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Shadow Company
Movie poster for Shadow Company
Directed by	Nick Bicanic Jason Bourque
Produced by	Nick Bicanic Remy Kozak
Written by	Nick Bicanic Jason Bourque
Starring	Robert Young Pelton Peter W. Singer
Music by	Andrew Wanliss-Orlebar
Cinematography	Jarred Land
Editing by	Les Lukacs
Distributed by	Purpose Films
Release date(s)	August 23, 2006
Running time	86 min.
Country	USA
Language	English
IMDb profile

Shadow Company is a documentary directed by Nick Bicanic and Jason Bourque. It is an introduction to the mercenary and private military company industry, concentrating on the role the industry has been playing in recent conflicts. It was released on DVD on August 2006.

Contents 1 Content 1.1 Letters from James 2 Interviewees 3 External links 4 References

The documentary film is not presented with a complete voice narrative nor a linear story-telling structure. Instead, most of the documentary deals with the issues presented in a topical fashion. There are three primary methods that the filmmakers use to organize and present information. The first is through the personal account of a security contractor named James, the second is to pose questions and directly answer them, and the third method is to utilize small case studies.

At certain intervals in the documentary, the audience is read different letter excerpts from a security contractor named James (voiced by Gerard Butler). The letter scenes explain the details of James’ work and life in Iraq and a small amount of his personal history. Much of the comedy from the documentary is displayed in these scenes. In addition, the letters serve as an opener and a closer for the interview portions of the documentary.

One scene displays a quick montage of James’ life up to Iraq. The viewer finds out James was a graduate of Oxford University. Sometime after graduation he joined the British military and later on performed bodyguard work in Milan and Paris. When the audience listens to his first letter, they find out that he quit his last job at a law firm before heading to Iraq.

His new line of work in Iraq involves being a security contractor for a reputable private military company. He says he is on a ‘six on three off rotation’, which means he works for six weeks, before getting three weeks of off time, and the letters are written in the six week time frame. Also he mentions working out of a villa contained in the Green Zone, the area where the Coalition Provisional Authority resides.

What is interesting about James’ account of Iraq is his everyday observations as a foreigner. For example, he notes that nearly all of the Iraqi males have mustaches. In addition, he eats lamb much of his time there and also ends up watching pirated DVDs of popular Hollywood movies. He also shares his adventures from work. This includes how his firm procures weapons like AK-47s and PKMs from the Sadr City bazaar, and how the American military or his firm deals with insurgents.

Listed in the press release[1]:

• Peter W. Singer, senior analyst of the Brookings Institution
• Alan W. Bell, president of Globe Risk
• Robert Young Pelton, author and adventurer
• Madelaine Drohan, author and journalist
• Ian Church, adventurer
• Phil Lancaster, Major (Ret.) of the Canadian Forces (aide of Roméo Dallaire during UNAMIR^[1])
• Slavko Ilic, security contractor
• Cobus Claassens, security contractor
• Neall Elliss, private military contractor
• Doug Brooks, IPOA president [2]
• Stephen J. Cannell, producer, creator of The A-Team
• Eike-Henner W. Kluge, professor of ethics
• Frances Stonor Saunders, author and historian
• John F. Mullins, soldier of fortune
• Tasha Bradsell, journalist

• Official site
• Shadow Company at the Internet Movie Database
• Making A Killing - James Ashcroft's official website

1. ^ Dallaire, Romeo, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda, Carroll & Graf, 2004