The Power of Film

“I’m not an adrenaline junkie,” Tony Mendez told Hollywood on the Potomac at the “Power of Film” awards hosted by American Abroad Media. “When you do this kind of work, you address each issue to the fullest as early as possible. That way you can make a quality program. Out of that there is less time to think about it. It is what it is.”

Mendez was referring to what most of us would consider a high-wire mission which was depicted in ARGO in which Ben Affleck played Mendez. The Warner Bros. flick was based on true events and chronicles the life or death covert operation to rescue six Americans in Tehran during the US hostage crisis in Iran in 1980 which unfolded behind the scenes. CIA agent Mendez acted under the cover of a Hollywood producer scouting a location for a science fiction film. The movie is based on his book: ARGO: How the CIA and Hollywood Pulled Off the Most Audacious Rescue in History. It won an Oscar for Best Picture.

“What I’m trying to say is that the courage will come once you address all of the issues and if you have a ninety percent belief in your own ability,” Mendez added. “If not, you should examine your gut and let your get tell you whether you’re going to do this or not. If you can get that gut feeling up to ninety percent, you’ve got it made. My wife was in the CIA for 27 years. Although she wasn’t in the movie, she was working on it, so you should talk to her as well,” he said of his wife Jonna. We did.