Chris Mandia is an American playwright, screenwriter, film director, and Iraq War veteran from San Pedro, California. He was an U.S. Marine infantryman and served two combat tours in Iraq, including the battle for Fallujah.[1][2]Mandia has won numerous awards for his work and received a Jack Nicholson scholarship to attend the MFA program at the University of Southern California’s film school. In 2010, he received an Operation In Their Boots fellowship and “Get Some,” a film he authored, was a Cannes Film Festival selection. [3][4][5][6]
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Mandia wrote the screenplay for “Get Some,” a short film that was showcased in the Short Film Corner at the Cannes Film Festival.
Synopsis: Private Barnes is a young Marine on his first tour in Iraq. His mission: Find the enemy that is implanting Improvised Explosive Devices on donkeys. ALL he wants: is to GET SOME. [7]
As an Operation In Their Boots fellow, Mandia directed and produced a short documentary entitled “The Academic Front.” The film deals with the transitional journey American service members make when they go from the battlefield to a college campus. [8]
The Academic Front premiered on November 9, 2010 at the Downtown Independent in Los Angeles, California along with the four other Operation In Their Boots documentaries. All five films are currently online. [9]
In 2007, Mandia’s “The Haircut” won first place at the National Veterans Creative Arts Festival.[10]
Mandia’s play, "Fighting a Fish," won the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival Best 10-Minute Play, Region VIII award and was a finalist in the Kennedy Center National College Theater competition.[11]
Mandia’s first feature length script is currently being produced by Mercury Productions. [12]