Nickelodeon Rocks on With the Naked Brothers

Media Release 20th August 07

Nickelodeon Rocks on With the Naked Brothers
Real Brothers, Real Music, Not Really Naked.

It’s been described as a “Spinal Tap” for tweens and now the hit The Naked Brothers Band “mockumentary” comedy series, launches in New Zealand in a star-studded movie feature on Nickelodeon NZ, Sunday September 9th at 5.30pm (Sky Channel 41).

Inspired by real-life brothers and their preschool-born band, The Naked Brothers Band follows a world-famous kid rock group, chronicling their fame, friendship, temporary break-up and adolescent experiences. The cameras track the charismatic, rock stars - led by dreamy, sensitive singer-songwriter Nat, 12, and energetic, unabashedly adorable drummer Alex, 9 - on and off stage, focusing, too, on their celebrity lifestyle with all of its perks and problems.

The movie charts how it all began, with the break up of the brother’s first band the Silver Boulders, which, in true rock tradition, crumbles over artistic differences and girls. Nat’s ballad “Rosalina”is deemed too sissy by some and Nat feels Thomas’s “Boys Rule, Girls Drool…” will alienate their largest fan base. Tensions come to a head with a food fight in a restaurant, and the band splits. Luckily harmony is restored as the brothers pick themselves up to reform as the hugely popular The Naked Brothers Band, from which the series continues.

When the Naked Brothers Band launched in the U.S February this year it reached a total of 4.7 million viewers delivering Nickelodeon’s highest rated series in seven years with kids aged six to 11 years old. As for the musical element of the show, Nat Wolff's soulful and catchy original songs have been a hit with kids. The series offers a new single each show and the first single from the series “Crazy Car”received almost 25,000 downloads on iTunes in its first two weeks of release.

“The Naked Brothers Band is kid-genius at its best, and has become a tween phenomenon in the US”, says Lauren Nola Marketing Manager for Nickelodeon. “The concept of the show, offering a behind-the-scenes glimpse at being a kid rock star, as well as some really catchy tunes, we think will also be a real hit with kiwi kids.”

The Wolff brothers are the real-life off-spring of the movie’s director Polly Draper (who played Ellyn Warren in long running drama “thirtysomething”) and musician and series co-producer Mr.Wolff (The Arsenio Hall Show). In the “Naked” movie Mr.Wolff plays the boy’s nerdy accordion playing Father.

“The Naked Brothers Band was born purely from the imagination of my kids and as a mum, first and foremost, I knew I had to document this time in their lives.” says Polly Draper. “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.”

The launch movie features a cast of interesting characters and real life friends of the Wolff brothers, who become regulars on the Naked Brothers series. Jesse (Jesse Draper) is Nat and Alex’s dizzy babysitter and real life cousin. There’s Cooper the band’s suit wearing pint sized manager who wears big glasses. The Naked Brothers band also includes Thomas the cellist, wild man Qaasim who favours Jimi Hendrix afro wigs, keyboard player David and 13-year-old bass player and Nat’s muse, Rosalina. No one performs naked.

Draper directs a star-studded line-up for The Naked Brothers band movie premiere with the likes of Uma Thurman, Julianne Moore, Cyndi Lauper and Arsenio Hall making appearances. Viewers of a certain age will also recognise cameos from the cast of “thirtysomething”. As the series continues other stars make cameos, such as comedian George Lopez in the first episode.

To celebrate the launch of The Naked Brothers Band Nickelodeon in-conjunction with Upstart Magazine, is conducting a nationwide search to find New Zealand’s most talented rock band of members aged five to 15-years-old. The top band will win a session to professionally record their best song in a studio, have a music video produced by Nickelodeon and have that video played on Nick NZ. The Nick Rocks winners will be announced in September.

Tune in to The Naked Brothers Band movie feature premiere on Nickelodeon NZ, Sunday September 9th at 5.30pm, followed by the half hour weekly series each Sunday at 5.30pm (Sky Channel 41). Visit www.nicknz.co.nz for further information.

ENDS

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