SANTA MONICA, Calif., Jan. 10 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ — Nickelodeon’s new tween rock ‘n’ roll “mockumentary” comedy series The Naked Brothers Band will launch with a star-studded TV movie, Saturday, January 27 (8-9:30 p.m. ET/PT) — featuring cameos by Uma Thurman, Julianne Moore, Arsenio Hall, Cyndi Lauper, Tony Shalhoub, Ann Curry and the cast of thirtysomething — and rock on weekly with half-hour episodes, premiering Saturday, February 3 in its regular 8:30 p.m. (ET/PT) TEENick time period. Creator/executive producer/writer/director Polly Draper (thirtysomething) doubles as off-camera mom to Nat and Alex Wolff, who play superstar band leaders and write and perform all of the show’s original music.

Source: Nickelodeon
· Nickelodeon “The Naked Brothers Band.”

Celebrated jazz musician/composer Michael Wolff (The Arsenio Hall Show) — the stars’ real-life dad and Draper’s husband — keeps it all in the family but plays against type as the screen tweens’ musically inept father and serves as the series’ music supervisor/co-executive producer. Albie Hecht (The Rugrats Movie, The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events) is executive producer of the series in association with Nickelodeon Television.”The Naked Brothers Band is kid-genius at its best,” said Tom Ascheim, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Nickelodeon Television. “The entire production showcases the Wolff family’s musical and dramatic talents while delivering an amusing, behind-the-scenes glimpse at being a kid rock star. We are simply ecstatic about it!”

Draper, who makes her directorial debut, affirms, “The Naked Brothers Band was born purely from the imagination of my kids, and as a mom, first and foremost, I knew I had to document this time in their lives. I knew immediately I wanted Nickelodeon to be the home for The Naked Brothers Band because they’re bold enough to try something as authentic, real-kid as this is, and this experience is a dream come true for my whole family!”

Inspired by the Wolff siblings’ real-life, preschool-born band, The Naked Brothers Band follows a world-famous rock group, chronicling their fame, friendship, temporary break-up and adolescent experiences. The cameras track the charismatic, rock stars — led by dreamy, sensitive singer-songwriter Nat, 12, and energetic, unabashedly adorable drummer Alex, 9 — on and off stage, focusing, too, on their celebrity lifestyle with all of its perks and problems. Featured as well are the Wolff boys’ real-life friends and band mates from pre-school days: cellist Thomas (Thomas Matuello) and keyboard player David (David Levi), along with guitarist Qaasim (Qaasim Middleton) and bassist — Nat’s crush — Rosalina (Allie DiMeco). Cooper (Cooper Pillot), the band’s pint-sized manager, completes the tween troop, and Jesse (Jesse Draper) is Nat and Alex’s ditzy tutor/babysitter and real-life cousin.

They’re introduced in the movie, which won the audience award for a family feature film at the Hamptons International Film Festival in 2005, and in which stars such as the afore-noted Thurman, Hall, Moore, Lauper, Curry, Shalhoub and the cast of the classic series thirtysomething (Polly Draper, Mel Harris, Melanie Mayron, Peter Horton, Patricia Wettig, Timothy Busfield and Ken Olin) pay tribute to their genius. In the film, too, which makes its TV premiere on Nickelodeon, artistic differences fracture the band when Nat’s ballad “Rosalina” is deemed too sissy by some and Thomas’s “Boys Rule, Girls Drool …” strikes Nat as sexist.

Luckily harmony is restored as the series unreels. Throughout the season, Nat, Alex and their pals will share the screen with celebrity guests including VJ Matt Pinfield and George Lopez. The former turns up in the first regular episode, “VMA’s,” on February 3, when the band is nominated for its first video music award. The kids find themselves relying on their horoscopes to determine the outcome and face the added pressure of host Pinfield’s pessimistic take on their fate.

As for the musical element of the show, series’ Executive Producer Albie Hecht says, “Nat Wolff’s soulful and catchy original songs will be a hit with kids and adults alike. We think the music and the videos will even inspire other real kids to go after their dreams, writing their own songs or shooting their own homemade-style music videos.”

Naked Brothers Band - The Movie will be released on DVD in Spring 2007 and will include a number of exciting bonus features for fans, such as an exclusive, extended play CD sampler with music tracks from the movie.

The Naked Brothers Band content unveils on various Nickelodeon platforms including:

-- An immersive fan site -- www.nick.com/nbb featuring videos on how to
be a rock star; band member profiles, pictures and history; an online
music studio, discography and videography; The Naked Brothers Band
games and more.

– TurboNick features original webisodes, video podcasts and how to rock
instructional videos.  Fans can create their own The Naked Brothers
Band mash-ups on TurboNick 2.0 and participate in “videoaoke”
(video-karaoke) and sing-along with the Band videos onscreen with
lyrics and guitar chords.

– Nick Mobile will roll out short music video clips on all wireless
carriers.

– The series will be available on download-to-own platforms
in February.  Movie tracks will be available for purchase in April,
along with music tracks from the series.

– The movie will be available on video-on-demand on Jan. 29, and the
series episodes will roll out on the platform in February and March.

– Nickelodeon Magazine includes coverage of the movie and series in its
February issue, on stands now, as well as an interview with the cast
in its March issue, on stands Feb. 13.

– A sneak peak of the series will be offered to guests during a weekend
in January at the Nickelodeon Family Suites by Holiday Inn in Orlando.

Draper’s memorable portrayal of wry, sensitive Ellyn Warren in the acclaimed thirtysomething (1987-91) earned her an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1988). As writer-producer-star of The Tic Code (1999), about a young boy with Tourette Syndrome, she received numerous accolades and won the Berlin Film festival. Her acting credits include numerous TV appearances and starring roles in such feature films as The Pickup Artist, Making Mr. Right and Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain and on Broadway in Four dogs and a Bone, Brooklyn Boy and Closer.

Hecht is president/CEO of Worldwide Biggies Inc., which targets the family entertainment, animation and teen markets and is comprised of four divisions: television, film, Biggies Broadband and a nonprofit sector, Shine Global. Prior to launching Biggies, he created and served as president of MTV networks’ Spike TV, the first network for men. And pre-Spike, Hecht was president of film and television entertainment for Nickelodeon. His executive producer credits include such blockbuster family features as The Rugrats Movies (1-3), The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events, The Adventures of Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, Clockstoppers and Snow Day. In television, he developed SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly Odd Parents, Blue’s Clues and the long-running live-action hit All That. He also created and executive produced The Kids Choice Awards. Hecht supervised the creation of Nickelodeon’s first television animation studio in Los Angeles and Nickelodeon’s first digital animation studio in New York.

Nickelodeon, now in its 27th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The company includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films. Nickelodeon’s U.S. television network is seen in more than 90 million households and has been the number-one-rated basic cable network for eleven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc

Tags: Teenagers, television, Toddlers, Uncategorized|
Posted By: littlec | Jan 10th