From left, Brat Legacy Films crew members Matt Bills, Kimberly McKay and Brad Heath take a break from shooting to pose at the Dallas Cowboys practice facility in Frisco, Texas, in February 2023. (Kimberly McKay)
A group of former military children who came of age at a Defense Department school on Okinawa are banding together to produce a documentary that celebrates their fellow “military brats” around the world.
Author-turned-filmmaker Kimberly McKay started Brat Legacy Films in 2021 with old Kubasaki High School classmates John Schwab and Brad Heath, she recently told Stars and Stripes by phone from her home in Oklahoma City. The goal is to illustrate the benefits and drawbacks of constant moves and growing up in exotic locales.
“Brat Ambition,” their debut film, will feature an “American Idol” runner-up, professional athletes, musicians and actors, along with everyday people.
It’s about “all of the ways that our military skills help us develop as human beings and how we’re turning around and making the world a better place, one brat at a time,” said McKay, the film’s writer and director.
Though the term can be seen as derogatory outside the military, “’brats’ wear the name like a badge of honor, often because the moves, stressors and cultural experiences make them more resilient than their civilian counterparts,” according to a 2017 writeup on the Defense Department’s website exploring the term’s origin.
Growing up in the military, “we didn’t wear the stripes, but we certainly earned them,” Schwab, the executive producer, said in a video posted to BratLegacyFilms.com. “We were ambassadors for our country; we were ambassadors for our parents.” The stories show how military life can lead to success down the road, he added.
Schwab is a London-based actor who has worked on the Netflix series “The Queen’s Gambit” and on Prime’s “Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan,” among other productions.
So far, the trio has interviewed national recording artist Bo Bice, former NFL safety George Teague, doctors, college students and other notable service members, said Heath, the film’s producer. Heath lives near Oklahoma City and works as a producer for Bricktown Films. He also writes about local sports for VYPE magazine.
"Brat Ambition" director Kimberly McKay, left, interviews former NFL safety George Teague at the Dallas Cowboys practice facility in Frisco, Texas, in February 2023. Brad Heath, the film's producer, operates the camera. (Kimberly McKay)
In “Brat Ambition” clips shared with Stars and Stripes, a common theme was the difficulty of adapting to civilian life.
Kubasaki alum Russell Kenney, a software company vice president who lives in Woodstock, Ga., recalled hardships transitioning from high school to college while reacclimating to life in the United States.
“Put both transitions on at the same time, [and it] is a huge transition,” he said in the clip. “I miss the concept of on base, off base.”
Teague, who had an eight-year career with the Green Bay Packers, Miami Dolphins and Dallas Cowboys, said living within the fence line offered security and a respite from the racism he later experienced living in Alabama. Teague was an Air Force dependent who lived in Japan and Germany.
“I wasn’t faced with any racism at all until I started living off the base,” he told Stars and Stripes in a recent phone interview. “There was this bonding because of the sacrifices our families had to make. We didn’t really care if you were white, black, Mexican, Japanese — it didn’t matter.”
Teague said it was a pleasure working with McKay and the others, who interviewed him earlier this year at the Cowboys’ practice facility in Frisco, Texas.
“Working with them became very fun,” he said. “I started reliving my childhood again through them.”
The trio has poured about $12,000 of their own money into the project but need about $125,000 to complete the film, McKay said. They’ve been accepting tax-deductible donations on their website.
The group hopes to wrap shooting by early next year and begin post-production in the summer, McKay said. They plan to take “Brat Ambition” the film festival circuit and then seek distribution.
