Veteran Made with Carey Kight

On episode 175, I’m joined by writer, educator, and friend Jessica Danger to talk about her memoir, No Heroic Measures.

This conversation is about grief, addiction, caregiving, estrangement, sobriety, and the responsibility that comes with telling the truth on the page. Jessica and I talk about how she shaped an incredibly personal story into a memoir, what it means to tell the truth, and why specificity really is generosity.

We also get into the writing process itself — the messy drafts, the revisions, the details you keep, the details you cut, and how sometimes the story you think you’re writing is not the story at all.

This one is personal, thoughtful, and deeply human.

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Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

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Responsible storytelling + creative collaboration = veteran characters who have depth, purpose, and a future.

In episode 174, I sit down with Luke Tennie to talk about his role as Sean on Apple TV's Shrinking and why the character has resonated so deeply. Luke shares how he approached playing Sean with care, how he and one of the writers on the show, Bill Posley, crafted him Sean as a full human being instead of just a stereotype, and why humor, pain, community, and accountability all matter in telling this kind of story.

We also dig into the deeper themes behind Sean’s arc: PTSD, self-harm, isolation, entrepreneurship, group therapy, and the hard work of full reintegration after service.

Episode Sponsors:

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• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
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Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

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We must be the ones telling these stories. Not just consulting. Not just advising. Leading. Creating. Producing. Representing ourselves with precision and truth across every level and in every facet of the industry. If we don’t step up, culture will continue to get it wrong.

In episode 173, I sit down with the wild man himself, Rudy Reyes — Marine Corps veteran, actor, stunt coordinator, producer, the driving force behind FOX’s Special Forces.

Our conversation cuts straight to the core of what authentic storytelling  demands. Rudy doesn’t just play roles — he lives them, bringing hard-earned truths from the battlefield to film, television, and commercial advertising. We dive into his latest work as the lead in the VA’s Face Your Dragon campaign, a powerful PSA focused on securing firearms in the home to prevent veteran suicide. This is more than representation, it’s responsibility. Rudy breaks down how his experience as a warfighter directly informs his work as an actor, stunt coordinator, and producer, and why that level of authenticity cannot be faked or outsourced.

Episode Sponsors:

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• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
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• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

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On episode 172, I sit down with my friend Mark Harper — Air Force veteran, executive producer, and founder of GigLine Media — to unpack how a group of military storytellers pulled off one of the most ambitious PSA campaigns the VA has ever attempted. Mark’s journey runs from combat camera documenting the wars in Iraq and Africa to helping build We Are The Mighty into one of the most influential online media platforms for veterans before launching his own advertising agency.

In this conversation, we dig into the real mechanics of representation in media — why veteran stories should be written, produced, and directed by the people who actually lived them — and how that philosophy shaped the VA’s bold “Face Your Dragon” campaign.

Mark and I break down how he partnered with director Ryan Curtis, producer Chase Milsap, and star Rudy Reyes to build a piece of storytelling that’s unapologetically cinematic, deeply creative, and unmistakably direct. We talk about the risks of pitching a VFX dragon for a government campaign, the realities of producing high-end visual effects on a shoestring budget, and why veterans working as writers, producers, and creators matters more than ever.

Episode Sponsors:

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• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
• True Made Foods -- use "VET" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

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Does it matter who’s telling the story?

In episode 171, I sit down with my friend, Ryan Curtis — an accomplished director, filmmaker, and producer — to unpack the creative and emotional mission behind the powerful new PSA campaign for the VA and DoW, “Face Your Dragon.” This campaign tackles one of the hardest conversations in the veteran and military community: suicide prevention.

Ryan walks me through how he approached concepting a message that had to be both responsible and deeply human, and we talk about the role of storytelling in public service campaigns that carry real-life consequences.

From concept to execution, Ryan shares what it means to direct a national message for the veteran community while balancing authenticity, trust, and impact. We also dig into the bigger picture of representation and storytelling in media targeted to the veteran community. Ryan breaks down the creative choices behind Face Your Dragon, the challenges of producing meaningful PSA content, and what filmmakers and producers can learn from working on campaigns that aim to save lives.

Episode Sponsors:

• VM Merch
• Go Pills -- use "VM15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
• True Made Foods -- use "VET" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

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https://www.instagram.com/ryan32curtis/

Can we build a blueprint for how the right content can pressure institutions to evolve?

In episode 170, I sat down with my buddy Ethan Nagel — veteran infantryman and lethal filmmaker who lives at the intersection of modern warfare and modern media.

He breaks down exactly what he and the team at VET TV are building with BattleLab, a new live action show that drops two teams of elite operators into high pressure missions that push new military technology to its limits. 

This episode is a straight shot of reality: FPV attack drones are the new IEDs, and the next war is going to punish anyone clinging to comfort. Ethan explains how BattleLab fuses real-world lessons from Ukraine with hands-on experimentation — pitting elite, Tier One operators against emerging drone tactics to expose what works, what fails, and what gets people killed. He also gets brutally specific on storytelling and craft because BattleLab isn’t “tactical content,” it’s a serious training-adjacent series built by people who actually understand the battlefield and how audiences learn. Ethan walks through the production reality: why the first “sports broadcast” approach didn’t hold attention, how they rebuilt the format around after-action breakdowns, and how he balances cinematic filmmaking with capturing honest, usable footage that infantry leaders can actually apply.

