Behind the scenes with The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi
By Kaely Monahan
On Sept. 11, 2012, four Americans were killed by Islamic militants in Benghazi. The compound where the U.S. ambassador and his retinue were staying was overwhelmed. The U.S. security force stationed in the city comprised of six men ran into the fighting to save as many lives as they could, but it was a shock.
The small cousin to Libya’s capital Tripoli has a long history of fighting that goes beyond the revolution and subsequent unrest. It’s a complicated history and cannot be summarily glossed over by any means.
The same goes for what happened that day when America lost one of its greatest ambassadors: J. Christopher Stevens, and three others. The subsequent spinning of the facts infuriated the surviving security team who charged into the fray.
The desire to have the truth be known, the surviving security team from the Annex collaborated with Mitchell Zuckoff to write the book 13: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi. In it, they lay the facts bare of what happened that night the ambassador and his team were attacked and killed.
“The people forgot about that,” said former Marine and member of the Annex security team, Mark “Oz” Geist. “Our representatives forgot that and were more worried about spinning whatever to help themselves for whatever reason. We have four Americans who died and they weren’t being honored in the way we thought they should be.”
The book was published in September 2014 and was picked up by Michael Bay. Reportedly the story completely consumed him.
“From what I heard from one of his employees, he read the book and I guess he said he had to have the movie,” said John “Tig” Tiegen, also a former Marine and member of the Annex security team.
The surviving members of the security team were approached about adapting the book into a film.
“We met with Michael Bay when he first decided to do it and he explained what he wanted out of us, and we told him what we wanted out of them and what we expected out of it,” Geist said. “We both agreed on what we all wanted out of this project was to tell the story of what happened on the ground that night.”
Geist and Tiegen were impressed by Bay’s sincere desire to tell the story right. He shared the same vision: that the truth of what happened in Benghazi be told straight. That gave them the confidence to give the film their blessing.
“They (the cast and crew) took great care to be as detailed as possible,” Geist said. “Watching Michael on set, how he works as a director and what he requires out of the people. He wants that exact same attention to detail. There’s going to be the theatrical liberties that have to be taken, but the essence of the story and the majority of every big event was there and is in the movie with the details that make it, even more, interesting.”
Filming took place in Malta, which just north of Libya. Bay brought the surviving members of the security team on site for part of the shoot.
“We got to go on set for about 10 days, is what I think it was, on Malta. The whole time there they were asking our opinion and how we did things,” Tiegen said.
The crew did such a phenomenal job of recreating Benghazi, particularly the CIA Annex that it was a surreal experience being there. It just continued to show that not only did Michael Bay genuinely care about telling this story right — the cast and crew did as well.
As for the actors, they took their roles very seriously.
“Each one of the actors contacted us once they got picked for the part,” Geist said. “They wanted to learn not just about that night but about us as people because it just gave them a better way to encompass everything into the role instead of just how to handle a gun, but how you felt about your family — they wanted to know all that.”
In the film Max Martini plays Geist and Dominic Fumusa portrays Tiegen.
“I was just really, really impressed with the professionalism that they brought to it and the dedication that they brought to it. On set they were always asking everything; how they could do it better,” Geist said.
Regardless of how the story was spun and the political fallout, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi will expose the fine details of what happened that night in that Libyan city.
“Come watch the movie,” Geist said.
People can have their opinions on what happened, but both Geist and Tiegen encourage everyone to actually see what happened.
“If you walk away (after seeing the film) and you still have that opinion then OK. Then I respect your opinion. But don’t have an opinion about why we did this or why people are doing anything unless you have the integrity to come watch the movie and then make a decision based on the information, not on conjecture.”
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is now showing in theaters nationwide. Check your local listings.
• Contact writer: 480-898-5629 or kmonahan@getoutaz.com.
Originally published Jan. 16, 2016 on getoutaz.com.
The small cousin to Libya’s capital Tripoli has a long history of fighting that goes beyond the revolution and subsequent unrest. It’s a complicated history and cannot be summarily glossed over by any means.
The same goes for what happened that day when America lost one of its greatest ambassadors: J. Christopher Stevens, and three others. The subsequent spinning of the facts infuriated the surviving security team who charged into the fray.
The desire to have the truth be known, the surviving security team from the Annex collaborated with Mitchell Zuckoff to write the book 13: The Inside Account of What Really Happened in Benghazi. In it, they lay the facts bare of what happened that night the ambassador and his team were attacked and killed.
“The people forgot about that,” said former Marine and member of the Annex security team, Mark “Oz” Geist. “Our representatives forgot that and were more worried about spinning whatever to help themselves for whatever reason. We have four Americans who died and they weren’t being honored in the way we thought they should be.”
The book was published in September 2014 and was picked up by Michael Bay. Reportedly the story completely consumed him.
“From what I heard from one of his employees, he read the book and I guess he said he had to have the movie,” said John “Tig” Tiegen, also a former Marine and member of the Annex security team.
The surviving members of the security team were approached about adapting the book into a film.
“We met with Michael Bay when he first decided to do it and he explained what he wanted out of us, and we told him what we wanted out of them and what we expected out of it,” Geist said. “We both agreed on what we all wanted out of this project was to tell the story of what happened on the ground that night.”
Geist and Tiegen were impressed by Bay’s sincere desire to tell the story right. He shared the same vision: that the truth of what happened in Benghazi be told straight. That gave them the confidence to give the film their blessing.
“They (the cast and crew) took great care to be as detailed as possible,” Geist said. “Watching Michael on set, how he works as a director and what he requires out of the people. He wants that exact same attention to detail. There’s going to be the theatrical liberties that have to be taken, but the essence of the story and the majority of every big event was there and is in the movie with the details that make it, even more, interesting.”
Filming took place in Malta, which just north of Libya. Bay brought the surviving members of the security team on site for part of the shoot.
“We got to go on set for about 10 days, is what I think it was, on Malta. The whole time there they were asking our opinion and how we did things,” Tiegen said.
The crew did such a phenomenal job of recreating Benghazi, particularly the CIA Annex that it was a surreal experience being there. It just continued to show that not only did Michael Bay genuinely care about telling this story right — the cast and crew did as well.
As for the actors, they took their roles very seriously.
“Each one of the actors contacted us once they got picked for the part,” Geist said. “They wanted to learn not just about that night but about us as people because it just gave them a better way to encompass everything into the role instead of just how to handle a gun, but how you felt about your family — they wanted to know all that.”
In the film Max Martini plays Geist and Dominic Fumusa portrays Tiegen.
“I was just really, really impressed with the professionalism that they brought to it and the dedication that they brought to it. On set they were always asking everything; how they could do it better,” Geist said.
Regardless of how the story was spun and the political fallout, 13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi will expose the fine details of what happened that night in that Libyan city.
“Come watch the movie,” Geist said.
People can have their opinions on what happened, but both Geist and Tiegen encourage everyone to actually see what happened.
“If you walk away (after seeing the film) and you still have that opinion then OK. Then I respect your opinion. But don’t have an opinion about why we did this or why people are doing anything unless you have the integrity to come watch the movie and then make a decision based on the information, not on conjecture.”
13 Hours: The Secret Soldiers of Benghazi is now showing in theaters nationwide. Check your local listings.
• Contact writer: 480-898-5629 or kmonahan@getoutaz.com.
Originally published Jan. 16, 2016 on getoutaz.com.