Emmy® Award–Winning PBS Series Independent Lens to Showcase New Season at the August 2009 Television Critics Association Press Tour
From a senior citizen chorus with a most unusual repertoire in YOUNG@HEART to hip-hop musicians fighting for creative freedom in COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS, Independent Lens presents a new season of provocative, fascinating documentaries
(San Francisco, CA)—The Independent Television Service’s Emmy® and Peabody Award–winning series Independent Lens will be prominently featured at the upcoming Television Critics Association (TCA) press tour, scheduled for August 2009 in Pasadena, California. Independent Lens, now entering its eighth consecutive season, airs nationally on PBS on Tuesday nights at 10 PM, October through June.
Independent Lens will showcase two documentaries that provide a unique look at the world of music, from young artists creating musical mash-ups to a chorus of 80-somethings who perform punk and rock classics for cheering audiences worldwide.
In Stephen Walker’s critically acclaimed hit YOUNG@HEART, we meet the inspiring members of the Young@Heart Chorus, a group of New England seniors who cover everyone from the Clash to Coldplay. A funny and unexpectedly moving testament to friendship, creative expression and expectations defied, YOUNG@HEART is an unforgettable journey with a singular group of people who may be old in body, but refuse to grow old in spirit. Scheduled for the TCA panel are YOUNG@HEART’s longtime director Bob Cilman and members of the chorus.
Also featured is the new documentary COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS, an exploration of the creative and legal ramifications of music sampling. As computers, software and even cell phones have radically altered our relationship to mass culture and technology, consumers have become producers, or “remixers,” of their own media. But long before everyday people began posting their video mash-ups on the Web, hip-hop musicians perfected the art of audio montage through a sport they called “sampling.” COPYRIGHT CRIMINALS, a film by Benjamin Franzen and Kembrew McLeod, examines the creative and commercial value of musical sampling, including the ongoing debates about artistic expression, copyright law and (of course) money. The film includes interviews with music industry insiders and artists, including Public Enemy, De La Soul, the Beastie Boys, George Clinton and others. Featured on the panel will be James Brown’s legendary drummer Clyde Stubblefield—known as the world’s most sampled musician—and others TBA.
For more information on Independent Lens, visit www.pbs.org/independentlens
CONTACT: Voleine Amilcar, Independent Lens 415-356-8383 x 244 voleine_amilcar@itvs.org