Episode Sponsors:

• VM Merch
• Go Pills -- use "VM15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
• True Made Foods -- use "VET" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

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What really makes great storytelling work in the modern thriller genre?

In episode 169, I sit down with two powerhouse thriller authors — Brad Thor and Ward Larsen in a conversation about COLD ZERO, their latest thriller.

Centered on shared experience, military service, discipline, and a relentless respect for the craft, our conversation explores why authenticity matters in thrillers and how deep genre knowledge — from tradecraft to aviation — creates books that feel cinematic without losing emotional weight.

What really stood out to me is how aggressively Brad and Ward lean into collaboration as a competitive advantage. These are two seasoned writers who didn’t just co-author a novel, they merged similar work ethics, complementary skills, and a shared belief that the best stories come from trust, humility, and putting in the work.

Episode Sponsors:

• VM Merch
• Go Pills -- use "VM15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
• True Made Foods -- use "VET" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

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In episode 168 of Veteran Made, I sit down with actor and indie film producer Matt Dallas to dig into what it really means to commit more than a decade of your life to one movie and one story.  We talk about how Sheepdog grew over a 10-year journey across the country, sitting with veterans, Gold Star families, and mental health professionals in living rooms, dive bars, and VA clinics .  Matt opens up about breaking out of typecasting, transforming himself physically and emotionally for the role of Daryl, and learning to trust his craft as an actor while juggling the chaos of being a hands-on filmmaker responsible for casting, background, and logistics.  If you care about movies, cinema, and honest performances that come from real human connection, this conversation shows what it looks like when an actor and producer refuses to phone it in and instead builds a character from years of direct engagement with the veteran community.

We also get unapologetic about why independent film — especially adult dramas like Sheepdog — has to exist in theaters and why audiences have to show up if they want better movies.  Matt and I talk about getting laughed out of rooms and the pressure to swap out the director or cast a bigger name just to unlock financing.  We break down how hard it is for a small, veteran-centered drama to secure a 500-screen theatrical run, why dumping these films straight to streaming buries them, and how voting with your ticket — by actually going to the theater — directly decides which stories actors, producers, and filmmakers get to tell next.

If you’re a veteran, a movie lover, or someone who believes cinema still matters, this episode is a call to action: fund indie films, buy tickets, bring your friends, and help keep real, grounded stories on the big screen where they belong.

Episode Sponsors:

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• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
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• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

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In episode 167, I sit down with actor, writer, director, and producer Steven Grayhm to dig into the 14-year journey behind his new movie Sheepdog and why truthful storytelling about veterans and combat trauma cannot afford to be filtered through a political lens. From his first encounter with a struggling tow truck driver in 2011 to years embedded with veterans, families, and VA clinicians, Steven shares how listening without prejudice became the foundation of this film and why he refused to “bend the knee” to Hollywood to get it made. Sheepdog is not another war movie or PTSD cliché but a deeply human story about post-traumatic growth, fragmented families, and the way ordinary people carry extraordinary burdens.

Throughout our conversation, we challenge the idea that stories about war, veterans, and mental health should serve any party, policy, or culture-war narrative, and argue aggressively that they must exist to serve the people who actually lived them — period.  We unpack how character, craft, and performance can honor veterans and Gold Star families without turning them into propaganda pieces or pity objects, and why audiences deserve movies and podcasts that tell the truth as we see it, even when that truth is messy, uncomfortable, or unflattering to anyone’s politics.  If you care about actors doing the work, about movies that respect the veteran community, and about storytelling that refuses to be weaponized, this episode will give you a clear, uncompromising case for art that chooses honesty over agenda every single time.

Episode Sponsors:

• VM Merch
• Go Pills -- use "VM15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
• True Made Foods -- use "VET" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

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https://www.instagram.com/sgrayhm/

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In episode 166, I sit down with Matthew Modine who played Private Joker in Stanley Kubrick’s Full Metal Jacket, for a direct and powerful conversation about the intersection of art, memoir, and the real experiences of Veterans. Our discussion went past surface nostalgia and straight into war, trauma, and the lifelong transition veterans face after leaving service. Matthew’s journey as both an actor and memoirist — through his Full Metal Jacket Diary — demonstrates the force of honest storytelling in giving veterans a space to process and share the truth. We focused on the way art and memoir can offer authenticity and connection, which is crucial for those looking to make sense of war’s realities and the transition home.

Storytelling matters to the veteran community because it allows us to recount sensitive subjects like war and combat trauma without agenda or politics. The real power comes from telling our stories exactly as we see and remember them, openly and honestly. In our discussion, Matthew and I made it clear that sharing these narratives is critical—not just for healing, but for ensuring veterans aren’t left isolated with their experiences. By holding up a mirror to our journey, rather than a mask, we help others understand the costs and complexities of service, validating the memoir, the film, and every veteran’s art as necessary acts of truth.

Episode Sponsors:

• VM Merch
• Go Pills -- use "VM15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• BUBS Naturals -- use "veteranmade" at checkout for 20% off your order.
• True Made Foods -- use "VET" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Ruck Sox -- use "VETERANMADE15" at checkout for 15% off your order.
• Bravo Actual -- use "Veteran Made" at checkout for 15% off your order.

Intro Song composed and produced by Cleod9.

SOCIALS:

https://www.instagram.com/veteranmade.ck/

https://www.instagram.com/matthewmodine/