Filming around the World with Armed Forces Entertainment
Short Backstory
In the Summer of 2016, I was the official videographer and photographer for Hawai’i island reggae group Rebel Souljahz. Within two years of being alongside them, we managed to gain over 10 USA tours, 5 music videos and dozens of commercially published photos. Things were looking up for all of us and we were excited to continue our push to share great music and the aloha spirit worldwide. During that same time, I was offered the chance to once again leave on tour with them for a few weeks in Japan. Instantly, I said yes! But I wasn’t sure what was coming. Upon exiting the Japan Customs, we were greeted by multiple U.S. Military Soldiers and the Armed Forces Entertainment (AFE) Pacific Regional Manager. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but this was the official start of our music tour entertaining military personnel and families at all American Military Bases in Japan.
Meeting Frank Tagatac
After multiple AFE tours with Rebel Souljahz, I managed to become friends with the Pacific Regional Manager, Frank Tagatac. He is the reason for finding us, organizing the various tours and making sure that all things ran smoothly. During my first tour to Japan, Frank welcomed us at the airport and instantly became a part of the family. He represented AFE and was my guide between working with military bases and exploring Japan. He took us to five military bases across Japan, where we greeted American soldiers and their dependents, performed for their bases and visited Japanese restaurants and shops outside of the military base. It was during these various tours that I managed to create tour highlight films, day-to-day vlogs and captured hundreds of photographs from the shows and site visits, to all around Japan. Frank was so intrigued by the content that was constantly being pushed out from me and wanted AFE to have the same opportunity. After my first tour to Japan, I learned so much from these military bases and was humbled by the fact that these families were living overseas for years. Months later, I received a call from Frank who reached out to me about a possible upcoming tour. He told me that together, we would be able to showcase the world about the lifestyle of touring with AFE and capture stories of the amazing soldiers and families living overseas. So, I decided to accept and I am forever grateful for the opportunity my brother handed to me to help share and take part in AFE’s mission.
“Antonio has taken the AFE program in 2019 to the next level. His hard work and vision helped AFE win multiple marketing awards, help AFE gain over 50,000 viewers on all social media platforms and showed our contracted marketing company a new way to show case our tours globally. ”
Our Mission
Prior to my first official tour under AFE, the pre-production process with Frank didn’t take much time because he felt that my vision was already aligned with AFE’s mission of building morale by providing entertainment to US military personnel and their families serving overseas. He knew that what I brought to the table would help elevate their online presence and showcase AFE on a new median: social media. However, Frank wanted to think bigger by having me provide coverage to as many military bases worldwide so that the entire nation can witness the military lifestyle overseas, the amazing opportunity that AFE provides and the wonderful hospitality that overseas military bases give to military personnel and their families. We knew that this would be the beginning of an amazing friendship and business opportunity, so we headed off on our first trip together with the iconic reggae legend himself, Shaggy.
The Iconic Shaggy
My tour with Shaggy was nothing short of amazing with all military bases showing out for the incredible multi-grammy winner. We completed three shows on both Japan mainland and Okinawa that consisted of site visits, personal meet and greets and a full performance concert from Shaggy. This was a great tour to witness Shaggy’s electrifying performance and the way he mesmerizes the crowd. Just being able to learn and capture behind the scenes of Shaggy and his team was very eye-opening. As for AFE, I was contracted to capture video and photo highlights for their marketing and website purposes. I managed to become friends with his band mates, his manager and his crew, which helped me learn and adapt to the mission and vision of the team. This allowed me to get exclusive material and converse comfortably with Shaggy backstage, as we traveled and did interviews.
“I think being a Marine has prepared me for everything that I was supposed to the be in despite me being 4 years - the amount of discipline comes from [me] being in the military.”
Rapper Lecrae
January 2017 led me once again to Japan with religious lyrical rapper Lecrae. We managed to do a 10 day trip with 7 shows across Japan and Okinawa. We did multiple site visits, radio interviews and post show meet and greets. Lecrae traveled with a small group, each person with a designated job on the show. We were able to get an inside look at the blessings he brought to the bases. During our time together, I’ve learned so much about his songwriting, his philosophy of being a rapper and the reason why his faith is the center of his music.
“Touring with Armed Forces Entertainment is really special because you’re getting to see so many worlds at one time, you’re affecting many worlds at one time, you’re seeing military life and you’re getting to inspire them.”
