Brooklyn becomes a battlefield in Wilfred La Salle's newest film, 'The Veteran' * Brooklyn Paper

Brooklyn functions as the central backdrop and narrative engine for independent filmmaker Wilfred La Salle. His newest feature, “The Veteran,” premieres Memorial Day on FOX Soul and focuses on challenges facing returning service members, using Brooklyn locations to reshape familiar neighborhoods into war zones, shelters, and city streets. Filming spans Crown Heights homes and abandoned military structures at Floyd Bennet Field and Fort Tilden. La Salle’s career began in public service roles, including NYPD school safety agent, auxiliary police officer, and New York City correction officer. He later chose to invest in filmmaking in 2019, buying camera equipment and self-funding a feature film every year on a zero-dollar budget. His 2024 film “The Security Guard,” a Brooklyn-set thriller about a mass school shooting, gained media attention and distribution deals.

"“I began my career when I was 21 - I was a New York City NYPD school safety agent. Before that, I was an auxiliary police officer. So it's always been in my blood,” he said. “My father was also a police officer. And then I became a New York City correction officer.”"

"“I always felt like I needed someone else's permission to pursue it,” he said. “I grew up around civil servants. My family, we were very into, like, 'Get your pension, get your union job. Make sure you have something to fall back on.'”"

"“I told my wife, at the time she was my girlfriend, I said, 'Hey, I'm gonna make films,'” he recalled. “And I bought like ten thousand dollars worth of camera equipment.” Since then, La Salle has independently produced a feature film every year - all self-funded. “Every year since then, I produced a film on a zero dollar budget,” he said. “I'm the budget. There's no sponsors. There's no investors.”"

"His newest feature, “The Veteran,” premieres Memorial Day on FOX Soul, tackling issues facing returning service members through a New York lens. Shot across Brooklyn, from homes in Crown Heights to the abandoned military structures of Floyd Bennet Field and Fort Tilden, the independent drama transforms familiar borough landscapes into war zones, shelters and city streets."

Read at Brooklyn Paper