title: CASTING CRISIS: Orlando’s Actors, Agents and Casualty Role Players
text: Shawn Helton 21st Century WireTruth is often stranger than fiction when looking at the bizarre phenomena surrounding many mass casualty incidents   and the Orlando Pulse nightclub shooting was no exception.It was recently revealed that the world s largest security firm G4S, who had employed the man named in the Orlando pulse nightclub shooting, Omar Mateen  is a client of the mass casualty staging company called CrisisCast.  STAGING REALITY    CrisisCast specializes in replicating mass casualty events. (Screen Capture from Crisis Cast)Training for DisasterThe heavily-stylized company CrisisCast, appears to be a revamped version of the Visionbox Crisis Actors project (a crisis actor production emerging after Sandy Hook), with a professional team of actors, elaborate film crews, expert producers and theatrical effects makeup squads mimicking real-life injuries (additional prosthetics)   all focused to deliver a simulated crisis-like reality to the public, later to be managed accordingly through their public relations division via various forms of social media.RELATED: (VIDEO)  Active Shooter  and  Terror  Drills: The Truth WILL Shock YouIn CrisisCast s  about  section we see a sophisticated amalgam of emergency protocol disaster training combined with  internationally credited film crews,  that bring their high-end stagecraft to life, through a collection of  role players, stunts, medical simulations and combat flashpoints, cloaked in visual tricky, with film techniques out of the UK and Australia, so says the group s website.Below is a road traffic collusion demo created by lead CrisisCast producer/founder Brian Mitchell (has worked on Hollywood studios and holds National security clearance) featured on Vimeo. The scenario is filmed from multiple angles, with quick cut editing that disorients, as we see an individual (crisis actor) in the aftermath of a crash   struck by the emotional weight of the scene   screaming out to a gaggle of onlookers after witnessing the staged carnage. The strange episode leaves one with a feeling of phantom trauma that continues to lurk.When recreating large scale mass casualty incidents, Cast may also make use of  pyrotechnics, wardrobe, special effects, covert and aerial footage,  depending on the clients needs.In a passage from their  solutions  section, an outline to basic formatting for a simulated crisis is revealed: Our producers work with your trainers to create a  script  that enables the role play actors to know when to trigger key developments in an evolving crisis management scenario. We brief and rehearse the team   where possible on location   but at least with video surveillance footage.Heads of department manage each discipline and report to the lead producer who is your direct contact at all times. In addition to stage-managing a crisis scenario with a highly fluid production team, Cast also centers its strategy on  lockdown and evacuation procedures, [with] the ability of emergency services to co-operate,   and the ever important task of having the  joint ability to respond to the press,  in a partnership with the company s clients through a multitude of social media platforms on the internet. The  crowdsourcing  techniques employed by Visionbox Crisis Actors comes to mind.  OUR CRISIS    A promotional shot from CrisisCast s website featuring a riot scene in London. (Image Scource: crisiscast) Nothing works as effectively in dealing with real-world disasters as rehearsal.    CrisisCastAlso note worthy, Cast states, it has the ability to create  highly credible, dramatic scenarios to bear preparing your people for the worst, employing both  psychological and practical tools,  in their disaster training   all the while making sure that role playing actors, as well as crew have signed non-disclosure agreements (NDA s) before each scripted event. Here s another passage depicting the kind of psychological implementation used to achieve a successful Cast simulation: Our role play actors are psychologically trained in criminal and victim behaviour. They bring intense realism to simulated mass casualty incidents on the battlefield, during kidnap and ransom and emergency evacuation situations and in hostile threat incidents in urban or public places.In so doing, CrisisCast provides learners with an irrevocable first encounter with the emotional challenges of any hostile incident. Other clients of Cast include The London City Airport and UK Trade & Investment, along with many other leading companies worldwide. From CrisisCast to Hollywood Also featured on Cast s website, Francesca Hunt (Professional actress and lead producer and co-founder of CrisisCast), explaining why  authentic  stress behaviors are so important when recreating a crisis. . According unitedagents.co.uk, Hunt herself is a theater trained actress, having studied at Oxford (1983-86) graduate, Bristol Old Vic (1987-89) and Moscow Arts Theatre 1989. She has been featured in several Hollywood films such as  Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005), Strathblair (1992) and A Prince Among Men (1997) on her IMDB page.  