The Comedic Adam Devine
Going into this tour, I was quite nervous because I didn’t know what to expect. I have never been on a tour with a comedian, let alone two of them, but I was willing to adapt and just go with the flow! We traveled once again to five different American Military Bases in Japan, did multiple radio interviews, meet and greets and of course, Adam Devine was just straight up hilarious during his performances. This tour was a very interesting experience because we had additional travel companions: with an opening act, Adam Ray and the administrator - at the time - for Armed Forces Entertainment, Major Jody Wynans.
Adam Ray was a massive act to follow because he was so funny and his jokes were so explicit that it really set a standard for the audience and got them going for Adam Devine. Major Wynans was a fly on the wall, she just loved witnessing everything happening: from the videos and photos being published to receiving feedback from base commanders about the success of having the entertainment and most importantly, building morale. I had the most fun on this trip because we had such an amazing bonding experience and the camaraderie between us all made the tour run so smoothly.
“I just want to say thank you [to all the armed forces] for doing what you do and protecting and serving us and [to give] me the opportunity to come out here and be the goofy little maniac I am.”
Olympic Gymnastics Champion Tour
Hands down my most memorable tour with AFE would be with Olympics Gymnast Coach, Desiree Sanchez and two Olympics Gymnastics Gold Medalists, Laurie Hernandez and Jordan Wieber. Frank blessed me with the opportunity to travel alongside him to the Mediterranean Region to provide families overseas the opportunity to learn from these Olympic athletes. We managed to travel over 17 hours from Honolulu to Barcelona and another few hours later to Italy, stamping my passport for the first time in Europe. I was so nervous because I have never been this far east and everything was so brand new to me. This leap of faith taught me so much about the experiences that the children were receiving in Europe.
Because I have never been to Europe before, witnessing the geographic surroundings of Spain and Italy made it so clear on the lifestyle in the mediterranean, giving me a first hand look of what the American Soldiers and their families experience day-to-day. The food was different, the weather was beautiful, landscapes were vastly different and the local people of Spain and Italy were so gracious, but what stood out to me was the architecture of the American Military Bases and how they would match the surrounding style. It was all so gorgeous!
The highlight of the tour was all the amazing people who were involved and the reactions of all the kids from the clinics. From the management team, Frank Tagatac and Joe Mennit (of AFE), the production team, Breanna Gurgesser (Pro Sports MVP) and Desiree Sanchez, to the incredible Olympic Gold Medalists, Laurie and Jordyn; they made my first experience through Europe an unforgettable experience! I’m so grateful for the friendships that I’ve made with them through the weeks and really wish we could have been together longer. But most importantly the kids of all the American Military bases and their reactions through warmups was heartwarming. Their eyes lit from watching the Olympians do tricks and the funny questions they asked at the end of the clinic made all of us and their parents die laughing. There were so many moments that it was so hard to keep it from turning into a feature film.
“The best part about the [gymnastics clinic] for me is honestly just seeing the looks on these faces when they come through the door with their vibrant smiles and also when they leave knowing that they tried something new and had a lot of fun and they were able to be inspired, that’s my favorite part!”
“To seeing how different the environment is, they are living separate lives than we’re used to and we get a peek at that when we are with [AFE] and so being able to be kind of be hands-on with these kids and hopefully give them an experience they’ve never had before”
July 4th x Rimpac
On July 4th, Frank booked us for the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Independence Day and RIMPAC Celebration Festival. It was an all day event with amazing food vendors, rides for the kids, a music concert by the legendary rock group Stone Temple Pilots and an awesome fireworks show to end the night. Because Frank and Visionize Media is based in Hawaii, it made traveling much simpler and we were allowed to bring all the pieces of gear that we don’t normally travel with. We captured a full day of highlights and managed to get a few soldiers as well to interview, so check out the film and photos from this celebration!
“It’s an honor and a blessing to be able to give back a little bit because of the sacrifices that all the troops make and their families too, it’s never easy to have a loved one gone and not know where they are and what they’re involved in, so it’s an honor to be here.”
Cirque Dreams Stars & Stripes Tour
Almost a year after the Olympic Gymnastics Tour, I got a call from the homie Frank about a possible big tour to Japan. After months of planning with Frank, I left Honolulu to Fort Lauderdale, Florida to meet up with the entertainment production team: Cirque Dreams. I spent a couple nights in Florida capturing the behind the scenes of building the production, costumes and choreography for Cirque Dreams Stars and Stripes. It was my first time ever watching a Circus style production and I was just amazed at what I was shooting. There were musicians, jugglers, hula hoopers, acrobatics and even a contortionist. Watching their human bodies perform eccentric movements and doing it with marvelous costumes which were designed and handmade in their personal warehouse was simply beautiful.
