To celebrate its forthcoming twenty-fifth anniversary, MTV has joined forces with chart topping artist Mike Skinner (The Streets), renowned director Alastair Siddons and 25 young people from across the UK to create an epic, record breaking music video.
The video will run for a full 20 minutes and looks set to smash the current Guinness World Record for the longest ever music video. The record is currently held by Michael Jackson for ‘Thriller’, which runs at 18 minutes in length and was created in 1983. The very first play of this new groundbreaking video will be on MTV at 8.30pm on 1st August and will star MTV viewers.
The video has five main stories, filmed by the young people who spent one week armed only with a video camera and their imaginations. Dave Griffiths from Glasgow spent time following Strathclyde Police, imagining what they get up to, while Steve Camden from Birmingham went back to the street he lived on as a child to explore the local myth that this is the unluckiest street in Britain. Lydia Wakefield from Derbyshire investigates whether she is the clumsiest girl in Britain, and with an endless list of broken bones, stolen cars, a kidnapping and freak accidents. Londoner Bella Keegan filmed a part-spoof piece about cheerleading and George Stamenkovic, also from London, goes on the trail of Bigfoot, and finds that he’s actually quite friendly!
Mike Skinner and Alistair Siddons used the stories filmed by the young people to inspire the words and music of the accompanying track, which looks at the relationship between the real and the imagined. Mike also stars in the video, commenting on the different threads and linking them together through the repeated chorus.
Director Alastair Siddons is just 27 years old but he has already amassed an impressive CV, making videos for the Mystery Jets, Kano, Roots Manuva, The Streets, The Mitchell Brothers, and The Towers of London. He is currently writing a feature film entitled ‘Chore’.
Mike Skinner says; ‘This project has been really exciting for me and I am delighted to be celebrating MTV’s 25th birthday in this way. Alastair and I have been blown away by the creativity and imaginations of the young people involved, and we have read hundreds of treatments and watched hours of videos in order to find the most interesting and intriguing content for this epic work.’
James Scroggs, VP Marketing MTV UK & Ireland says; ‘Although it’s MTV’s 25th birthday, it’s important to remember that we wouldn't have lasted 25 minutes without great, creative music videos and our brilliant, open-minded viewers. So it makes sense to mark our birthday by giving viewers the chance to make their own, extra special music video. This new video – hopefully the world’s longest - is a truly unique project that has given young talented members of the public the chance to work alongside two of the music industry's most talented innovators. Big thanks to Mike and Alistair for having the guts and the vision to take this project on. ’
Profits from the single will go to the Staying Alive Foundation, a registered charity that provides grants to mobilise and empower young people at the grassroots level to fight HIV and AIDS. More information on the Foundation can be found at www.staying-alive.org
Notes to editors
The video will have its world premiere on MTV UK at 8.30pm on August 1st.
MTV’s 25th birthday is on August 1st 2006.
MTV Networks is the largest television network in the world and a leading creator of programming and content across all media platforms, with 111 channels and 94 websites reaching more than 440 million households in 167 countries worldwide.
MTV Networks UK & Ireland operates 3 channel groups - Comedy, Kids and Music.
Our 9 branded music channels comprise of MTV, VH1, MTV Hits, MTV Base, MTV Dance, MTV2, VH2, VH1 Classic and TMF. They feature the best in music alongside popular shows such as Pimp My Ride, Punk'd, Dirty Sanchez and Cribs. MTV Network's music channels are available on Sky, Cable (through ntl & Telewest) and Freeview, reaching larger audiences than at any time in UK history, with an average of over 17 million viewers each month according to BARB research.
Paramount and Nickelodeon in the UK are part of the MTV Networks International portfolio of channels through joint ventures with BSKYB.
In addition, MTV Networks is a pioneer in the new and exciting world of digital media, winning awards for its interactive and online services, as well as being the first media company to offer made-for-mobile 3G video content. MTV Networks UK & Ireland offers mobile distribution of four TV channels (MTV Snax, MTV Trax, Paramount and Nickelodeon) as well as online, on-demand entertainment service, MTV Overdrive.
MTV Networks is a unit of Viacom.
2002s Original Pirate Material established Mike Skinner as the spokesperson for a generation, switching on an incredibly wide strata of the UK record buying public to his tales of often dispirited but nonetheless inspirational youth culture. The record was seen as a landmark not just for the UK garage scene but pop music in general, and was followed in 2004 by ‘A Grand Don’t Come For Free’ which scored Mike a dual number one along with the ‘Dry Your Eyes’ single. His masterfully-observed critique of fame two years on ‘The Hardest Way To Make An Easy Living’ brought further chart success and marked Mike out as one of the most gifted songwriters the country has ever produced.
Partizan, is a privately owned company, founded in 1991, with offices in London, Paris, New York and LA. In the past 14 years the company has gained an exceptional reputation in both the advertising and music industries for discovering, launching and developing new talent. Michel Gondry, Traktor, Antoine Bardou-Jaquet, Jim Hosking and Alex & Martin are examples of this success. Alastair Siddons joined Partizan in 2006. www.partizan.com