MTV To Debut Premiere Episode of Acclaimed "Rebel Music" Series via
Facebook on Thursday, November 13 At 4:00 PM ET/ 1:00 PM PT
Followed by Additional Airings across Viacom Networks mtvU, MTV2, And
Centric, as Well as Epix 2 and Leading Digital Download and Streaming
Platform Partners
All-Star Production Team Includes Laura Jane Grace of Against
Me! (Music Director), Acclaimed Artist Shepard Fairey(Executive
Producer), and Native American and Sundance filmmaker Billy Luther(Director)
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
According to United States and Canadian censuses, there are over 6.2
million people who identify as Native American or First Nation Canadian.
In spite of the fact that they make up only 2 percent of the population,
Native North Americans experience alarming rates of suicide (over 4
times the national average), are 2.5 times more likely to be the victims
of sexual violence and often suffer adverse health effects from
environmental disasters. For the first time, the untold stories behind
these statistics will be brought to life in the documentary film Rebel
Music: Native America.
In November, Native American Heritage Month, the stories of Frank Waln,
Inez Jasper, Nataanii Means and Mike Clifford, young Native American
activists and musicians, will be at the center of Rebel Music: Native
America, an introduction to a side of Native America rarely seen.
The film showcases the four as they draw from their heritage, using art
to expose and overcome issues affecting their communities, environment
and selves.
In a first for MTV, the nearly 30-minute premiere episode of Rebel
Music's second season will debut exclusively on the brand's Facebook
page on Thursday, November 13 at 4:00 p.m. ET/ 1:00 p.m. PT. The
premiere will be followed by airings on mtvU, MTV2, Centric, Epix 2 and
Epix.com. It will also debut for free on leading digital download and
streaming platform partners including iTunes, Hulu, Amazon Instant
Video, Google Play, Verizon Flexview, and Xbox Video.
"We are proud to be able to articulate one of the great untold stories
of America with the support of the Native American community," said
Nusrat Durrani, SVP of Viacom Media Networks, GM of MTV World and the
creator of the Rebel Music series. "Viewers in the U.S. and beyond will
be surprised and moved by the young artists in this film who are taking
charge of their destiny and creating a new narrative for their people."
Rebel Music: Native America is one of a six-part series of
documentary films about youth, music and global social change, focused
on youth protest movements in the most challenging and turbulent parts
of the world. The five subsequent episodes will be released in the
spring of 2015 and build on Rebel Music's first season, which debuted on
mtvU, MTV's 24-hour college channel, and is now available to own on
iTunes and stream on Netflix. The second season will feature stories
from Iran, Myanmar, Senegal, Turkey, and Venezuela.
Rebel Music: Native America is co-directed by Native American
filmmaker Billy Luther, whose work has debuted at the Sundance
Film Festival. The second season is being executive produced and
developed by Nusrat Durrani, SVP of Viacom Media Networks and GM
of MTV World; David Sable, Global CEO, Y&R and chairman of the NY
Philanthropic Advisory Board of UNICEF, activist and acclaimed artist Shepard
Fairey whose renowned street-inspired vision helped create the
visual identity of the series, including a new second season poster. The
incredibly talented punk singer-songwriter Laura Jane Grace of
the band Against Me! - who TIME Magazine recently called the most
visible transgender woman in music today - performs the theme song and
serves as Music Director for the second season.
"Viacom has long been a pioneer in shining a light on those who have
been made to feel invisible," said Carl Folta, Viacom Executive Vice
President of Corporate Communications and Social Responsibility. "Rebel
Music: Native America continues that tradition by highlighting the
resilience of an undiscussed and marginalized people. We hope the film
will inspire audiences and empower them to act."
"We're so excited and proud to launch Rebel Music: Native Americaon
MTV's Facebook page, bringing poignant, original long-form content
directly to our largest social community," said Tom Fishman, Vice
President of Content Marketing and Fan Engagement for MTV. "We look
forward to a rich and timely social conversation ensuing as we both
celebrate and reflect on Native American Heritage month."
Rebel Music: Native America features musician/activists:
• Frank Waln: a passionate and provocative Sicangu Lakota hip-hop
artist who uses his music and activism to fight against the destruction
of the environment and cultural heritage.
• Inez Jasper: an award winning pop music powerhouse who
uses her platform as a public figure to shed light on the epidemic of
missing and murdered Native women.
• Nataanii Means: a budding activist and passionate hip-hop
artist (and son of American Indian Movement luminary Russell Means), who
uses his music to fight against the spread of suicide on Native
reservations.
• Mike Clifford: a Pine Ridge Reservation rapper who works with
Nataanii to inspire Native youth with his message of perseverance and
resistance.
"It's amazing how sensitized we are to wrongs around the world, ignoring
the injustices perpetrated right under our noses here at home," said
Billy Luther (Navajo/Hopi/Laguna Pueblo), co-director of the Rebel
Music: Native America. "It was an honor to help bring attention to
Native American and Indigenous issues in the first episode of the new
season of Rebel Music. Instead of dwelling on victimization it was so
exciting to focus instead on young voices singing out and busy being the
change that we all want to see happen."
As part of Rebel Music's RebelED, episodes from the second season will
be accompanied by lesson plans with a teacher's guide and background
history to bring these topics into the classroom. The materials will be
available for free download at www.rebelmusic.com/edu.
In partnership with Viacommunity, the umbrella for Viacom's social
efforts, lesson plans will be distributed to 2,000 schools across the
country through the Get Schooled Foundation, a national non-profit
dedicated to increasing high school graduation and college attendance
rates, founded by Viacom in partnership with the Gates Foundation.
Following the "Rebel Music: Native America" episode, viewers will be
guided to a custom resources at www.lookdifferent.org
that will shine a light on issues impacting the Indigenous community and
provide ways for individuals to take action. The resources represent
another step in MTV's multi-year, anti-bias "Look Different" campaign
that works to engage young people to recognize and challenge hidden
biases that exist around us all.
Beginning in November, each new episode, plus extended interviews,
articles, opinion pieces, music videos, and additional content will be
available at RebelMusic.com.
About MTV World
MTV World, a division of Viacom Media Networks, is an innovation team
producing cutting-edge pop culture content featured on Viacom channels
and digital properties worldwide, and other platforms like Netflix,
iTunes and Amazon. The division produces a variety of global content
including the acclaimed Rebel Music documentary series, Intel's The
Music Experiment (an award winning live music series) and several
forthcoming series about love/sex, EDM, fashion, and films.
The 2050 Group - Publicity
Adam J. Segal, 202-422-4673
adam@the2050group.com
Source: MTV World
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