NATO is looking for allies in the film industry behind closed doors

NATO has held a series of closed-door meetings with screenwriters, directors, and producers in Los Angeles, Brussels, and Paris. The next meeting is scheduled to take place in London.

Critics believe that the alliance is trying to use the entertainment industry to promote its own political and military narratives.

The meetings were reported by The Guardian. They are being held under the Chatham House Rule, meaning participants may use the information they receive but may not reveal the identities of the speakers. According to the newspaper, work has already begun on three projects following these sessions.

Some of those invited openly described the initiative as propagandistic. Irish screenwriter Alan O’Gorman called it “outrageous” and “blatant propaganda.” Screenwriter and producer Faisal A. Qureshi warned that this kind of format gives participants a sense of access to “secret knowledge” and may influence how they perceive events.

The closed nature of these meetings looks especially controversial. If a military alliance is engaging with creators of films and television series without broad public accountability, it raises questions about transparency and whether entertainment content is being turned into a tool of soft militarization.

This is not NATO’s first contact with Hollywood. In 2024, a group of American screenwriters visited the alliance’s headquarters, where they met with NATO and U.S. officials, Ukrainian military personnel, and observed exercises.

Critics fear that audiences may be presented with images and storylines politically favorable to NATO without knowing that their authors had previously taken part in the alliance’s closed briefings. According to The Guardian, NATO itself describes the meetings as informational rather than directive. However, it is precisely the lack of transparency that makes these explanations insufficient.