From Fort Lauderdale, our massive production group traveled directly to Narita, Japan to meet up with Frank and Spike (my point of contact at Yokota). It felt like home again being in Japan. In a span of two and a half weeks, we traveled to four different American Military bases and did multiple shows. I managed to shoot video and photos, behind the scenes of the production and published highlights after every show.
During this tour, we had plenty of down time because the bases would have to build the staging, the production teams would complete tech rehearsals and all the cirque cast members would do rehearsals and wardrobe check before the show day. Every show was packed with families and were also different in their own way. I was lucky to film a story about a little girl named Jaycee from Misawa Air Base, who entered a Cirque drawing contest and won, which made her original drawing come to life as a costume for one of the members in the show. I was even lucky enough to reconnect with former Major and now U.S. Air Force Lt. Colonel Jody Wynans (who is stationed at Misawa). From the moment we met on Adam Devine’s tour to a couple years later, I was happy to see her and glad Frank and myself got to spend time together.
Conclusion
Touring with Armed Forces Entertainment is such a humbling experience because not only am I capturing these tours, but I’m learning so much about the lifestyle overseas for our soldiers and their families. I’m able to capture stories and see first hand what it's like overseas that most Americans in the United States don’t ever get to experience. From the first moment I was on tour on an American Military base, I would never expect the many friends I would meet, the people I would impact and inspire through my art, the beautiful bases that I was staying at and multiple cultural places I thought I would never get to experience.
“The first time I met with Antonio was when he was here as the video and photo crew of the “Rebel Souljahz” band. I remember this thing very clearly that, when one member of the band try to get the Wi-Fi access code, he just spoke it from top of his head, the combo was not proper name and was with the mixture of the characters, Caps, minors and numbers, I was astonished as he did it with eye blink.
He captured some many great moments on and off stage, I aware of his movement with his gear, but many of the segments on the video, I even did not aware when he got. No, he does not speak a lot but his products speak lot. I enjoyed the time to went out with him and Frank, it’s always my pleasure to go out with them and he is always so delighted by the bento, Ramen, Japanese candies, beverages.
I am always happy to work with him also believe his videos delivers the shows for whom was not be able to be at the venue, yeah it’s like a bento.”
“Antonio, has been a great addition to the AFE team, his work is amazing! He seems to always be in the right place at the right time, capturing the true feeling of events. I love seeing him get off the plane with his big smile and awesome attitude. I think the only time, I have ever seen without a smile on his face is when someone locked the door to the venue on him, lol. His dedication to his art and passion for superior results makes him a true professional. I love his work and look forward to seeing him on future tours.”
“What can I say about Antonio? When I first met him, he was just an awesome human being. I then found out that he was not going to be singing but he was going to be capturing all that footage of the Rebel Souljahz AFE tour in Japan. I kind of got interested in what he was going to be doing exactly. I pretty much shadowed him for the Atsugi base show to try to see how he does it. He really moved through the crowd fast and was in areas I would not have even though was good for footage. After the show was done, I took everyone back to their rooms and Antonio started working on the footage. Some of the others wanted to go out so we went out and Antonio was already finishing up his masterpiece. He showed me the footage and I was in total amazement. The video that he put together was no less than perfect. Some angles looked like he had his camera on a drone or something.
I cannot make the decisions for the base by any means but I always inquire if Antonio is coming on the tours because he is amazing with the video and photos. I really have not seen many that has his skill set and capabilities. Every product I have seen him put out was far beyond expectations. Promotional videos like that really helped in getting the word out to the base community and allowed for us to get maximum participation. Product, professional, and personally, Antonio is the truth and his work ethic is far beyond what I have seen in many years.”
From the first time Frank and I travelled together, he introduced me to a whole new world of growth by showcasing the relationships between the United States and the native people in which we are guests in their country. I was learning about new cultures, traditions and languages, while traveling to countries that I thought I would never see.
My main purpose for these tours was to capture the lifestyle of traveling with Armed Forces Entertainment, but what I got out of it was gratitude and humility. I am grateful to where my art has taken me, humbled by the people I have inspired overseas through my films and photography and thankful to all my new friends I have met along the way. As I return to Hawai’i, I continue to reflect on my experiences and I wish all of you overseas a safe deployment; I can’t wait to see you all again!
--Antonio