Nickelodeon Green-lights The Naked Brothers Band and Cameras Roll on New Rock 'n Roll 'Mockumentary' Comedy Series Created by Polly Draper and Starring Real-Life Sons Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff

    SANTA MONICA, Calif., July 31 /PRNewswire/ -- Nickelodeon has green-lit
 The Naked Brothers Band, cuing the start of production in New York City on
 13 episodes of the rock 'n roll "mockumentary" comedy series slated to
 premiere in January '07 with a star-studded 90-minute TV movie followed by
 weekly half- hour telecasts. Creator/executive producer/writer and
 first-time director Polly Draper (thirtysomething) doubles as off-camera
 mom to real-life brothers Nat Wolff and Alex Wolff, who play superstar band
 leaders and write and perform all of the show's original music. Celebrated
 jazz musician Michael Wolff - real-life father to the Wolff siblings and
 Draper's husband -- keeps it all in the family but plays against type as
 the screen tweens' musically inept dad and serves as co-executive producer
 and music producer for the series. Albie Hecht (The Rugrats Movie, The
 SpongeBob SquarePants Movie, Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate
 Events) serves as executive producer on the series in association with
 Nickelodeon Television.
     "Nickelodeon is incredibly excited to be working with Polly and her
 family on this uniquely different comedy series and are very proud to be
 able to showcase the talents and original music of the Wolff brothers,"
 said Nickelodeon's Marjorie Cohn, Executive Vice President, Development and
 Original Programming. "The Naked Brothers Band series is a show that will
 make you laugh, but is intimate and genuine in its approach to dealing with
 everyday kid issues through the larger-than-life story of kid rock
 stardom."
     Draper, who makes her directorial debut with The Naked Brothers Band
 affirms, "The Naked Brothers Band was born purely from the imagination of
 my kids and as a mom, first and foremost, I knew I had to document this
 time in their lives. I knew immediately I wanted Nickelodeon to be the home
 for The Naked Brothers Band because they're bold enough to try something as
 authentic, real-kid as this is, and this experience has been a dream come
 true for my whole family!"
     Inspired by the Wolff siblings' real-life, preschool-born band, The
 Naked Brothers Band follows a world-famous rock group, chronicling their
 fame, friendship, temporary break-up and adolescence. The cameras track the
 charismatic, rock stars - led by dreamy, sensitive singer-song writer Nat,
 11, and energetic, unabashedly adorable drummer Alex, 8 -- on and off
 stage, focusing, too, on their celebrity lifestyle with all of its perks
 and problems.
     Throughout the series Nat, Alex and several of their original childhood
 band mates will share the screen with celebrity guest appearances including
 VJ Matt Pinfield and George Lopez. The television movie that introduces the
 series also features cameo appearances by Uma Thurman, Julianne Moore, Ann
 Curry, Arsenio Hall, Cyndi Lauper, Tony Shalhoub and the cast of the
 television series thirtysomething (Polly Draper, Mel Harris, Melanie
 Mayron, Peter Horton, Patricia Wettig, Timothy Busfield and Ken Olin).
     As for the musical element of the show, series' Executive Producer
 Albie Hecht says, "Nat Wolff's soulful and catchy original songs will be a
 hit with kids and adults alike," and adds, "The simple, yet kid-poignant
 music and videos might even inspire other real kids to go after their own
 dreams, making up their own songs or shooting their own homemade-style
 music videos."
     Polly Draper's memorable portrayal of wry, sensitive Ellyn Warren in
 the acclaimed thirtysomething (1987-91) earned her an Emmy nomination for
 Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series (1988). As
 writer-producer- star of The Tic Code (1999), about a young boy with
 Tourette's syndrome, she received numerous accolades and won the Berlin
 Film festival. Her acting credits include numerous TV appearances and
 starring roles in such feature films as The Pickup Artist, Making Mr. Right
 and Gold Diggers: The Secret of Bear Mountain and on Broadway in Four dogs
 and a Bone, Brooklyn Boy and Closer.
     Albie Hecht is president/CEO of Worldwide Biggies Inc., which targets
 the family entertainment, animation and teen markets and is comprised of
 four divisions: television, film, Biggies Broadband and a nonprofit sector,
 Shine Global. Prior to launching Biggies, he created and served as
 president of MTV networks' Spike TV, the first network for men. And
 pre-Spike, Hecht was president of film and television entertainment for
 Nickelodeon. His executive producer credits include such blockbuster family
 features as The Rugrats Movies (1-3), The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie,
 Lemony Snicket's a Series of Unfortunate Events, The Adventures of Jimmy
 Neutron, Boy Genius, The Wild Thornberrys Movie, Clockstoppers and Snow. In
 television, he developed SpongeBob SquarePants, The Fairly Odd Parents,
 Blue's Clues and the long- running live-action hit All That. He also
 created and executive produced The Kids Choice Awards. Hecht supervised the
 creation of Nickelodeon's first television animation studio in Los Angeles
 and Nickelodeon's first digital animation studio in New York.
     Nickelodeon, now in its 27th year, is the number-one entertainment
 brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids
 first in everything it does. The company includes television programming
 and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer
 products, online, recreation, books, magazines and feature films.
 Nickelodeon's U.S. television network is seen in more than 90 million
 households and has been the number- one-rated basic cable network for
 eleven consecutive years. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters
 and logos are trademarks of Viacom Inc. (NYSE:   VIA and VIA.B).
 
 

SOURCE Nickelodeon