Filmmaker at 81: WWII Veteran George Ciampa's Second Act

What does it take to make six documentaries after your 81st birthday, without ever being paid for them?

George Ciampa never planned to be a filmmaker. In 2005, after a yearlong fight to get gates put on the American cemetery at Henri-Chapelle, Belgium, a retired general and a retired colonel asked him whether he had ever thought about taking teachers to Europe to teach them reverence for those cemeteries. George called the assistant superintendent of the Torrance, California, schools his children had attended, recruited four young history teachers, and decided to film the trip. He meant to make one documentary. The emails that came in afterward kept him going for six films over 14 years, all made through his nonprofit, Let Freedom Ring.

In Episode 121, the last of five conversations, Jason Rugg hosts with Christian Taylor, and George, then 96, walks through every one of his films: from Let Freedom Ring: The Lesson Is Priceless, with its teachers and First Division veterans, to They Will Never Forget, about the Dutch and Belgian families who adopt American graves, to D-Day Veterans Return to Normandy: 75 Years Later, filmed in 2019 with nine fellow D-Day veterans. He talks about the German children he met in the army of occupation, the German mayor who says in one of George's films, "You liberated us," and the people with money who never came through. And he gives his advice to filmmakers: be prepared to work your tail off, often for no money, because the payoff is gratification.

The episode opens with Christian's update three weeks after The Girl Who Wore Freedom's June 1, 2021, release, and how hard it is to read the iTunes documentary chart.

George Ciampa died on January 3, 2024, at the age of 98. We are grateful he trusted us with his story.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• How George became a documentary filmmaker at 81
• How a campaign for cemetery gates turned into a trip with four history teachers
• The stories behind George's six Let Freedom Ring documentaries
• Why Dutch and Belgian families adopt the graves of American soldiers
• What German children remembered about American soldiers after the war
• George's advice to independent filmmakers about money, hard work and purpose

CHAPTERS

0:00 Film Update: Three Weeks on iTunes

2:45 George's Introduction, in His Own Words

5:01 How George Became a Filmmaker at 81

12:27 The Lesson Is Priceless and Memories of France

15:09 The Mighty Eighth and They Will Never Forget

18:24 America's Finest Ambassadors and a Return to Normandy

21:11 George's Advice to Filmmakers

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

What documentaries did George Ciampa make?

George Ciampa made six documentaries over 14 years, starting in 2006, through his nonprofit, Let Freedom Ring. They are Let Freedom Ring: The Lesson Is Priceless; Let Freedom Ring: Memories of France; Remembering the Fallen Heroes of the Mighty Eighth; They Will Never Forget; America's Finest Ambassadors: Our Armed Forces; and D-Day Veterans Return to Normandy: 75 Years Later.

How did George Ciampa become a filmmaker?

After a yearlong campaign in 2005 to get gates on the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Belgium, George Ciampa was encouraged to take teachers to Europe. He recruited four young history teachers from high schools in Torrance, California, and decided to film the trip. He meant to make one film, but the response led to five more.

What advice did George Ciampa give independent filmmakers?

George Ciampa's advice: be prepared not to make money, and be prepared to work day and night and weekends. You have to believe in what you're doing, because raising the funds is hard. The payoff, he says, is gratification. Christian Taylor adds: talk to the people in your life early, because a film can consume everything.

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ABOUT THE GUEST

George Ciampa

World War II Veteran and Documentary Filmmaker

George Ciampa was born in Boston in 1925 and grew up in Southern California. He served in the 607th Graves Registration Company from Normandy through the Battle of the Bulge to the end of the war, then spent seven months in the army of occupation in Germany. He later worked for the Los Angeles Times. At 81 he began making documentaries about the price of freedom through his nonprofit, Let Freedom Ring, including Let Freedom Ring: The Lesson Is Priceless and Let Freedom Ring: Memories of France, and shared his stories with students in the United States, France and Belgium. He received the French Legion of Honor and the Croix de Guerre. George Ciampa died on January 3, 2024, at the age of 98.

Website: http://www.letfreedomringforall.org

ABOUT DOCUMENTARY FIRST

Documentary First is a weekly podcast about the people behind documentaries and how the work changed them. Host Christian Taylor, director of the award-winning The Girl Who Wore Freedom, talks with filmmakers, distributors, entertainment lawyers, actors and more, from Ken Burns and PBS American Masters creator Susan Lacy to first-timers, across nearly 300 conversations. Each week brings one of two formats: a long-form conversation with the people behind films for HBO, Netflix, PBS and independent film, or The Deep Dive, where Christian takes one insight from a recent conversation and follows it wherever it leads. Listen Notes ranks the show in the top 5% of all podcasts worldwide. New episodes every week.

THE GEORGE CIAMPA SERIES

• Part 1, D-Day and burying the dead in Normandy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yeBaBYOxWjg
• Part 2, the Battle of the Bulge: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jc5I8EbJd-A
• Part 3, the army of occupation and Margot: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pg8DCBaIUI
• Part 4, Margot again and his life after the war: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wG_KeqThEro
• Episode 215, our tribute to George after his passing, which re-airs Part 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9kdCAStwcI

RESOURCES MENTIONED

• George Ciampa remembered (The Palm Springs Post, 2024): https://thepalmspringspost.com/life-of-wwii-veteran-and-filmmaker-george-ciampa-to-be-celebrated-in-private-ceremony-sunday-in-palm-springs/