We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Tim Gray a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.
Alright, Tim thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. So let’s jump to your mission – what’s the backstory behind how you developed the mission that drives your brand?
The mission of The World War II Foundation is to develop an awareness and appreciation of the contributions and sacrifices made by the men and women of the Allied Forces during World War II. The Foundation’s objective is to educate current and future generations about the role those heroes played in ensuring the basic freedoms we enjoy today. The Foundation dedicates itself to this educational mission in order to instill and inspire in today’s Americans, through the example of the World War II generation, the values of unity of purpose, personal courage, and shared sacrifice that they embodied – the Best of America.
Tim, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Tim Gray, Founder and President of the WWII Foundation has won 5 Regional Emmy Awards for documentary film writing and outstanding documentary film. The Foundation has also captured 3 Indie Film Fest Awards in that international competition, as well as 2 Impact Doc Awards. Most prestigiously, the World War II Foundation and Tim Gray Media have also been recognized with American Public Television’s National Programming Excellence Award.
Tim Gray has completed 34 documentaries to date (and is in production & post-production on an additional eight films). Tim has written, produced, and directed each of these films, ranging in length from 60 to 90 minutes.
These documentaries have taken the WWII Foundation to film in locations such as Guadalcanal, Corregidor, Bataan, Manila, the Philippines, the Solomon Islands, the Russell Islands, Banika, Peleliu, Japan, Guam, and the Republic of Palau. Pearl Harbor, Hawaii (11 times), Normandy, France (15 trips), Holland, England, Belgium, Luxembourg, Poland (including the Auschwitz and Treblinka Concentration and Death Camp locations), the Czech Republic, Germany, and all over the United States, including the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, DC, where Tim met the President and presented him with 2 of his films.
In addition, Tim visited Iwo Jima, and Pearl Harbor, and revisited Peleliu in 2023.
The WWII Foundation/Tim Gray Media has another eight films in various forms of production.
World War II Foundation/Tim Gray Media films consistently rank in the top 5 of most requested programs nationally by PBS and Public Television affiliates.
On June 6, 2012, the World War II Foundation dedicated the Richard D. Winters Leadership Monument in Normandy, France, which has become one of the most visited monuments in Normandy. The 13-foot statue recognizes the leadership of all American junior officers on D-Day, June 6, 1944.
Tim is also the founder of the Normandie-World War II International Film & Media Festival in Saint-Come-du-Mont, France. It’s the only film festival in the world focused strictly on documentaries and short films centered on the stories of World War II. 2022 marked the 6th year of the festival, attracting some of the world’s top actors and authors as speakers and veterans of WWII. It was held at the beautiful D-Day Experience, the Utah Beach Museum, the Normandy Victory Museum, and the Overlord Museum in Normandy, France.
Tim has organized Band of Brothers veteran and actor reunions in the USA and Europe since 2010, with all proceeds benefitting the non-profit World War II Foundation.
In 2018, Tim founded the World War II Foundation Global Education Center and Museum in Rhode Island. The museum, filled with roughly 5,000 original and rare WWII artifacts, hosts school groups from around Southern New England. The museum has over 600 books related to WWII and a small theatre. It is also open to the public. The education center and museum have been called one of the best small WWII museums in the world and the most comprehensive in the United States.
In addition, Tim hosts a Zoom Video Podcast titled From the Front to the Films that features well-known actors, authors, filmmakers, veterans, and others connected to World War II.
Tim has also been a frequent guest on FOX News’ national program The Story with Martha MacCallum, where he contributes to the network’s coverage of WWII events, issues, and stories.
On October 23, 2021, Tim Gray was inducted into the Rhode Island Hall of Fame. The RI Heritage Hall of Fame was established in 1965.
Tim is honored to sit on the Advisory Board of Patriots’ Hall of Dripping Springs, a foundation established by Emmy Award-Winning actor Kyle Chandler (Friday Night Lights, Bloodline, Zero Dark Thirty, Argo, King Kong) and his wife, Kathryn. The mission of Patriots’ Hall of Dripping Springs is to create a permanent retreat and resource base for Veterans of all ages and military branches to connect and find support.
Academically, Tim works with history and film students from Davidson College in North Carolina, San Diego State University, and Syracuse University.
Tim is also a Media Relations volunteer at the PGA Tour’s RBC Heritage Classic in Hilton Head, SC.
Prior to Tim Gray’s Documentary Film Work:
Tim worked as a television sports and news anchor and reporter for over 15 years in several states and U.S. markets, including Michigan, Washington State, Florida (Fort Myers and Orlando), New York, and Providence, Rhode Island. In 2000, Tim was appointed weekend sports anchor and sports/news reporter at Ch. 10 in Providence, another NBC affiliate. He held that job until 2004. While in Ft. Myers, FL, Tim was designated sportscaster of the year by the Florida Sportscaster’s Association and a top feature reporter.
Tim is a graduate of the University of Rhode Island with a degree in Journalism.
Through various initiatives, Tim Gray and his project work have appeared in and been featured on: The Today Show, MSNBC, Fox News, Discovery Channel, CNN, C-Span, PBS stations around the country and world, the United States Armed Forces Radio Network, the Associated Press, and in national and global newspapers and magazines.
What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?
Storytelling is what I enjoy the most. We are documenting stories for a national audience that have never been heard before and that’s important since this generation is leaving us at such a rapid pace.
We travel the world, to the actual places where the battles and struggles of World War II played out. It’s important to give a “then and now” perspective” when discussing history, especially when focused on educating younger generations.
What do you think is the goal or mission that drives your creative journey?
Our mission is time-critical. Most of our interview subjects are in their late nineties. Our goal is to capture their stories and present them in a way that younger audiences find interesting. We hope by doing that we get newer generations interested in World War II as a whole. Google is a powerful source of education once a subject has been introduced. We feel like a conduit for the personal stories of the war, which relate to our lives today in so many ways. We also have done several Virtual Reality films on World War II at Pearl Harbor, Normandy, France, and in Bastogne, Belgium. We try to utilize the latest in technology when teaching history and especially, World War II. We also have a museum with over 5,000 WWII artifacts that has been labeled “the most comprehensive World War II museum in the United States.”
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.wwiifoundation.org
- Instagram: @worldwariifoundation
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/worldwariifoundation
- Linkedin: Tim Gray-The World War II Foundation
Image Credits
The World War II Foundation