CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 A new documentary born out of South Texas is aiming to spark a national conversation. The Veterans Round Table of Corpus Christi will debut a 20-minute preview of Firewatch on Thursday \u2014 a project its creator describes as both a thank-you to veterans and a call to action.<\/p>\n
\u2018Firewatch\u2019 preview reveals the cost veterans carry long after the battlefield<\/p>\n
Firewatch is part of a three-part series from executive producer Joel M. Gonzales, an award-winning producer whose work spans narrative and documentary film. Gonzales co-produced The Long Game, which won the Audience Award at SXSW 2023 and later reached No. 1 worldwide on Netflix. He now leads Untold Content Group, a creative production company focused on elevating overlooked voices, and serves as president of Nosotros, the nonprofit arts organization founded by actor Ricardo Montalb\u00e1n to advocate for Latino representation.<\/p>\n
Gonzales said the project grew out of years of footage \u2014 more than 500 hours \u2014 documenting the fight for burn pit benefits and the people who pushed the issue into national view.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a pro-veteran American story,\u201d Gonzales said. \u201cIt\u2019s highlighting what went wrong \u2014 and what still needs to be done right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The first episode centers on the advocacy work of Leroy and Rosie Torres, founders of BurnPits360<\/a> in Robstown, whose years-long effort helped drive the passage of the PACT Act.<\/p>\n \u201cBorn from grief, driven by justice, fueled by love\u2026 the first episode is their story,\u201d Gonzales said.<\/p>\n He added that the message remains urgent.<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope is that it sparks advocacy and keeps negligence accountable,\u201d he said. \u201cJust because it passed doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s protected.\u201d<\/p>\n Local veterans say the film hits close to home<\/p>\n Nueces County Veterans and Social Services Director JJ De La Cerda, who appears in the project, said the preview screening may be emotional \u2014 and that\u2019s the point.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s gonna hit you hard\u2026 it may trigger some things,\u201d De La Cerda said. \u201cBut it\u2019s important you understand it and get behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n He said even his early briefing of local veterans about the film sparked strong reactions.<\/p>\n \u201cIt made a lot of people cry, and we haven\u2019t even seen the film,\u201d he said. \u201cIt already resonated with them.\u201d<\/p>\n De La Cerda believes the story will also resonate with Vietnam veterans, who he says understand the experience of being overlooked better than anyone.<\/p>\n \u201cWe all need to learn about it and stand behind it because it will affect all of us,\u201d he said. \u201cThere\u2019s a gap we need to fill, and I think it\u2019s a gap the Vietnam veterans can help us fill\u2026 They didn\u2019t get the benefits they deserved, they fought for it, and they are helping pass that torch.\u201d<\/p>\n Following Thursday\u2019s screening, he plans to brief attendees on what they can apply for under the PACT Act.<\/p>\n A project built on advocacy \u2014 and meant to grow<\/p>\n For Gonzales, Firewatch also represents a personal return to service.<\/p>\n \u201cIt gave me a sense of serving again,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n He describes the film as a promise: \u201cIt is our American responsibility, our promise to take care of our veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n Corpus Christi is only the third city to see the preview, and Gonzales hopes the documentary will ultimately reach a wider audience \u2014 either through a digital streaming platform or as a full 110-minute independent release. He also wants to expand community conversations, health fairs, and educational events similar to Thursday\u2019s briefing.<\/p>\n How to support the project<\/p>\n Gonzales says anyone can be part of the effort \u2014 even small actions matter.<\/p>\n If you\u2019re able to contribute, Firewatch is currently seeking matching sponsorships, meaning donations of $10 or $15 can double in impact. Groups can also fundraise together; Gonzales says 10% of what a group raises will be returned to support their own cause.<\/p>\n If donating isn\u2019t possible, he says sharing the trailer or hosting a screening of the 20-minute preview can be just as meaningful. Those interested in hosting can contact him directly through the project website.<\/p>\n More info: If you go<\/p>\n The Veterans Round Table screening takes place Thursday at: This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas \u2014 A new documentary born out of South Texas is aiming…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":54939,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[30175,155,157,156,1635,1636,30176,14953,725,1726,1913],"class_list":["post-54938","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-corpus-christi","tag-burnpits360","tag-corpus-christi","tag-corpus-christi-headlines","tag-corpus-christi-news","tag-documentary","tag-film","tag-firewatch","tag-preview","tag-robstown","tag-series","tag-veterans"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54938","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=54938"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/54938\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/54939"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=54938"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=54938"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=54938"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Website: standfirewatch.com<\/a>
Campaign platform: givebutter.com\/standfirewatch<\/a><\/p>\n
Del Mar College Center for Economic Development, Room 106
The screening is open to veterans and non-veterans alike.<\/p>\n