ABC is using its seasonal “Home for the Holidays” campaign to shine a spotlight on five former U.S. Servicemen and Servicewomen who are also aspiring writers and directors.

Each of the holiday-themed digital shorts, part of Disney/ABC’s “Heroes Work Here” corporate initiative, draw on the experiences of veterans and their families while they were deployed or returned from duty.

The shorts are running exclusively on ABC.com, while veterans are being featured throughout ABC’s daytime, primetime and news programming this holiday season.

“We were very excited to find a way for ABC to support Heroes Work Here, which is dedicated to giving US Veterans working opportunities,” said Mary Jo Smith, creative director of ABC Entertainment Marketing, who came up with the concept. “Including veterans in this year’s “Home For The Holidays” campaign was really a perfect fit, giving these men and women a chance to follow their dreams, a real working opportunity in the entertainment industry and an opportunity for the entire company to celebrate them and thank them for their service.”

Smith said that the campaign was inspired by one of the filmmakers, Specialist Colin Wells, whom she has known for most of his life.

“His mother was my teacher and director at The Groundlings, the premiere improv group in Los Angeles, and Colin was the funny, red-headed kid that hung out backstage,” Smith told Brief. “Years later, Colin served in Afghanistan and returned from his tour with stories to tell and a drive to be heard about what it means to be far away from everything he knows and loves. He wanted to make a movie and we wanted to find a way to give him and other veterans with stories to tell the opportunity to tell them.”

ABC partnered with Lussier to bring the veterans’ stories to the small screen. Lussier President Chris Stonich said that the company worked with the network to identify mentors among ABC’s producers, directors and writers to work with the five veterans as they moved from brainstorming into production.

Among the ABC talent who participated: “Grey’s Anatomy” Executive Producer Jeannine Renshaw, “Nashville” writer and supervising producer Wendy Calhoun, “Nashville” executive producer Dee Johnson, and “Revenge” writer Ted Sullivan.

Lussier assembled crews that included everyone from DPs to art directors to editors to help complete the shorts.

“‘Home for the Holidays’ was a labor of love for our creative and production teams, who worked hand in hand with Lussier to make the campaign a reality,” said Bob Schefferine, ABC’s VP of Entertainment Marketing Production. “These short films illustrate what a talented group of veteran filmmakers we have, and we’re honored to have this chance to give back something to our veteran community.”

For Lussier, “Home for the Holidays” has been a chance to once again work on a project related to America’s veterans and give back to that community, Stonich said. The company was also heavily involved in Gary Sinise’s recent project “Lt. Dan Band: For the Common Good.”

“It is really an honor to give back in just some minor way,” Stonich said. “The entire feeling around the project, on the set, in post was so positive. Everyone was working hard and having fun and knew they were participating in something worthwhile and special and that’s a pretty rare thing.”

Each of the videos will be featured at abc.com/holidays, with one premiering each week through Dec. 13.

One of the filmmakers, Capt. Rebecca Murga, will talk about her short, “The Letter,” with “Good Morning America”‘s Josh Elliott. ABC’s primetime and daytime programs are also celebrating veterans this season, with “Modern Family,” “Last Man Standing,” “The Neighbors,” “General Hospital,” “The View,” and “The Chew,” all featuring servicemen and servicewomen in cameos, storyline and segments.

The five films are:

THE LETTER by CAPTAIN REBECCA MURGA

Rebecca’s film tells the heartwarming story of a little girl who writes a letter to Santa. She is angry at Santa because every Christmas she doesn’t get what she asks for. This year, the only thing she wants is for her mother, who is deployed to Afghanistan, to come back home for Christmas.

YELLOW RIBBON by SERGEANT DONRE WALKER

Inspired by his relationship with his daughter, Donre’s heartwarming, emotional, scripted story celebrates the power of hope and stars “Castle”‘s Tamala Jones.

LAUGHTER UNDER FIRE by SPECIALIST (SPC) COLIN WELLS

A documentary short about how laughter brings people together, told from the point of view of the filmmaker’s experience in Afghanistan while in the Army. SPC Wells’ short film shows firsthand the power of laughter under extreme conditions.

THE DANCE by STAFF SERGEANT (SSG) RYAN CURTIS

A touching story about a young soldier, severely injured in action, who’s determined to surprise the girl he loves with the dance they never had.

A HOMECOMING by FIRST LIEUTENANT (1LT) DONNA BACHLER

Donna’s film is the story of a young veteran who excitedly awaits the return of his best friend—the warrior and hero with whom he served. It’s an emotional reunion with a surprise ending.

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