|
|
|
Media Coverage
|
|
ATLANTIC, MTV, AND MORLING MANOR COLLABORATE ON MUSIC FOR MTV DRAMATIC SERIES, "LIVE THROUGH THIS"; SHOW MARKS UNIQUE INTEGRATION OF STORY AND MUSIC ATLANTIC
SLATES DISTINCT PAIR OF SOUNDTRACK ALBUMS Unique and Groundbreaking Partnership Marks Exclusive Deal To Integrate Atlantic Artists and Songs into MTV's Dramatic Series"Live Through This" August 2000 (New York, NY) Atlantic Records, MTV, and Morling Manor Music have joined togetherjoined forces in a ground-breaking collaboration to create, develop, present, and market the music for MTV's first-ever hour-long dramatic series, "Live Through This." In an unprecedented deal, Atlantic Records will be releasing two distinct soundtrack albums tied to MTV's "Live Through This" series. "Live Through This," integration of music with the story line of a television series, each show features a combination of original music written specifically for the series and a custom-tailored selection of new music from current Atlantic Group recording artists. "Live Through This," which premiered August 9th on MTV, chronicles, tells the story of the drama that unfolds when the fictional Jackson Decker Band, a hit rock group from the early '80s, which has reunitesed in 2000 for a present-day comeback tour - and brings their five teenageed and twenty-something kids on the road with them. The show is produced by Telescene Film Group, in association with MTV. In an effort to accommodate the multi-generational nature of the show, each of the two albums will reflect and reinforce a distinct set of musical interests and backgroundsthose of the kids and those of the parents. Releasing on November 14th, the first soundtrack will feature a compilation of fresh, contemporary music from an array of breaking and established Atlantic artists including Bif Naked, Meat Puppets, Sinead O'Connor, OPM, Poe, Martin Sexton, Duncan Sheik, and others. The second album, releasing in January 2001, will feature the original material performed on screen by the Jackson Decker Band. The album will contain eleven new songs written, produced, and arranged by Spencer Proffer, President/CEO of Morling Manor Music & Media, along with his Morling creative partners Steve Plunkett and Andrew Rollins. In addition, the Jackson Decker Band's repertoire will include a new song by Graham Nash and another by Pat Benatar & Neil Geraldo. The music featured in "Live Through This" will be supported by an unparalleled range of cross-marketing efforts by Atlantic and MTV, including a variety of media and retail tie-ins, contests, special events, and extensive on-line cross-promotions. Each episode of the series will highlight one track from an Atlantic artist which best embodies the spirit and tone of that particular show. In addition to being used in the episode, the highlighted song will be played during the show's closing credits, followed by two end cardsone featuring the artists' current album cover and one noting that the song is featured on the soundtrack album. Taking the partnership to a whole new level, Atlantic, MTV and Morling Manor will also work to further highlight the musical aspects of the show by casting a number of Atlantic recording artists in roles in which they will either play themselves or make cameo appearances. Collective Soul and Poe are already slated for upcoming roles, with others to be announced. "I have never worked on a series in which the music and narrative of the show are so completely symbiotic," commented Spencer Proffer. "In fact, in many cases it has been the music that has propelled the dramarather than the other way aroundso that the songs completely capture the essence of the overall series, as well as each new episode. The multi-generational nature of "Live Through This" is dramatically reinforced by the creation of two distinct musical worlds which underlie the series. The ‘80s-styled music of the Jackson Decker Band - which performs one song in each episode - has been arranged, produced, and mixed by the series' Music Architect & Consultant, Spencer Proffer. The President/CEO of Morling Manor Music & Media, Proffer - with his Morling creative partners Steve Plunkett and Andrew Rollins - penned 11 new songs for the first season of "LIVE THROUGH THIS." In addition, the Jackson Decker Band's repertoire includes a new song by Graham Nash and another by Pat Benatar & Neil Geraldo. At the same time, in order to reflect the lives of the band members' children, the series features a multi-genre tapestry of fresh, contemporary music from an array of new, breaking, and established Atlantic artists. Again, each song has been hand-picked to punctuate each episode's specific dramatic story line. In addition, several Atlantic artists will appear on the show, both in performance as well as in an acting capacity. Collective Soul and Poe are already slated for upcoming roles, with others to be announced. As the musical architect of the series, Proffer is overseeing all the music-related elements of "Live Through This." He has been involved with the project since its inception, crafting the original songs to capture the essence of each episode, with the final scripts, in turn, written specifically to reflect the spirit of the music. The music has been sculpted into the story, with the songs fully integrated into the mood and attitude both of the overall series and of each show. As a result, the drama propels the music and the music propels the drama. The extent of this collaboration between Proffer and the series' producers and writers is unprecedented. In a similar fashion, the selection of the material by current Atlantic artists to be used in the series has been a hands-on collaboration between Proffer, label and MTV executives, and the show's producers. The list of artists whose