Season Premiere of "Rebel Music" to Premiere on MTV's YouTube Channel
Thursday,
April 30th
Announces Partnership & Contest with Amnesty International's Art for
Amnesty Program to Bring Inspiring Young Activists to a Global Audience
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
MTV World today announced the second season of its "Rebel Music" series,
the thought provoking documentary project about young musicians and
artists overcoming oppression and injustice around the world premiering
Thursday, April 30th on MTV's YouTube channel. Additionally, MTV World
will partner with Amnesty International to disperse the "Rebel Music"
message and help viewers take action for positive change through the
organization's Art for Amnesty program.
One country at a time, "Rebel Music" shares the untold stories of
fearless young artists rising up against social and political barriers
to forge a better future. Launched in 2013 and now in its second six
part season, "Rebel Music" shines a light on young people around the
globe who are rarely given a chance to speak for themselves, activating
the power of music and art to connect, inspire and ignite action. The
series will provide young American audiences a rare, unprecedented look
into the lives of their counterparts in countries experiencing crises.
"We live in an increasingly connected global community and young people
in America are more interested and engaged in the state of the world
than ever before," said Nusrat Durrani, GM/SVP of MTV World at Viacom
Media Networks, and creator and Executive Producer of the "Rebel Music"
series. "We are proud to present a fresh new perspective on important
regions of the world through compelling stories of their youth -
bridging the gap in knowledge and hopefully creating more understanding
and compassion."
In season one, "Rebel Music" journeyed deep into the heart of
revolutionary music in Egypt, Afghanistan, Mali, Mexico, and Israel and
Palestine. Buoyed by the success of the first "Rebel Music: Native
America" premiere last November, which became one of MTV's top most
viewed and most shared videos of all time, and an invitation to screen
at the White House, the series continues to innovate and bring new
untold stories to the forefront.
Season two of "Rebel Music" is even bolder and more intrepid, venturing
into Iran, Myanmar, Turkey, Venezuela, Senegal, and the Native American
communities of North America. Season two consists of half hour episodes
and an extended "Rebel Music: Native America" episode, with the stories
and conversation continuing online at RebelMusic.com
and via social media, as well as in the classroom through the "Rebel
Music Educators' Guide."
The second season of "Rebel Music" transcends conventional documentary
format with its cinematic sweep, pacing and state of the art production
values. The executive production team includes Shepard Fairey, legendary
artist and activist whose street inspired vision permeates the series'
graphic design; David Sable, humanitarian and Global CEO, Y&R, and
chairman of the NY Philanthropic Advisory Board of UNICEF; and iconic
punk singer songwriter Laura Jane Grace of the band Against Me! as Music
Director.
Amnesty International's Art for Amnesty program, which harnesses the
power and passion of art, music, film, and culture to champion human
rights around the world, was a perfect partner for "Rebel Music."
Together, MTV World and Amnesty are recasting turbulent situations
throughout the world by amplifying the unheard and inspiring stories of
young artists and activists and authentically portraying their struggles.
Working to further promote the stories of youth driving social change,
MTV and Amnesty International will also launch the "Rebel with a Cause"
contest to spotlight artists around the world. Set to live on Rebel
Music's Tumblr, the contest will engage the huge online activist
community and provide a platform to let their rebel voice shine. For
every submission, MTV will donate $1 to Amnesty International. Top
submissions will have a chance to be featured on MTV, Rebel Music, and
Art for Amnesty's social media platforms and one lucky winner will win a
$1,000 gift certificate to B&H to continue documenting their passion, as
well as a co-branded MTV/Art For Amnesty Rebel Music poster signed by
Executive Producer Shepard Fairey.
"Working with musicians, artists, actors and filmmakers to amplify the
voices of those who might otherwise go unheard has long been a vital
part of our global human rights efforts and we're proud to extend this
worthwhile legacy with MTV," said Marvin Bing, National Director of Art
for Amnesty at Amnesty International USA. "MTV's Rebel Music and Art for
Amnesty have a natural synergy and intersection of goals that made this
partnership a great fit. Along with our Human Rights Concerts and Chimes
of Freedom, this series is the perfect opportunity to raise awareness
and inspire others to seek change."
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, available for free
download at www.rebelmusic.com/edu.
The curriculum will be distributed to Amnesty International's 750 high
school and college groups in the USA and shared with other Amnesty
sections globally and through Viacommunity, the umbrella for Viacom's
social efforts, 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.
To learn more about the "Rebel Music" series, Art for Amnesty and the
"Rebel Music" contest, visit www.rebelmusic.com.
About MTV: MTV is the world's premier youth
entertainment brand. With a global reach of more than a half-billion
households, MTV is the cultural home of the millennial generation, music
fans and artists, and a pioneer in creating innovative programming for
young people. MTV reflects and creates pop culture with its Emmy®,
Grammy® and Peabody® award-winning content built around compelling
storytelling, music discovery and activism across TV, online and mobile.
MTV's sibling networks MTV2 and mtvU each deliver unparalleled
customized content for young males, music fans and college students, and
its online hub MTV.com
is a leading destination for music, news and pop culture. MTV is a unit
of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA, VIAB), one of the world's leading creators
of programming and content across all media platforms. For more
information, go to www.mtvpress.com.
About MTV World: MTV World, a division of
Viacom Media Networks, is an innovation team producing cutting-‐edge,
award winning 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-‐minded
multiplatform content including the acclaimed Rebel Music documentary
series, Intel's The Music Experiment (a transmedia live music program)
and several forthcoming series about love/sex, EDM, fashion, and films.
About Art for Amnesty: Art for Amnesty is a
program of Amnesty International. Even though artists have always been a
part of Amnesty's work, Art for Amnesty was founded in 2002 and seeks to
harness the creativity, commitment and support of artists of all
disciplines in major national and global projects and initiatives for
the benefit of Amnesty International and the cause of universal human
rights. Through film, music, art, theatre and literature artists can
share and lift up stories of the people behind the statistics to ensure
that their struggles to claim their rights, as well as the abuses they
have experienced, are brought to the heart of public consciousness.
Artists have a unique power to bring people together and to promote
change. More than ever before, we need creative ways to acknowledge
these human stories, to stand with human rights defenders the world over
to tell the world the truth.
About Amnesty International: Amnesty
International is a Nobel Peace Prize-‐winning global movement of more
than 7 million people in over 190 countries campaigning for human rights
worldwide. The organization investigates and exposes abuses, educates
and mobilizes the public, and works to protect people wherever justice,
freedom, truth and dignity are denied.
Sunshine Sachs
Chelsea Sanders, 212-691-2800
sanders@sunshinesachs.com
Source: MTV World
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