The CIA in Hollywood: How the Agency Shapes Film and Television

176 Pages·2012·1.05 MB·English

by  Tricia Jenkins

The CIA in Hollywood
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The CIA in Hollywood
How the Agency Shapes
Film and Television
tricia jenkins
University of Texas Press   Austin
Copyright © 2012 by University of Texas Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
First edition, 2012
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♾ The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of ansi/niso
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Library of Congress Cataloging- in-P ublication Data
Jenkins, Tricia.
The CIA in Hollywood : how the agency shapes film and television /
Tricia Jenkins. — 1st ed.
  p.  cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978-0-292-72861-5 (cloth : alk. paper) — isbn 978-0-292-73707-5 (e-book)
1. Spy films—United States—History and criticism. 2. United States. Central
Intelligence Agency—In motion pictures. 3. Espionage in motion pictures. 
4. Motion pictures—Political aspects—United States. 5. Motion picture
industry—United States. 6. Spy television programs—United States—History
and criticism. 7. United States. Central Intelligence Agency—Influence. 
I. Title. II. Title: Central Intelligence Agency in Hollywood.
pn1995.9.s68j46 2011
791.43′651—dc23 2011027163
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
Introduction 1
1. Rogues, Assassins, and Buffoons: Representations of the CIA in
Film and Television 14
2. Opening the Doors: Why and How the CIA Works with
Hollywood 32
3. Necessary and Competent: The CIA in The Agency and In the
Company of Spies 54
4. The Chase Brandon Years 73
5. The Legal and Ethical Implications of the CIA in Hollywood 97
6. The Last People We Want in Hollywood: The Retired CIA Officer
and the Hollywood Docudrama 115
Conclusion 133
Notes 139
Bibliography 155
Index 165
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Acknowledgments
This book was a pleasure to research and write, largely because I got to
interact with so many interesting people. These include former CIA direc-
tors of public affairs Kent Harrington and Bill Harlow; current and retired
CIA employees like Paula Weiss, Paul Barry, Robert Baer, Antonio and
Jonna Mendez, John Strauchs, Nicholas Dujmovic, and Peter Ernest; and
several entertainment professionals, including Michael Sands, Michael
Frost Beckner, Jack Myers, David Houle, Bazzel Baz, James Grady, Peter
Iliff, Matt Corman, and Chris Ord. Thanks to each of you for taking the
time to answer my questions. This book would not have been possible
without your help.
Other people also aided my work on this book. I would specifically like
to thank Matthew Alford and David Robb, who shared their resources,
knowledge, and contacts with me. Nicholas Taylor, Joan McGettigan, Joel
Timmer, Benjamin Martinez, Matthew Alford, and David Culbert also
read some or all of this book and provided me with useful feedback as
I went through the revision process. I would also like to express my ap-
preciation to Sacred Heart University, which provided me with funds to
travel to the CIA headquarters to interview Paul Barry in 2008, and to
Texas Christian University for giving me a Junior Faculty Research Grant
to complete this project.
Most important, I would like to thank my husband, Nathanael
O’Reilly, for his support and encouragement. He read every word of this
book, often more than once, and offered several critical and editorial in-
sights. He also watched more spy films and television series than any one
man could reasonably expect to enjoy just so we could talk knowledgably
about this topic together. Thank you.
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Introduction
Agencies of the U.S. government have long employed entertainment liai-
son officers to improve their public image in the mass media. For instance,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation established an office in the 1930s to
bolster its image in radio programs, films, and television shows, includ-
ing G-­Men (1935), The­FBI­Story (1959), and The­F.B.I. (1965–1974). In
1947, the Department of Defense followed suit, and now the army, the
navy, the air force, the marine corps, the coast guard, the Department of
Homeland Security, and the Secret Service all have motion picture and
television offices or official assistants to the media on their payroll. Even
government centers are currently working with Tinseltown, as evidenced
by Hollywood, Health, and Society—a program partially funded by the
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Institutes of
Health to provide the entertainment industry with information on health-
related story lines.
Despite the fact that it has existed since 1947, the Central Intelligence
Agency was the last major government agency to establish formal rela-
tions with the motion picture industry. In fact, it did not found a basic
entertainment program until the early 1990s and did not hire Chase Bran-
don as its first entertainment industry liaison officer until 1996. Perhaps
because its efforts in film and television are relatively new, only a very
small amount of scholarship has examined the CIA’s collaborations, mo-
tivations, and methodologies in this field. The lack of scholarship is sur-
prising, however, given that the Agency has already shaped the content of
numerous film and television works, including JAG (1995–2005), Enemy­
of­the­State (1998), In­the­Company­of­Spies (1999), The­Agency (2001–2003),
Alias (2001–2006), 24 (2001–2010), Bad­Company (2002), The­Sum­of­All­
Fears (2002), The­Recruit (2003), Covert­Affairs (2010–), and Argo (in pro-