DHS DABBLESIN PRIME TIME
Apr 1, 2005 12:00 PM
Following the Pentagon, CIA, FBI and other government agencies, the Department of Homeland Security has hired a Hollywood liaison to work with moviemakers and scriptwriters.
Bobbie Faye Ferguson, a onetime actress who worked with Hollywood at NASA for seven years, is now reviewing 14 movie, TV and documentary projects. If she approves of a script or idea, the department will offer advice and technical help to the directors, producers and actors about portraying the nation's Homeland defenders.
“I've had dozens and dozens of inquiries,” Ferguson told USA Today. “It's always been a topic they've been interested in, but more so now.”
Already, the department has given guidance to last year's The Terminal, in which Tom Hanks played an immigrant stranded at JFK airport in New York, and to the TV shows “CSI: Miami” and “NCIS.”
Some critics say the government shouldn't spend money trying to burnish the image of its agencies.
Homeland Security spokesman Brian Roehrkasse says Ferguson will help “give the public a better understanding of how the department … protects the country.” She was hired in October at a top government salary and makes more than $100,000. For now, she is a one-woman show. As a result, Homeland Security is spending less than other agencies on its entertainment office.
Want to use this article? Click here for options!
© 2008 Penton Media Inc.
Story Missing Your Link?
Is the above story missing a link? Is it missing a link to your company, or your website? If this is the case please e-mail us and we'll add the link as soon as possible. Thank you!
advertisement
