setting that has inspired so many conversations in the SEAL Team Art Department was just, well, kismet. Was the mountain really coming to Mohammad or vice versa? And so, with this interesting discovery unfolding, and STILL waiting to find out if there even was going to be a season to shoot ahead of us, we dipped our toes ever so slightly into the idea of taking our show to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. And we were treated to a visual landscape that truly was unbelievable. From the crowded markets of old Amman, the incredible stairways in the city of Al- Salt, the runways of an abandoned airport next to the Dead Sea and yes, the ruins of Ahel al Azem, the scope that shooting in Jordan brought to our show was nothing short of spectacular. A. AIRPLANE INTERIOR. MODEL BUILT BY WILSON MULLER. B. FINISHED C-17 SET STAGE 21 CBS RADFORD. SET PHOTO. C. C-17 SET STAGE 21 CBS RADFORD. PRODUCTION STILL. D. "CRASHED" BLACKHAWK HELICOPTER OBTAINED FROM THE JORDANIAN MILITARY SITTING IN THE UNFINISHED AHEL AL AZEM SITE OUTSIDE OF AMMAN, JORDAN. SET PHOTO. E. FULL-SCALE REAPER DRONE REPLICA BUILT IN JORDAN. SET PHOTO. F. TORPEDO BAY SET BUILT TO BE FLOODED ON STAGE 21 CBS RADFORD. SET PHOTO. C B A