| My
main documentary focus is VH1
ROCK DOCS, a monthly series of high-end feature-length
docs revealing untold stories about rock and hip-hop stars. We aim to
combine never-before-seen footage with unique and
unconventional
narrative approaches, allowing filmmakers distinctive voices.
In 2009, I project I helped acquire Anvil! The Story of Anvil! won an Emmy Award for outstanding arts and culture programming. In 2007, I had won another for DMC: My Adoption Journey.
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I help commission original films and then supervise all aspects of
production. Before broadcast, I work with press, promotion,
marketing and other partnerships to ensure successful premieres.
At film festivals, I look for promising directors
and other talent and also shop for existing films that would
interest the VH1 audience.
Read more about the franchise at the VH1 Rock Docs page and become a fan on Facebook.. For updates on the next Rock Doc airing, follow Vh1 Rock Docs on Twitter.
Other documentary properties include INSIDE/OUT,
which
features celebrities undergoing life transitions as well as
other documentaries like the public affairs special
Tracking the Monster. |
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VH1 ROCK DOC: ANVIL! THE STORY OF ANVIL!
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| Premiere:
October 3, 2009 |
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In the summer of 1984, the band Anvil toured with some of the world's hottest acts like Metallica, Slayer, and Anthrax. Today, those bands are legends and Anvil is just the opposite. While fame eluded them, Anvil never stopped rocking. Childhood friends Steve "Lips" Kudlow and Robb Reiner, both fiftysomething, are still toiling away at their dream, trying to make Anvil one of the world's biggest bands. "Anvil! The Story of Anvil" has been one of the most critically acclaimed films of 2009. Filmmaker Michael Moore praised it as "the best documentary I've seen in years." Anthony Lane of the New Yorker called it "the most stirring release of the year."
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VH1 ROCK DOC: NY77: THE COOLEST YEAR IN HELL
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| Premiere:
August 11, 2007 |
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This two-hour doc tells the story of one of the most astonishing pop culture years in American history. New York City had fallen in decay and chaos. There were not enough jobs, not enough money, not enough police, not enough schools, and not enough social services. There was a city wide black out with major looting, there was a serial killer on the loose, and the Bronx was burning. Yet out of the chaos, emerged one of the most creative times any city has ever encountered.
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VH1 ROCK DOC: BLING'D: BLOOD, DIAMONDS AND HIP HOP
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| Premiere:
February 22, 2007 |
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This film takes a hard-hitting
look at the illegal diamond
trade in Sierra Leone, West Africa and how "blinging" in the flashy
world of commercial hip-hop played a role in the 11-year civil war,
which ended in 2002. Three hip-hop
celebrities-- Paul Wall, Raekwon (of Wu Tang Clan), and
reggaetón king Tego Calderon -- visit Sierra Leone, meet
their
contemporaries, refugees and former child soldiers.
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VH1
ROCK DOC: DMC:
MY ADOPTION JOURNEY |
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| Premiere:
February 25, 2006 |
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In 1997, hip hop legend Darryl
McDaniels should have been riding high.
Run-DMC was touring Europe after a remix put them back atop the charts,
and money was rolling in. Instead DMC found himself alone in a hotel
room, contemplating suicide. Coping with vocal troubles and creative
differences with his group, he found no joy in the spoils of the rap
game. Poison, a bullet, a giant leap were all options he considered...
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TRACKING THE MONSTER |
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| Premiere:
August 23, 2005 |
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This
award-winning VH1 News documentary chronicles two emotional journeys by
Golden Globe
nominee Ashley Judd and Grammy winner India.Arie to the front lines of
the global fight against HIV/AIDS.In their own words, Ashley and
India.Arie witness how the disease is decimating communities in Kenya
and Madagascar.
Watch the full documentary here at VH1's Vspot (PC Only.)
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FREESTYLE: THE STORY OF UNDERGROUND HIP HOP
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| Premiere:
October 7, 2004 |
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Within
the genre of hip-hop lies an underground art practiced by folks who
read the dictionary, love poetry and rhyme at light speed. It is known
as freestyle, the art of the improvisational rap, where all lyrics are
extemporaneous, or "off the dome" in freestyle parlance.
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SOUNDTRACK TO WAR |
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| Premiere:
August 18, 2004 |
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Throbbing
speed metal blasting through the sound system of combat tanks. Gospel
choirs with soaring choruses punctuated by background explosions.
Prayers for safety expressed in the strums of country lullabies. These
are the sounds of the Iraq war as heard and performed by the young U.S.
soldiers who are fighting there now.
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INSIDE OUT: TREY AND DAVE GO TO AFRICA
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When
Senegalese legends Orchestra Baobab invited South African native Dave
Matthews and Trey Anastasio of Phish to join them on stage in their
hometown of Dakar for their first show in 15 years, the two American
rock stars jumped at the chance.
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INSIDE
OUT: ODB
ON PAROLE |
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In
2000, Ol’ Dirty Bastard's fast life abruptly ended when he
was
finally jailed for walking out of a mandated drug treatment center. His
nightmare ended May 1, 2003 when he was finally granted parole. Can ODB
keep his addictions at bay and get his music career back on track? VH1
News takes an intimate journey with ODB on parole, watching the rapper
rebuild his life.
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| Premiere:
August 11, 2002 |
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It's been nearly 25 years since three members of
legendary Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd were killed in a plane
crash in Mississippi. For most bands, the story would end there. But
for Lynyrd Skynyrd, the band that recorded such classics as
“Sweet Home Alabama” and
“Freebird”, the drama continues to this day through
a tangled web of lawsuits, consent decrees, power struggles,
accusations, and broken friendships.
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