Hey. My name is Nick Bicanic and I am the creator and one of the directors of Shadow Company. I will be checking in frequently so keep the questions coming - because the whole point of this documentary is to create a discussion about a subject little is known about.
Shadow Company is a film about modern-day mercenaries and the increased use of the private sector in times of war.
Suffice to say that the US Army (for one) cannot go to war without military contractors. No one knows the exact figures of armed private contractors in Iraq (or elsewhere for that matter) - and more to the point no one knows who these people are, what they do - and why.
We set out to answer these questions. A close friend of mine from university (James Ashcroft) graduated from law school and after a number of years in the British Army announced that he was thinking of becoming a "mercenary".
Initially I thought he was kidding - because when I heard "mercenary" I imagined stereotyped "hollywood" visions of men with knives in their teeth overthrowing foreign governments - but I soon learned that he was one of many in the very large industry of private security.
Armed private contractors have been around for a large number of years - and will continue to exist for as long as wars are fought.
We decided to make this film to investigate the phenomenon of the modern day soldier for hire. We talked to contractors, ex-mercenaries, journalists, historians and political analysts and were determined to present a balanced point of view.
Far too often politically minded documentaries are guilty of skewing the information they present - we felt it was vital that we do NOT spoon feed our audience simple answers - because there are no simple answers - instead we wanted to encourage you - the audience - to ask the right questions.
That is why an environment like AOLs True Stories is a great place to discuss this film - everybody gets a chance to have their say.
Shadow Company has been making waves at the highest levels of Washington DC and Hollywood - with a number of people including Senator Kennedy and Hollywood legend Edward Zwick (director of Last Samurai, Glory and the soon to be released Blood Diamond) lending their support to their project.
Every screening we have had of this film (whether at film festivals, college campuses or Capitol Hill) has generated a heated discussion at the post-screening Q&A panels - and we will make an effort to participate in that kind of discussion here.
If the 44 minute version of the film presented here intrigues you - then by all means check out the 86 minute DVD - at the Shadow Company website- with full 5.1 mix and 3 hours of extra materials - 2 feature length commentaries by the directors and industry experts, and additional clips including the full post-screening discussion at the Washington DC premiere.
Enjoy the film - and thanks for being part of this.
Nick Bicanic
Director, Writer, Producer "Shadow Company"
