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[10/28/08 - 01:01 PM]
A Window Into the World of Covert Private Military OperationS... Shadow Force
The eight-episode series, from Cabana 9, Global Films and Reveille, premieres on Friday, November 7 at 10:00/9:00c.

[via press release from History]

A Window into the World of Covert Private Military Operations... SHADOW FORCE

New Eight Episode History� Series Premieres Friday, November 7 at 10pm ET/PT

NEW YORK, October 27, 2008 � In dangerous parts of the world, organized crime runs rampant and unchecked. It threatens not only citizens, but the wildlife and the environment. Many overextended governments and military forces are unable to cope with the demands of fighting these predators. SHADOW FORCE, premiering Friday, November 7 at 10pm ET/PT on History�, showcases the history of unconventional military operations through the eyes of an elite team operating in a modern day setting, and offers one of the first real insights into the high-stakes world of private military operations.

SHADOW FORCE follows a team of former Special Force soldiers as they do what governments and aid agencies can not� from combating piracy in Liberia, to stopping illegal forestation and saving rare mountain gorillas in the Congo, to setting up an alert system to help stop tribal wars in Kenya, and to tracking illegal Ivory into the black market.

Unconventional warfare tactics have been around since the beginning of war itself. Small units, who have mastered the art of deception, and special techniques, have historically prevailed against overwhelming odds. The SHADOW FORCE team is the latest in this long tradition of special warriors. Their knowledge and understanding of this art, as well advance surveillance techniques and their military know how, gives them the edge to bring down bands of criminal operations. To succeed, they must also possess broad and in-depth knowledge about the history, government and customs of the countries they are operating in.

The SHADOW FORCE team is made up of four experts, all with distinct skill sets that make them uniquely qualified to carry out these dangerous missions:

� Bob Parr � The Shadow Force team leader is a counter-terrorism consultant and former member of the United Kingdom Special Forces and onetime Royal Marines Commando.

� sLiM � A former U.S. Special Forces member as well as Army Ranger, sLiM is the technical/tactical specialist of the team.

� Cobus Claassens � A Marine and Naval specialist, and former South African Special Forces, he is an expert in the West Africa region with 20 years of experience. Leonardo DiCaprio's character in Blood Diamond was inspired by Claassens.

� Laura Engelbrecht � A diplomatic and Central African specialist, she was a U.S. State Department operations specialist and U.S. Embassy Political Attach� in the Congo.

� Ralph � A tracking and electronics expert and Rhidian Bridge, is a naval specialist who joins the team on specific missions.

What makes this team so incredible, and so effective, is that they use good old fashioned smarts to take down bands of criminals, at times without any weapons, often when outnumbered, and always at their peril. The team makes a critical difference while facing desperate problems, extreme dangers, deadly consequence and impossible odds.

SHADOW FORCE episodes include:

SHADOW FORCE: PIRATE STRIKE � Premieres Friday, November 7 at 10pm ET/PT: The team is deployed to Monrovia Harbor in Liberia, to set up maritime operations and combat piracy. With no roads leading into Liberia and no law enforcement, the harbor is a criminal hotspot. The team must gather information on the criminals who control the harbor, and set up the capability to fight them. There is, however, one big catch, they have to do it while living in the harbor amongst the criminals and if the gangs catch on, it could become extremely dangerous for the team.

SHADOW FORCE: DEEP WATER � Premieres Friday, November 14 at 10pm ET/PT: The team joins forces with the mercenary ship, "Rock Fish," off the coast of Liberia, to hunt down and capture massive international fishing vessels who are stealing the country's most prized resource. With no weapons permits and a shoestring budget, the team needs to bring out every trick in the book to find and take down these brutal pirate operations.

SHADOW FORCE: IVORY TRACKER � Premieres Friday, November 21 at 10pm ET/PT: The team covertly joins forces with a local anti-poaching unit working to save Kenya's last remaining rhinoceros from execution by ivory hungry poachers. With the human and rhino death toll on the rise, the team brings in sophisticated tracking gear that allows them to plant tracking equipment onto rhino horns and then follow them into the shadows of the black market. This operation is making every criminal poacher in Kenya shake in their boots.

SHADOW FORCE: BLACK GOLD � Premieres Friday, December 5 at 10pm ET/PT: The team joins forces with a ragtag group of park rangers who are trying to stop the destruction of the Congo's most important national forest. Rebel crime units are cutting down the forest to manufacture charcoal and are killing anyone who gets in their way. The park is the last holdout for rare mountain gorillas, and they are vanishing fast. The team must show the rangers how to stop the illegal trade in its tracks, and do so while a rebel war rages around them.

