New Weekly Half-Hour VH1 Series Developed and Executive Produced by Emmy
Award Winner and Oscar Nominee R.J. Cutler ('American High,' 'The War Room')
NEW YORK, May 13 /PRNewswire/ -- During this crucial point in America's
history, the men and women of our armed forces are more important to us than
ever before. So is their music.
Helping to keep audiences truly connected to the men and women who protect
America at home and overseas, "Military Diaries" chronicles the lives of music
fans serving in various branches of the United States military. The new
weekly half-hour VH1 series premieres Memorial Day, Monday, May 27 at 10:00-
11:00 p.m. (ET/PT), with the first two half-hour episodes debuting back-to-
back. All-new episodes of "Military Diaries" debut on subsequent Mondays at
the same time.
In the great tradition of military correspondent Ernie Pyle, VH1's
"Military Diaries" allows Americans around the world to learn who the people
in our armed forces really are, connect us with their military experience, and
help form a link between our armed forces and the citizens they defend.
Selected volunteers from all armed forces branches were given video cameras to
record their daily video diaries, tell their stories, discuss their hopes and
dreams, share their backgrounds and families -- and describe the emotional and
sustaining role that music occupies at the center of their lives.
"Music here is the biggest motivational tool for myself and so many
sailors, you know, if we didn't have any music here, we would be very
depressed sailors, and we wouldn't be able to do our jobs," says Charlie, a
vivacious and charming 23-year-old Petty Officer 3rd Class who helps maintain
and repair naval aircraft. After working arduous 12-, 15- and 18-hour shifts,
she adds, "I want to be able to take a 15-minute, hot long, shower, and then I
want to be able to sleep. That's like asking for a million dollars right
now."
Each themed weekly episode highlights these poignant and powerful personal
accounts, filmed during off-duty hours as well as during training missions,
that reveal the world in which members of the military carry out their duties.
A Marine captain on a ship full of Navy sailors, with the added pressure
of being away 12,000 miles from his wife and two kids for six months, Chris is
at a tough place in his life and uses music to soundtrack his moods. "You
just throw in a song, a CD, to mellow you out, to get you pumped up, to set
your tone, and it's also like a magic time capsule, man," he says. "It just
takes you back to whatever point in your life you want to go back to -- it'll
take you back there. That's the cool thing about music." His eclectic
shipboard collection includes self-burned CDs full of "Music for Chillin" and
'80s favorites, plus Metallica, White Zombie, Third Eye Blind, Journey and
Kenny Rogers.
Thanks to an unprecedented level of access granted by the Dept. of
Defense, "Military Diaries" has assembled amazing footage filmed by men and
women serving in Operation Enduring Freedom, who actually took the cameras to
such remarkable places as inside their airplanes and other locations -- the
first time ever that footage of this kind has been shot. "Military Diaries"
features soldiers, sailors, and pilots in the Army, Navy and Marines,
stationed on the USS John C. Stennis, which is currently in the Persian Gulf,
as well as on bases in Kuwait, Afghanistan, and at Camp Pendleton.
The first six themed episodes of "Military Diaries" focus on:
* Life As a Soldier - What it really means to be a soldier. Among the
songs are Soil ("Unreal"), Chante Moore ("Straight Up"), Wham ("Wake Me Up
Before You Go Go"), City High ("Caramel"), R.E.M. ("Imitation of Life"), Sting
("Fragile"), A Perfect Circle ("Judith"), Vanilla Ice ("Ice Ice Baby"), Creed
("What If") and Starsailor ("Good Souls").
* The Human Touch - Stories of the humanitarian mission in Afghanistan,
and whether or not we're making a difference.
* The Marines - What it takes to be a member of this elite group of
soldiers.
* Youth in the Military - A series of journals about being 19 years old
and serving in the Armed Services.
* Operation Anaconda - a special one-hour presentation featuring first-
hand accounts of Operation Anaconda, including never-before-seen footage and
eyewitness accounts by those who took part in the battles.
Viewers can go online to vh1.com for more information, including "Military
Diaries" episode synopses with video; a Recurring Character Area with bios,
pictures, and video; message boards for fans to discuss episodes; Virtual
Military Diaries for enlisted personnel to share their stories on message
boards; an interview feature with executive producer R.J. Cutler; and a song
list and radio station featuring tunes requested by the military personnel.
"Military Diaries" is developed and executive produced for VH1 and Actual
Reality Pictures by R.J. Cutler. Julio Kollerbohm and Kim Rozenfeld also
serve as executive producers.
VH1 produces and programs a wide variety of music-based series, specials,
live events and acquisition-based programming that keeps viewers in touch with
the music they love. VH1 is a registered trademark of MTV Networks, a unit of
Viacom International Inc. MTV Networks owns and operates the television
programming services MTV: Music Television, MTV2, VH1, Nickelodeon/Nick at
Nite, TV LAND, TNN, CMT: Country Music Television and The Digital Suite From
MTV Networks, a package of nine US digital services, all of which are
trademarks of MTV Networks. MTV Networks also has licensing agreements, joint
ventures, and syndication deals whereby all of its programming services can be
seen worldwide.
SOURCE VH1
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Related links:
http://www.vh1.com
Company News On-Call:
http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/130123.html
CONTACT:
Toni Herron of VH1, +1-212-846-7528; or
Alison Olin of MTVN, +1-310-752-8044
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