Rock 'N Roll Chaos and Hollywood Glam Collide as MTV Unleashes the VMAs in Los Angeles

Rock 'N Roll Chaos and Hollywood Glam Collide as MTV Unleashes the VMAs in Los Angeles

2008 VMAs Set to Air Live From Paramount Pictures on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 9PM (ET/PT)

NEW YORK, June 23 /PRNewswire/ -- Van Toffler, President, MTVN Music Group, today announced that the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards are headed to Hollywood to celebrate the rock 'n roll spirit of music in celebrity playground Los Angeles. What better way to do that than to take over a Hollywood movie lot and produce the most ambitious and creative music awards show while also paying tribute to the musical heritage that Los Angeles is known for? The star studded awards show will be staged over city streets, rooftops, and sound stages utilizing all that the legendary Paramount Pictures studios lot have to offer. Also, MTV will empower their audience to executive produce this year's show including giving them the opportunity to decide this year's nominees helping to create an awards show with the music they love. MTV's 25th annual Video Music Awards will air live and only one time in its original incarnation, on Sunday, September 7, 2008 at 9PM (Live ET/Tape Delayed PT). Host, performers, nominees, and presenters for the 2008 MTV Video Music Awards will be announced at a later date.

"With Paramount Pictures as the ideal setting, the glamour and musical heritage of L.A. are sure to be catalysts for creating explosive pop culture moments that the VMAs are known for," said Toffler. "By anointing our audience as un-official executive producers, this year's VMAs will live and breathe the music they love and we're looking forward to producing a complete music experience that will connect to them beyond television."

"Paramount is proud to serve for the first time, as the host of the VMAs," said Brad Grey, Chairman and CEO of Paramount Pictures. "Combining the rich history of the Paramount lot with MTV's cutting-edge show will make this one of the year's most exciting and memorable events."

"The City of Los Angeles is proud to host the MTV Video Music Awards," said City of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. "There is no better place to hold one of the music industry's most exciting awards shows than right here in Los Angeles, the entertainment capital of the world. We will roll out the red carpet for MTV and allow this awards show to not only recognizes the best in music, but to also celebrate the creative talent and diversity our great city has to offer."

MTV has tapped Jesse Ignjatovic once again to executive produce this year's "MTV Video Music Awards." Ignjatovic spent many years as Vice President of Music & Talent Development, creating, executive producing and developing shows like, MTV Ultimate Mash Ups featuring Jay-Z/Linkin Park, Life & Rhymes of ... , J Lo's Dancelife, Snoop Dogg's Doggy Fizzle, Meet The Barkers, and MTV Icon. In 2007, Ignjatovic launched Den of Thieves and has been able to continue his incredible relationship with MTV, Executive Producing the "2007 MTV Video Music Awards" and most recently, the new music series "FNMTV Premieres."

Jesse Ignjatovic is the Executive Producer, for the "2008 MTV Video Music Awards." Dave Sirulnick is Executive Producer. Chris Choun is Co-Executive Producer. Jane Mun is Producer. Amy Doyle and Joanna Bomberg are Music Talent Executives. Robin Reinhardt-Locke is Celebrity Talent Executive. Garrett English is Executive in Charge of Production.

About MTV

MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music, creativity and youth culture. For over 26 years, MTV has evolved, challenged the norm, and detonated boundaries -- giving each new generation a creative outlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform and screen. On-air, MTV has been the number one rated 24 hour ad-supported cable network P12-24 for 16 straight years. Online, MTV.com scored double-digit growth in 2007 and MTV launched ten dynamic online communities and six new virtual worlds. On the go, MTV Mobile is the #1 music brand in the wireless space -- delivering 90% more streams than in 2006. And MTV's successful sibling networks MTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s each deliver unprecedented customized content, super-serving music fans, college students and young American Latinos like no one else. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE:VIA) (NYSE: VIA.B) , one of the world's leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Wanna know more? Come on in ... www.mtvpress.com.

First Call Analyst:
FCMN Contact:

Source: MTV

CONTACT: MTV, Jennifer DeGuzman, +1-212-846-7226,
jennifer.deguzman@mtvstaff.com, or Melissa Barreto, +1-212-846-7175,
melissa.barreto@mtvstaff.com, or Emily Yeomans, +1-310-752-8074,
emily.yeomans@mtvstaff.com; or Paramount Pictures, Patti Rockenwagner,
+1-323-956-5011, patricia_rockenwagner@paramount.com; or Office of the Mayor
of Los Angeles, Darryl Ryan, +1-213-978-0741, Darryl.Ryan@lacity.org

Web site: http://www.mtv.com/
http://www.mtvpress.com/

---

Profile: International Entertainment