FEATURE
Russell Simmons' All Def Digital is
the fastest growing platform in hip
hop and urban youth culture. Emmy
award winning producers Stephen
David Entertainment announced
today a partnership with GroupM
Entertainment, a global content
investment and rights management
company, to develop and produce
'The Defi nitive History of Hip Hop', a
sweeping documentary series that tells
the exhaustive story of hip hop, from its
seminal, underground roots to its now
most iconic, global artists. Stephen
David will Executive Produce the series,
along with GME's Richard Foster and
Simmons himself. The project is in
development and slated to begin
production this year.
'The Defi nitive History of Hip Hop'
begins in the early 1970s, chronicling
the rise of the fi rst DJs and emcees
in New York City. But what started as
a way for marginalised youth in New
York City to escape or explain the
stark realities of the inner city, rapidly
spread from the East to West Coast as
it evolved into a global phenomenon.
Today, it is a multi-billion dollar industry
and cultural force that shapes music,
art, fashion, language, and all forms of
entertainment from fi lms to television
and digital programming to social
media.
"Hip hop began in the Bronx and
Queens, and was fuelled by pioneering
new artists with an incredible hunger
to express themselves in unimaginably
bold new ways", said Simmons. "The
Defi nitive History of Hip Hop is the
untold story of the birth of this art
form. The series gets behind the
scenes of what drove the beats, the
rhymes, the ideas and the people that
so powerfully hit a chord with all of
youth culture in America and around
the world. It starts with the OGs of
this disruptive force in entertain ment,
spotlights some of the lesser known
artists who've fallen out of history
or favour, and of course looks at the
icons who are now household names
whether you're in L.A. or London,
Toledo or Tokyo. The music is just as
important, classic and timeless today
as it was 40 years ago. We've partnered
with amazing fi lmmakers in Stephen
David Entertainment and with GroupM,
the largest media investment fi rm in
the world, because we believe this will
be a long-running, global franchise",
Simmons continued. "We are going
long, and deep, and plan to follow the
characters and story lines, the drama,
the dreams, the deaths, the disruptions,
that have made our narrative one of the
most compelling American stories of
the last three decades. And its future is
still being written today, so the story is
both timeless and endless".
Using SDE's award-winning
cinematic and storytelling style of
weaving fi lmed scenes and classic
documentary treatments together with
groundbreaking visual effects, archival
footage and celebrity interviews,
'The Defi nitive History of Hip Hop'
tells the incredible personal stories of
the pioneers of hip hop and rap, set
against the larger historical context of a
country in turmoil. From DJ Hollywood
and Run DMC, to Dr. Dre and Jay Z,
this authoritative and expansive series
captures the mystique and magnetism
of the personalities and music that
helped transform the American mindset
and, in the process, set off a global
movement premised on speaking truth
to power.
"The birth of hip-hop and its ascent
into the American mainstream is
a fascinating story, one that has
tremendous historical and social
importance and relevance in our
society", said Stephen David. "We
really could not imagine a greater
partner for this project than the founder
of the movement, Russell Simmons,
and the team at All Def Digital. We
are privileged to be working with the
man who took a musical art form and
created multiple industries and a global
movement in youth culture".
As the company behind the Emmy
award-winning series, 'The Men Who
Built America', the Emmy-nominated
'The World Wars' and 'The Making
of the Mob: New York', SDE has
established itself as the leading
producer of hybrid-genre programmes
that combine traditional documentary
techniques with scripted storytelling
elements. "We create documentaries
as if they were scripted series, we thrive
on characters and story arcs." SDE has
projects at Netfl ix, Amazon, History
Channel, and NatGeo among others.
"We at GroupM Entertainment have
a track record of partnering with
creative voices and producers around
the world to deliver premium content
to the world's biggest networks and
platforms", said Richard Foster, CEO
of GroupM Entertainment. "The
dominance of hip hop in global
culture is clear in so many international
markets. Investing into the project
and partnering with All Def and SDE
is a fantastic opportunity to bring this
story to a global audience. GroupM
Entertainment is one of the largest
fi nanciers and co-producers of original
programming in the UK and is active
in over 20 global markets including
the US. The company is part of WPP,
the world's largest advertising and
marketing services group.
"With the break-out success of
entertainment properties like 'Straight
Outta Compton' and 'Moonlight' in
fi lm, 'Empire' and 'Atlanta' in television,
even 'Hamilton' on Broadway, there
could not be a better time to tell this
story about the embryonic days of hip
hop", said Sanjay Sharma, All Def's
Chief Executive Offi cer. "Hip hop is the
most listened to category of music in
the US and its universal appeal is, in
part, due to the fact that it has always
been about speaking truth to power,
nothing could be more timely than this.
Aside from dominating pop culture,
this thread dominates the global social
and political climate as well. We want
to create an immersive experience that
will engage today's youth, as well as
old-school fans, with the origins of the
movement through premium content,
live, social and interactive, experiences,
and more.
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