IHSY, LLC

FACT SHEET

 

 

THE COMPANY

IHSY, LLC is a North Carolina registered film production company created to produce CHAPLAINS UNDER FIRE, a feature length documentary about military chaplains.  The name of the company comes from the working title of the film “In His Service and Yours,” a title we derived from the way in which some chaplains sign their e-mails and which, to our minds, encapsulated their dual allegiance as both clergy and officer. IHSY, LLC has no religious or political affiliation or agenda.  Funding for the production is provided by the creators and their spouses who are the sole members of IHSY, LLC.  Because of the potential for exploitation by external funding sources and given the church-state issues that will be explored in the film, the production company is independent.  The members of IHSY, LLC have complete editorial control.

 

THE TITLE

CHAPLAINS UNDER FIRE refers both to the risk chaplains run serving as they do in combat zones and the pressures that the institution of the chaplaincy faces at home.  Some believe that the military is abrogating the rights of chaplains (see our blog on the issue of prayer); others believe that chaplains are proselytizing inappropriately (the subject of another blog) and should be restricted with detailed guidelines or even disbanded altogether.   During post-production, we changed our title better to reflect the contents of the film.

 

THE APPROVALS

Project approval was granted by the Air Force, Army, Marines and Office of the Secretary of Defense.  Approval means providing transportation, billeting, meals and medical support when in Afghanistan and Iraq, also known as “downrange”.  More important, it also means providing access to military personnel and operations both downrange and in the US, with the approval of the local commanding officer.   Provisional approval was given initially by the Navy, but full approval was later declined.  Media credentials were provided by the Public Affairs offices of the military commands in Afghanistan and Iraq.  Limited security clearances were also provided which allowed us to attend mission briefs and observe in Tactical Operations Centers (TOCs) and Combat Operations Centers.

 

THE APPROACH

Robin Mudge, of Washington, DC and a veteran of over twenty years with BBC documentaries and consultancies with PBS, was retained at the outset to evaluate our production plan and best practices.  His recommendation to approach the project as video journalists rather than as a film crew enhanced our ability to undertake the project.  Besides reducing the funding needed to accommodate extra crew, this approach allowed us to keep our footprint small -- no small consideration while in Afghanistan and Iraq where seats on helicopters were often difficult to come by.  The absence of extra crew also allowed us to get closer to our subjects, and, when needed, to cover more ground by working independently.

 

THE LOCATIONS

Arlington Cemetery

The Pentagon

Maxwell Air Force Base, AL

Ft. Benning, GA

Ft. Bragg, NC

Camp Lejeune, NC

Andrews Air Force Base, MD

Ft. Jackson, SC

Pope Air Force Base, NC

Fayetteville, NC

Greenville, NC

Lexington, NC

Rosman, NC

Phoenix, AZ

Norfolk, VA

Hampton, VA

Richmond, VA

Greenville, SC

Nashville, TN

Brooklyn, NY

Dover, DE

Albuquerque, NM

Washington, DC

Kuwait – location classified

Afghanistan – Bagram; Salerno; Fire Base Shkin; Fire Base Bruin; FOB Ghazni; FOB Loger; FOB Gardez; FOB Orgune; FOB Nawa; Khost; Mazar-e-Sharif; Kabul

Iraq -- COP Callahan and COP War Eagle in Baghdad; Camp Taji; FOB Reaper, Camp Habbaniyah, Camp Baharia in and near Fallujah; Camp Al-Taqqadam; Baghdad ER; Balad ER; Ramadi ER

Germany – Landstuhl

 

THE RIDES

Most operational forces covered distances by air, and the safest and most reliable means of transportation were helicopters.  Most of our (many, many) travel hours were in helos, but certainly not all of them.  Here are all the ways we got around.

HumVees; Rhino; Black Hawk helos; Sea Knight helos; C 130s; C 17s; executive jet;

Transall (STL) C 160s; military trucks, SUVs and buses; foot; various commercial airlines

 

THE CREATORS

The idea for this documentary was suggested by Dr. Pauletta Otis, formerly of the Pew Foundation and currently advisor to the US Marine Corps.  We are forever grateful to her.  Bios for the creators can be found on the Who We Are page of the project website.

 

THE CURRENT STATUS

We are in post-production, screening footage for our editor, Andrea Hull. Based in Washington, DC, Andrea brings to the project experience, enthusiasm, and sensitivity.  We could not be more thrilled to be working with her.

THE WRAP

Completion and release is anticipated for Spring/Summer 2009.

 

THE EARLY REVIEWS

The documentary-related series Lee wrote for the Christian Science Monitor was awarded third place in the 2008 Supple Award “awarded to the Religion Writer of the Year with emphasis on reporter’s writing skill and grasp of issues on the beat” by the Religion Newswriters Association (RNA).

In November, the series also won Lee first place in the American Academy of Religion (AAR) award for best in-depth reporting “for journalists at news outlets with less than 100,000 circulation.”

The link to the series (which includes videos made with footage shot downrange for the documentary) is www.csmonitor.com/specials/chaplains.

 

THE COORDINATES

Lee Lawrence, Brooklyn, NY, lee@chaplainsunderfire.com, (718) 237-4323

Terry Nickelson, Pisgah Forest, NC, terry@chaplainsunderfire.com, (828) 884-6947

website: wwwchaplainsunderfire.com