MTV ALERT: Viewing Guide For Spankin' New Music Week

MTV's latest Spankin' New Music Week kicks off this Monday, November 7. Lots of specials, lots of guests.

MTV's flagship show TRL will be hosting a slew of music stars for performances and walk-ons. The schedule is as follows:

• Monday: Kanye West, Pharrell, Robin Thicke, The Click Five
• Tuesday: Shakira, Simple Plan, Chris Brown
• Wednesday: 50 Cent, Jay-Z, Hilary Duff, Ne-Yo, Olivia
• Thursday: Green Day, Yellowcard
• Friday: Lindsay Lohan

MTV2 will be airing a special live edition of Discover & Download on Monday with Motion City Soundtrack, The Academy Is, M.I.A. and Little Brother. Other MTV2 content includes:

• "Makes A Video" specials with Korn, Yellowcard and Damien Marley
• "Spankin' New" features on HIM and Daddy Yankee
• "Unleashed" video premieres from Yellowcard, Beck, Weezer and Slim Thug feat. Young Jeezy

MTV's websites will also be debuting new specials, including three new installments of The Leak with new music streams from Madonna, Green Day and R. Kelly.

Check MTV.com, or your local listings, for specific air times and any late-breaking changes to the schedule.

NEW RELEASE: Madonna "Hung Up"

Madonna "Hung Up" Warner Bros.
Johan Renck, director
John Winter, producer (L.A.)
Lene Bausager, producer  (U.K.)
Black Dog, production co
Gosta Reiland, DP
Jonas Sodenbergh, editor
Description: The still very limber Madonna is back with this instant club anthem that samples ABBA's "Gimme Gimme Gimme." After some stretching exercises in her pink leotard, Madonna busts out almost every dance move in the book at a rehearsal studio. Meanwhile, people with the same boom box that Madonna uses engage in spontaneous bouts of dancing all around Los Angeles and London. At the end of the clip, everyone shows up at a dance club where they show off their skills both on a dancefloor and a Dance Dance Revolution arcade game. Many of their moves and stylings are quite retro, which works well with the simple, almost old-fashioned pleasures of this song. Watch Madonna "Hung Up" in either Quicktime or Windows Media.

NEW RELEASE: Kate Bush "King Of The Mountain"

Kate Bush "King Of The Mountain" Columbia
Jimmy Murakami, director
Michael Algar, producer
Hugh Chaloner, editor
Description: This very 80s video for "King Of The Mountain" is actually the perfect match to a song that references both Citizen Kane and Elvis Presley. Kate Bush appears as a spectral presence in a version of Charles Foster Kane's famed palace Xanadu. Among the many antiquities gathering dust there is Elvis' trademarked white jumpsuit, which comes to life and flies all around the world. Tabloid headlines keep track of each Elvis sighting until the white suit returns to join Rosebud and the other symbols of lost innocence (or something). This is Kate Bush's first video in approximately ten years. A rather deluxe Quicktime version of it is up for viewing at KateBush.com.

SHOT: Mariah Carey - Paul Hunter, director

artist: Mariah Carey
song: "Don't Forget About Us"
label: Island Def Jam
director(s): Paul Hunter
production co: HSI

SHOT: Warren G - Kevin Hunter, director

artist: Warren G feat. B Real
song: "Get U Down"
label: Hawino
director(s): Kevin Hunter
production co: HSI

BOOKED: DPGC aka Dogg Pound Gangsta Crew - Anthony Mandler, director

artist: DPGC (Dogg Pound Gangsta Crew) feat. Snoop Dogg, Kurupt, Daz and
Nate Dogg
song: "Real Soon"
label: Doggystyle/KOCH Records
director(s): Anthony Mandler
production co: Box Fresh Films

NEWS: Music Video Directors Alliance Update

The Music Video Directors Alliance has collected over 275 signatures for its petition to the DGA for better representation. The group sprang into action to try to protect the rights of directors, especially in light of music videos' transformation from a promotional tool to a product that is bought and sold both individually and as part of CD, DualDisc and DVD packages.

Many of the petition's signees have left comments on the site that explain the various opinions from a director's point of view. A representative of the group also reached out to Video Static, in response to the commentary from last week, to elaborate on their aims:

You are correct, music videos are the only type of film not subject to the DGA agreements.  However, this is the VERY REASON FOR OUR PETITION.   We are the writer/directors of these works and our interests need to be represented.  The only entity that has the clout and infrastructure to do something like this is the DGA.  For instance, they already have an entire department whose sole responsibility it is to audit, collect, and distribute residuals for the TV/feature film director members.  Many of us are already members that are constantly working on DGA jobs.  However, the minute we step onto a set labeled a “music video,” all our creative rights, union protection, pension and welfare, health care, and residual participation disappear into thin air.  A music video is no longer for “promotional use only,” as many of our “work for hire” contracts state.  It is sellable, revenue generating content.

A song on itunes is 99 cents. A song with the video is 1.99.  That means that video is worth one dollar.  The director was the creator, writer, and director of that video.  As with every other format, be it TV, feature films, short films, Internet films, etc, where the work is being sold, the director needs to be compensated on the back end sale of their intellectual property.

 

SHOT: Alana Grace - Alex De Rakoff, director

"The Other Side" takes place in a what we presume to be a an ordinary room until the walls break down and it becomes apparent that the room is actually in the middle of downtown L.A.

artist: Alana Grace
song: "The Other Side"
label: Columbia
director(s): Alex De Rakoff
production co: The Artists Company
rep: Laure Scott

Pictured on-location: Director Alex De Rakoff, Alana Grace and Producer Billy Parks.

SHOT: Buckcherry - Randee St. Nicholas, director

L.A. rockers Buckcherry hit the comeback trail with this new video...

artist: Buckcherry
song: "Next 2 You"
label: 10th Street Ent.
director(s): Randee St. Nicholas
production co: North By North 6
rep: Laure Scott

NEW RELEASE: Mest "Take Me Away (Cried Out To Heaven)"

Mest "Take Me Away (Cried Out To Heaven)" Maverick/Warner Bros.
Brian Lazzaro, director
Tracey Landon, producer
Black Dog, production co
Samuel Bayer, DP
Jack Pyland editor
Description: There's an obvious Green Day influence going on here. Not only does the Chicago band traffic in a similar pop/punk style, but they also favor the black shirt/red tie look that has become the de facto Green Day uniform. It's also worth mentioning that this clip was shot by Samuel Bayer, who directed and DP'ed all of the videos off American Idiot. Performance is in a watery space where light bulbs dangle from the ceiling and beams of light shine through the walls. Footage of a mourning girl in a similar location is intercut.