"I Want My MTV": The Birth of a Music Channel Legend

A new film, titled “I Want My MTV,” is set in the United States and tells the story of the nation’s first music television channel. Neon has acquired the film rights to Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum’s I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution to recreate the founding and first ten years of MTV through the eyes of its founders – those who foresaw the future of entertainment by combining music and television.

Covering the period from 1980 to 1985, the film is the current story of invention and survival in a rapidly changing media landscape, especially against the backdrop of the recent closure of channels specializing exclusively in music. The film itself is in many ways a reference to Dire Straits' cult song "I Want My MTV", which became a symbol of the channel's success.

The film’s director, Jeremy Jasper, is known for his successful projects including Patty Cakes (Sundance 2017) and his work on the music videos Florence + The Machine and Selena Gomez. His bold and innovative designs, such as the immersive Target Kaleidoscopic Fashion Spectacular, have attracted attention and recognition, including TED and Cannes Awards. The script was written by Jasper and Jim Hecht (Time to Win). Jasper, who grew up on MTV himself, describes Marx and Tannenbaum's book as "a frantic, hilarious and inspiring story of ambition, excess and the rock 'n' roll riot of the '80s." The final frame of the film, as well as the beginning of MTV in the United States in 1981, will be the music video "Video Killed the Radio Star" by The Buggles.