The page also states she is married to Brian (Mitchell?, CrisisCast Founder?).  FROM ONE STAGE TO ANOTHER    Here s an image from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005) featuring James Fox, Julia Winter, Francesca Hunt. (Image Source:pinterest)A-LIST: Here s a head shot depicting Hunt as seen on United Agents  On another note, Cast s blog features a host of promotional interviews and research studies, as well as fear inducing titles such as  How to set fire to a school,   Roleplaying for riot control,  and  Columbia   education in the face of violence. In the YouTube clip below, the intricate dynamics within a staged crisis are witnessed when  fictional  European countries are pitted against one another during riot-scene training with the Black Watch, 3rd Battalion, Royal Regiment of Scotland (3 SCOTS)   The video mentions the UN s involvement as well   could this kind of  training  also be used under a modern day Operation GLADIO? They ll have to be prepared for an escalation of force.    Forces TVIn an article published with The Guardian entitled  How to simulate a terrorist atrocity,  Crisis Cast digs into their bag of tricks to deliver:  a drill to test the skills and capabilities of the police, counter-terrorism units, fire and ambulance services in the north of England in the event of a terrorist attack   in this case, involving a suicide bombing and masked gunmen. A video clip shows a bomb going off outside a burger restaurant, which leaves dozens of people lying  killed  or  injured  on the ground, while others run off screaming.   SIMULATED TERROR     Even though you knew it wasn t real, it really felt real,  said one actors from the Trafford Centre terror drill. (Image Source: crisiscast)CrisisCast clients include Deloitte, G4S, the British Home Office, the NHS, and others.As 21WIRE has previously reported, this induces kind of cognitive dissonance for passive audiences, which often blocks a viewer from considering another perspective following a traumatic event   You have to wonder, what is really being learned during these events?Watch the following  suicide terrorist  drill performed with a full cast of paid UK crisis actors held in Manchester, England in May 2016: Looking at what we ve learned above, is it possible that CrisisCast s productions could extend in a recreation of a terror based story line using the concept of a criminal  lone wolf  persona?The Strange Script in OrlandoWe ve been told that in addition to working for one of the largest security firms in the US since 2007, G4S Secure Solutions, the 29-year old Mateen, the alleged Orlando shooter, an Afghani-American located in Port St. Lucie, Florida, was placed under a terror watch list for 10 months (interviewed two to three times by the FBI 2013-14) as well as appearing in two documentary feature films. Most notably, a short interview in a major Hollywood designer documentary called The Big Fix in 2012, discussing the BP oil spill at Deep Water Horizon.Mateen at the 36 minute mark, played the part of a concerned security guard, taking on a scripted activist-type character revealing that  everybody is out to get paid,  and that  they want more disaster to happen, cuz that s where there money making is  even though he was currently working for the world s largest security contractor overseeing the apparent environmental crisis.Indeed, Mateen was also featured in another documentary called Love City Jalalabad (2013), a feature supposedly depicting progressive Afghani youth and a quest for social change, created by the abstract artist/filmmaker George Gittoes, whose works delve into the holographic and hyperreal, as he was also said to be a former collaborator with the famed screen print legend Andy Warhol and holographic pioneer physicist Zoltan Hegedus (hat-tip 21WIRE contributor Randy Johnson).Gittoes has a background in politically charged propaganda films, with him  [Creating a] series of works including The Hotel Kennedy Suite and The Kent State Suite responding to events in the United States, including anti-Vietnam War protests and the Kent State shootings at Kent State University, Ohio,  in 1970.Additionally, during a time of great upheaval, Gittoes  [traveled] to Bosnia (April May) on a privately sponsored trip to document United Nations- monitored elections. Produces series of paintings based on the people of Sarajevo, the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and documents the effects of the 1992 96 Bosnian War for independence, the longest siege of a city in the history of modern warfare. Gittoes then traveled to Iraq four times between March 2003 and May 2004, making a trilogy of films based on The War On Terror.Comparatively, in an article written by Jay Dyer of Jay s Analysis we re reminded of other connections with intelligence agencies and Hollywood. Here s a passage where Dyer observes historical links between the CIA and Hollywood, through the former CIA general counsel: Author John Rizzo has recently published a book titled Company Man: Thirty Years of Controversy and Crisis in the CIA, which is an amazing admission of this scandalous affair between intelligence and the film industry.  