Vice content to show on ABC’s iView video player

.TV ANNOUNCES LICENSING ARRANGEMENT WITH ABC iVIEW

AUGUST 2010

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

VBS.TV, the online television network owned by VICE, is proud to announce a licensing arrangement with ABC iView for several locally and internationally produced shows.

From Monday 30th August, the 5 part series The Vice Guide Film, feature length documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad and Australian produced Heavy Metal Gangs of Wadeye will begin airing on ABC iView.

“Our iView audience tends to skew younger than the traditional ABC TV audience, and they particularly love documentaries and programs such as Doctor Who, The IT Crowd and John Safran’s Race Relations, so we think The Vice Guide to Film is a great fit for iView,” says ABC’s Internet Broadcast Program Manager Penny Wright.

“The Vice Guide to Film was created specifically for showcasing on the web, so it’s perfect as part of our move towards having content suited to iView’s younger, more tech‐savvy audience.” says Penny.

“This is an amazing opportunity to get our content in front of a wider audience, and the selection of shows that the ABC has picked up really captures our unique voice and approach to documentary making,” says VICE Australia director Michael Slonim.

For a preview of The Vice Guide to Film checkout a preview on YouTube > https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_fpeKqrDI5g

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VBS.TV

Launched in 2007 and overseen by creative director Spike Jonze, founders Shane Smith and Suroosh Alvi, and executive producer Eddy Moretti, VBS has become an industry leader in creating and distributing high-quality original content and providing online news. The channel now boasts over 40 established shows covering everything from current events to sports to investigative reporting to music.

VBS.TV operates more than 30 international bureaus and licenses over 20 shows for broadcast on MTV, Sky Network, IFC and other networks across North America, South America and Europe, as well as Fuel TV in Australia. With a viewership of over 4 million viewers per month and more than 2,500 contributors and 450 employees worldwide, VBS.TV is one of the fastest growing media outlets in the world.

VICE was launched in 1994 as a small print zine in Montreal and has since grown into a global media juggernaut, featuring Vice Magazine, VBS.TV, VICE Records and VICE Films.

For a synopsis on each show, please see below:

THE VICE GUIDE TO FILM

In this original series, Shane Smith and Eddy Moretti explore film in a way and in places never seen before. Each of the five episodes comes from wildly different countries, with the film scene giving insight into the wider social and cultural backdrop of each country. Episodes include: the only ever look at Kim Jong-il’s film studios in North Korea, the Narco Cinema funded by Mexico’s drug lords, the parallel cinema movement in Russia, filmmakers working against the odds in Palestine and a visit to Tehran to explore burgeoning Iranian Film.

HEAVY METAL GANGS OF WADEYE

A little while back, Vice Magazine Australia heard rumors of a small Aboriginal township with a big heavy metal gang problem. According to reports, Wadeye (population 2,232) was overrun by violent, spear-wielding gangs inspired by some of the greatest heavy metal bands of all time. Metal fans from way back, Vice dispatched its video unit VBS to set forth and make contact. The ensuing hunting trips, church visits and heavy metal discos slay all expectations.

HEAVY METAL IN BAGHDAD

Heavy Metal in Baghdad is a feature film documentary that follows the Iraqi heavy metal band Acrassicauda from the fall of Saddam Hussein in 2003 to the present day. Playing heavy metal in a Muslim country has always been a difficult (if not impossible) proposition but after Saddam’s regime was toppled, there was a brief moment for the band in which real freedom seemed possible. That hope was quickly dashed as their country fell into a bloody insurgency. From 2003-2006, Iraq disintegrated around them while Acrassicauda struggled to stay together and stay alive, always refusing to let their heavy metal dreams die. Their story echoes the unspoken hopes of an entire generation of young Iraqis.

ABC’s iView service

ABC iView is Australia’s leading catchup tv service, offering the best local and international comedy, drama, documentary, arts and culture and kids programs from ABC1, ABC2 and ABC3.

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