SHADOW FORCE: GHOST SHIP � Premieres Friday, December 12 at 10pm ET/PT: Liberia has no navy or ability to patrol its waters. President Bush is visiting in two weeks and a ship has been acting strangely just off the coast near the U.S. embassy and the city of Monrovia. The Liberian government and the embassy want it gone. The team is asked to investigate the ship and then take it down. As they start to run surveillance, the vessel moves several times and then disappears. The team expands its operations, and after a few misses, finally locate the ship's hiding spot. Armed with a sound weapon and some deception tactics, they get the command to take it down.

SHADOW FORCE: DARK ZONE � Premieres Friday, December 19 at 10pm ET/PT: The team joins forces with a small conservancy unit in Kenya near the border of Ethiopia. Tribal wars are getting deadlier as weapons flood the region and the expansive desert dries up the last of the resources. In this region that time forgot, being able to intervene in a timely manner is critical. The team set up GPS panic buttons and provide the tactics needed to stop the tribal wars before they spin out of control.

SHADOW FORCE: GORILLA WAR� Premieres Friday, January 2 at 10pm ET/PT: Poachers are killing the rare gorillas of the Congo, and they are paying Rwandan forces responsible for genocide to protect them while they ply their deadly trade. For the park rangers protecting the gorillas, it's an all out war, but they are heavily outnumbered. The team brings in special communications equipment that allows the rangers to track the gorilla populations and call for help when they run into rebels. In the Congo, this kind of equipment gives the edge to anyone who has it, and the team soon finds out that it is being targeted by "other" agencies. It's a race against the clock to get the equipment into the hands of the park rangers and show them how to tactically hide it during combat operations, as well as from those who are attempting to steal it.

SHADOW FORCE: LAST CHANCE � Premieres Friday, January 9 at 10pm ET/PT: Rebel units descend from the jungles of Congo and terrorize the hundreds of thousands of refugees who are stuck in desperate camps. Small units from the Congolese army are stretched to the breaking point trying to stop the death squad attacks. The team joins forces with a positioned unit to protect one of the larger refugee camps. They go on live patrols and institute tactics that provide the protection units an edge over the rebels. In this war torn environment, it's an advantage that could save the camps from a deadly massacre.

SHADOW FORCE is produced for History� by Cabana 9, Global Films and Reveille. Executive Producer for History� is Dirk Hoogstra. Executive Producers for Cabana 9 are Al Edgington and Bobby Williams. Executives for Global Films are Julian Grimmond and Bob Parr. Executive Producers for Reveille are Howard T. Owens and Mark Koops.

History� and History HD� are the leading destinations for revealing, award-winning, original non-fiction series and event-driven specials that connects history with viewers in an informative, immersive and entertaining manner across multiple platforms. Programming covers a diverse variety of historical genres ranging from military history to contemporary history, technology to natural history, as well as science, archaeology and pop culture. Among the networks program offerings are hit series such as Ax Men, Battle 360, The Universe, Cities of The Underworld and Ice Road Truckers, as well as acclaimed specials including King, Life After People, 1968 With Tom Brokaw, Lost Book of Nostradamus, Star Wars: The Legacy Revealed and Sherman's March. History has earned four Peabody Awards, four Primetime Emmy� Awards, 12 News & Documentary Emmy� Awards and received the prestigious Governor's Award from the Academy of Television Arts & Sciences for the network's Save Our History� campaign dedicated to historic preservation and history education. Take A Veteran to School Day is the network's latest initiative connecting America's schools and communities with veterans from all wars. History's website, located at www.History.com, is the definitive historical online source that delivers entertaining and informative content featuring broadband video, interactive timelines, maps, games podcasts and more.

Reveille is a leading independent television studio with a major presence in scripted and unscripted television and digital entertainment, and a world leader in creating integrated marketing opportunities for advertisers. Reveille's scripted entertainment programming includes "The Office" and "Kath and Kim" (NBC), "Ugly Betty" (ABC) and "The Tudors" (Showtime). The company's roster of highly successful reality programming includes "The Biggest Loser", "American Gladiators", and "Nashville Star" (NBC), "30 Days" (FX), "Parental Control" (MTV) and many more. Through its distribution arm, ShineReveille International, Reveille distributes its extensive library of high-quality programming, along with a broad array of programming acquired from independent producers and U.S. networks, to more than 150 countries. Michelle Nader ("King of Queens") is executive producer and writer of the series. Original series creators and stars Gina Riley and Jane Turner serve as executive producers of the new series along with Rick McKenna and Nader. The series is produced by Universal Media Studios and Reveille.

Cabana 9 is a coming together of Al Edgington and Bobby Williams' 2 Roosters Media and Global Film Solutions, a specialist risk management company from New Zealand. Cabana 9 was formed specially to produce SHADOW FORCE due to the extraordinary access and complicated risk management required. Williams is a 6 year veteran of the Green Berets' Special Forces, while Emmy award winning Al Edgington has filmed all over the world, bringing together the unique skills of television and the military.





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· SHADOW FORCE (HISTORY)





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