The L.A. Times comments: The CIA has long had a special relationship with the entertainment industry, devoting considerable attention to fostering relationships with Hollywood movers and shakers studio executives, producers, directors, big-name actors,  John Rizzo, the former acting CIA general counsel, wrote in his new book,  Company Man: Thirty Years of Crisis and Controversy in the CIA.The CIA also recruits actors to give more visibility to propaganda projects abroad, such as a documentary secretly produced by the agency, Rizzo said. And the agency sometimes takes advantage of the door-opening cachet that movie stars and other American celebrities enjoy. A star who met a world leader, for example, might be asked for details about that meeting.The CIA has officials assigned full-time to the care and feeding of Hollywood assets, Rizzo wrote.  Other former CIA officials added that some of those operatives work in the Los Angeles office of an agency department called the National Resources Division, which recruits people in the U.S. to help America spy abroad. Through the connections above, were also reminded of the alleged Orlando shooter s father, Seddique Mateen, who is closely tied to some of the most powerful leaders and agencies in Washington DC. Here s a passage from a recent 21WIRE report discussing a deeper intelligence connection with the Mateen family: Omar Mateen, worked as a contractor for the US Department of Homeland Security, then we learned that the elder Mateen is also standing to run for President of Afghanistan and is allied with the Taliban leadership   an absolutely ideal profile for a Washington-managed, CIA controlled-opposition political candidate. SEE ALSO: Father of Orlando Shooter is Long-time CIA AssetWhat is the public to make of Mateen s own acting and film background as it relates to America s largest mass shooting   are we again seeing a clear link between Hollywood and military/security services?Was the Orlando shooting also a production of sorts?The theatrical aspects of this event, as depicted in the media over the last 6 days   are so pervasive and over-the-top that one might easily conclude that there is much more at play than a lone gunman and a  saddened but resilient community determined to overcome this senseless and horrific tragedy.  The media script seems already written before the killer is even named.Crisis Actors    Agents of Change Here Peekay Truth shows a video depicting strange elements surrounding the Orlando shooting The  dancing actor  clip depicted above is reminiscent of the October drill said to have taken place during the Canadian Parliament shooting in 2014, where many wondered why police and security services were seen laughing and joking supposedly in the midst of a serious tragedy. As Seen on TV : Orlando s Acting Professionals Additionally, there was a Pulse nightclub goer seen immediately making the media rounds on TV following the dramatic shooting event, one Luis Burbano, an actor/model featured in a few Hollywood films, according to his IMDB bio.Here s a YouTube clip featuring Burbano s media appearance   One of the Orlando shooting survivors has admitted to locking an exit door, putting dozens of revelers  lives at risk during the massacre.The revelations about Luis Burbano s actions the night of the shooting have come to light after he gave an interview, saying he  regrets  his second chance at life.Nearby, he saw people moving through a small  employee s only  door hidden behind a curtain, and followed after. On the other side of the door was a narrow hallway where Burbano estimates about 20 people were crawling over each other to get to the exit at the other end. Burbano says he decided to shut the door behind him because the hallway was getting dangerously overcrowded. Here s another out-of-town Pulse club goer, Shawn Royster Santiago, from New York City, who apparently witnessed the shooting and who also happens to have a media/acting and modeling pedigree as well.According to Santiago s ModelMayhem profile it states, [I ve been] modeling and performing in the entertainment industry off and on since i was 11,  having appeared in a variety of projects such as Television/Commercials,  and he currently works as a  Visual Merchandiser.  Watch him in the news clip below shortly after the Orlando shooting attack Additionally, the YouTube video montages another interview with the professional actor and model named Luis Burbano, where he  admits  was blocking an exit at the time of the shooting The media linked personality, Patience Carter, from Philadelphia, PA, has also caused many to ask questions. Watch this YouTube clip from Now the Truth, to see her role in the Orlando story  Here s a review of some previously covered anomalies here at 21WIRE As we previously reported, though the Orlando shooting attack was officially stated to have been carried out around 2am, The Daily Mail published Facebook posts from people apparently inside the club that contradict the main timeline, suggesting the shooting