music is featured in episodes which have been completed thus far includes Bif Naked, Meat Puppets, Sinead O'Connor, OPM, Poe, Martin Sexton, Duncan Sheik, and others. Proffer commented: "It is has been an absolute joy to see the amount of great taste, energy, and brainpower coming frowork with m Atlantic and MTV in helping us sculptto sculpt the freshesta completely inventive and unique musical template for this show." Atlantic Records has slated two distinct companion soundtrack albums for "Live Through This." The first, due for release on November 14th, will feature songs by Atlantic artists which have been featured in the series. In addition, this first collection will include the show's Proffer/Plunkett-penned theme song, "Locomotive." The second companion album, due for release in January 2001, will contain the show's original music - the material performed on screen by the Jackson Decker Band. Included will be the songs co-composed by Proffer/Morling Music, along with the Nash and Benatar/Geraldo contributions. The release of two soundtrack collections from a series' first season is unprecedented. Atlantic Executive Vice President/General Manager Ron Shapiro commented: "‘Live Through This' is providing us with an extraordinary vehicle to expose our new music to the MTV audience. Our role is really two-fold: recommending and helping to select music that enhances the drama of the series, while at the same time utilizing a very high-profile avenue to promote a wide spectrum of artists. The combination of the on-air exposure with the forthcoming dual soundtrack releases is creating a priceless marketing opportunity. Needless to say, we are thrilled to be working with Spencer Proffer and MTV on such a unique and innovative series." "We see ‘Live Through This' as yet another medium in which MTV can both showcase music and break new talent," said Brian Graden, President Programming, MTV. "Rather than the music merely acting as background enhancement, this collaboration with Spencer and Atlantic has allowed us to create an entirely new and exciting way to fuse musical content and plotline." The music featured on "Live Through This" will be the subject of an exceptional range of cross-marketing efforts by Atlantic and MTV, with a variety of media and retail tie-ins, promotions, contests, and special events. Extensive internet cross-promotion will be featured on Atlantic and MTV's sites, as well as on a special Jackson Decker Band site and on the various featured artists' official sites. For each episode, one track by an Atlantic artist will be selected which best embodies the spirit of that particular show. In addition to being used during the episode, the highlighted song will be played during the show's closing credits, followed by two end-cards - one featuring the artist's current album cover and one noting that the song is featured on the soundtrack album. * * * * * * Spencer Proffer has been a music industry professional for nearly three decades, during which time he has worked as a songwriter, arranger, and record producer - receiving gold and platinum records representing sales in excess of 30 million records (including Quiet Riot's #1 album, "METAL HEALTH"). , and mMore recently, he has served as a film producer (credits include being a Co-Executive Producer on the 1998 Academy Award winning film, Gods And Monsters, as well as an Executive Producer for 2000's VH1 original feature, At Any Cost), and Broadway theatrical producer (co-producing 1999's Tony Award-nominated It Ain't Nothin' But The Blues). As a Music Director and Supervising Music Producer, Proffer has worked on nearly 80 films and TV shows, including CBS' acclaimed 1999 mini-series, Shake, Rattle & Roll (on which he also served as one of the Executive Producers), and the MTV original film, Jailbait.
"LIVE THROUGH THIS" is executive produced by Telescene Film Group's Bernie Lechowick, Paul Painter, Robin Spry and Michael Yudin. The Executive in Charge of Production for MTV is John Miller and the Director of Original Programming and Series Development for MTV is Jackie French. The director of photography for the series is Bert Tougas and the production designer is Sylvain Gingras. Stewart Harding is producing and Michael Siry is line producing. * * * * * * ATLANTIC BOILER MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom Inc., owns and operates five cable television programming services -- MTV: Music Television, MTV 2, VH1, Nickelodeon/Nick at Nite, and TV Land -- all of which are trademarks of MTV Networks. Information about MTV and MTV 2 is available on MTV Online, on America Online (Keyword: MTV) and the World Wide Web (http://mtv.com).
Telescene Film Group Inc. develops and produces television programs and feature films that are distributed worldwide. Some of the company's best known projects include the multi-award winning mini-series Hiroshima; the anthology series The Hunger; the popular teen/tween series Student Bodies; the comedy series Big Wolf on Campus and Misguided Angels and the television movie collection based on the best-selling novels by Jack Higgins. Telescene is headquartered in Montreal, with offices in Los Angeles and New York. # # # A music and film industry veteran Spencer Proffer has written and produced a number of gold and platinum albums (including Quiet Riot's "Metal Health"), and served as a Co-Executive Producer on the 1998 Academy Award winning film, "Gods And Monsters," as well as an Executive Producer for 2000's VH1 original feature "At Any Cost." As a Music Director and Supervising Music Producer, Proffer has worked on nearly 80 films and TV shows, including CBS' acclaimed 1999 mini-series, Shake, Rattle & Roll (on which he also served as one of the Executive Producers), and the MTV original film, Jailbait. ###
|