happened much earlier.Here are the Facebook comments featured in the Daily Mail  for review If these time stamps are correct and the posts have not been doctored in any way, then these posts present a pretty major crack in the official timeline of events at Pulse nightclub.Here s another clip with the animated YouTube personality Peekay Truth outlining the Daily Mail time discrepancy associated with the Orlando shooting The UK s Independent published an article displaying an eyewitness account that directly contradicts the lone gunman theory pushed by all major media outlets in the aftermath of the shooting: Police did not immediately name the gunman or provide a possible motive for the attack but officials have classified the rampage as a  domestic terrorism incident , Orange County Sheriff Jerry Demings said.Javer Antonetti, 53, told the Orlando Sentinel newspaper he was near the back of the dance club when he heard gunfire.  There were so many (shots), at least 40,  he said.  I saw two guys and it was constant, like  pow, pow, pow, . From a logistical stand point Mateen s ability to carry out the shooting by himself seems to be another questionable aspect to an increasingly troubled case.Another club eyewitness Jon Alamo,  heard 20, 40, 50 shots, and then  The music stopped. While the stress of the incident could account for some differences, forensically it s hard to believe Mateen would have been able to have the ability to shoot over hundred people with only 50 some shots.According to multiple eyewitness accounts people inside the club mentioned that there was possibly as many as four shooters in and around the area. The witness seen in the image just below described the following: Then he [Mateen] called someone he knew and he mentioned that he was the fourth shooter, and there were three others. One of the main mainstream media protagonists from the Orlando Shooting event was a man named Chris Hansen, an aspiring actor and entertainer who played a central role as  survivor  and  hero  in a number of heavily rotated media clips depicting the aftermath of the event. Watch:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z1SMbQNnGQI . Fake Trauma & Staged Casualty Drills Back in March, 21WIRE also covered the suspicious Brussels airport attack, that coincidentally revealed a host of inter-agency mass casualty drills taking place on the global stage: In October of 2015, SputnikNews reported massive NATO drills in Belgium and other member countries: On October 21, the largest NATO military exercises in 13 years moved into an active phase testing threat response. The drills involve over 36,000 troops from 30 NATO and partner countries. The first phase of the Trident Juncture drills began October 3, running for two weeks in Canada, Norway, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The second part is taking place in southern Europe   Spain, Italy, and Portugal   as well as in the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Similarly, in February, The Daily Mail published an article reporting  Europe s largest-ever disaster response training exercise : Police, firefighters and paramedics will this week work side-by-side with more than 70 partner agencies including local councils, utility companies and specialist search and rescue teams to respond to the disaster during the four-day drill.Disaster victim identification teams from all UK police regions are also working alongside other forensic specialists in a mortuary on site.Teams will also be working alongside firefighters from Italy, Hungary and Cyprus who will also be mobilised to the incident on Wednesday.Although this scenario is not a terrorist attack, we will be practising procedures and systems that are common to any emergency that results in a large number of fatalities and injuries.   CRISIS ACTORS    Two actors seen with fake gory wounds are laughing in between simulated takes. (Photo link livestream)That s not all. Back in 2013,  a full-scale emergency drill at Brussels Airport to test and evaluate the preparedness of our airport emergency services in the event of an incident. Here s a YouTube video depicting the Brussels Airport drill in April of 2013, and then again in April of 2015 Here s a YouTube clip featuring CNN s Poppy Harlow discussing amputee actors engaged in military training drills, to give soldiers a heightened combat-like experience Orlando in SummaryIt should be mentioned again that events like the Orlando shooting and other  mass-shootings , have become a serrated catalyst to usher in calls for endless new protocols for  security , inter-agency fusion, emergency medical procedures, as well as the injection of more and more military terminology into civilian life.Once again, the Orlando shooting attack is an illusory shooting event  winding in the likes of Hollywood, the CIA and the FBI.END OF PART TWOStay tuned for more Orlando shooting updates SEE ALSO: ORLANDO  KNOWN WOLF  Watched by FBI, Worked with DHS, Amid Crisis Actors, Drills & CI sREAD MORE ORLANDO SHOOTING NEWS AT: 21st Century Wire Orlando FilesHelp support us by becoming a 21WIRE Member at: 21WIRE.TV