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Got an Idea for a TV Show? See Marie Pizano.



It’s time to think about being on the air, says Marie Pizano.

Pizano is the founder of the MVP3 network, which is part of the Footprint Network, a multi-channel entertainment network that delivers  programming to audiences globally via the Internet and downloadable apps.

“We’re going to offer real news content,” Pizano says. “Real people who will have a real chance at having their content distributed not only locally, but nationally, globally.”

And, she says, “As long as you have good content, we are going to allow you to have your food shows, music videos, indie movies, things like that. You own your show. All we’re doing is providing the platform for distribution.”

You can do all the work, or MVP3 can do all the work, Pizano says. “We have the capability and the team to film, edit, and put your whole show together.”

But, she says, “You own it and you and you can get all the sponsors you want and you jointly make money on your new shows.”

This doesn’t mean everything can be aired, Pizano says. “We’re going to look at the content. We’re not going to have X-rated crap or anything like that. We want things that are purpose driven, good shows that create good change. Mind thinking. Good stuff.”

Pizano currently is airing her TV show, Finding My Yes, on MVP3, as well as some of her documentaries, including Shannon Street: Echoes Under a Blood Red Moon. “We’re building this as we go. Right now we’re building content. That’s why I’m looking for content and people who want to have their on TV shows. Have their own content. And we just have to format it up, or help them produce.”

As far as a show being blocked, she says, “You can’t block your own network. We own our own network. We aren’t going to block you unless you do something stupid. This is your way to shine and we want good content. I wanted to create my own network to give people a chance to have their creativity have distribution.”

A Chicago native, Pizano, who moved to Memphis in 1999, seemingly has been a whirlwind of  energy since she arrived. She’s author of From Barefoot to Stilettos, It’s Not for Sissies, which was produced into an audio book recorded at Royal Studios under the direction of Grammy Award-winning Lawrence “Boo” Mitchell.

Marie Pizano

Pizano partnered with Marvel Comic Book illustrator, Ron Frenz, and DC Comics freelance writers to create Stiletto: The Powerhouse Baroness, a comic book/movie. The comic strip now is featured in La Prensa Latina magazine.

Pizano, who is CEO/founder of MVP3 Entertainment Group, created and produced several local TV shows, including The Making of an Empire, which aired locally on Local 24/CW30.

She created UROC music & publishing company to build a music publishing catalog. She’s managed and produced singer-songwriters. Under her music label, Pizano released several CDs for Memphis musicians, including Jeremiah Tucker.

Piano also is executive producer of  a documentary, MOMO: The Sam Giancana Story

Six months ago, Pizano partnered with Robin Adams, who is the co-founder with Emmy-award winning producer Frank Fernandez of Footprint TV, which now is owned by Ozzie Areu, president of Areu Bros. Studios. Areu is former president of Tyler Perry Studios.  “They liked what I was trying to do. The mission I was on. We were like-minded individuals who wanted to bring the right content out. And me being in Memphis, I’m sitting on a gold mine of talent all over here and nobody is doing anything. I said, ‘Hey, like my theory? You got sticks, I got a match, together we can make a fire.”

Robin Adams

Robin Adams

Program ideas are endless, Pizano says. A show can “teach you how to fix your car,’ build or buy a home, or grow a garden. “Good content that will help educate and inspire. Motivate others to do. Other than all this mainstream push for hate and everything else. We want to give you something else to think about and watch.”

There is a fee if they have to format and unload your show, Pizano says. “The fee is based on whether we have to produce the show for you. There are different levels of fees, but we’re very reasonable and we’re willing to work with people on a small budget. And I’m willing to teach them how to go out and get sponsors and are money on their TV shows.

“Give us your ideas, whatever, and if you already have content on YouTube or something visually you can see and you want to take it to the next level, we can go from there. Or if you have an idea, email us and we’ll review and discuss.”

The email address is info@mvp3media.com.

MVP3 stands for “Marie Valentina Pizano.” And, Pizano says, “The ‘three’ also is me and my two children. That’s my foundation that I live for everyday. And they inspired me to build this so they can have a better world.”

To go to MVP3 network, click here:

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

This Week At The Cinema: Salesman, Slaughter, And Anarchy

Tonight at Malco Ridgeway, a documentary classic.

Salesman

David and Albert Maysles are two of the most prolific and influential documentarians to ever pick up a camera. Just take a look at this filmography, that begins in 1955 and ends in 2015. Their first big hit was Salesman, a 1968 film where the brothers followed four Bible salesmen, including Bostonian Paul Brennan who emerges as the “star” of the show. This historic film, which legitimized the theatrical documentary feature form, will screen tonight at Malco Ridgeway Cinema Grill. Tickets are available on the Indie Memphis website.

Meanwhile, in nearby Germantown, the locally produced documentary Shannon Street: Echoes Under A Blood Red Moon screens at the Forest Hill Cinema. The film provides new perspectives on the spectacular 1983 siege in North Memphis that left eight dead, including one police officer, with a mix of contemporary interviews and archival footage. The screening begins at 7:00 PM.

Shannon Street: Echoes Under A Blood Red Moon Trailer from Marie Pizano on Vimeo.

This Week At The Cinema: Salesman, Slaughter, And Anarchy

And if that’s not enough to keep you busy tonight, The Room is back at Paradiso at 7 PM. All these choices are TEARING ME APART!

This Week At The Cinema: Salesman, Slaughter, And Anarchy (3)

On Wednesday, Indie Memphis brings the Slamdance Anarchy shorts program to its long running Microcinema series. Slamdance is the Sundance Film Festival’s weirder cousin, and no where is that more apparent than in this group of films, which self-describes as a “disruptive platform for subversive filmmakers and dangerous short films.” The program, always a highlight of the film year, will screen at Crosstown Arts at 7:00 PM on Wednesday. It’s pay what you can, so it’s a bargain at twice the price!

Slamdance Spotlight: THE ANARCHY PROGRAM: A Fraternity of Freaks from Slamdance on Vimeo.

This Week At The Cinema: Salesman, Slaughter, And Anarchy (2)

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Film/TV Film/TV/Etc. Blog

Shannon Street: Echoes Under A Blood Red Moon Documentary Explores A Memphis Tragedy

The New York Times headline from January 13, 1983 read OFFICER KILLED, MEMPHIS POLICE SLAY SEVEN. The news of a routine Memphis police investigation that spiraled out of control spread quickly through America. The incident presaged numerous stories of tragic encounters between law enforcement and civilians, from the1993 massacre of Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas to the current flurry of racially charged shootings of black men by police. Although the Shannon Street Massacre, as it would come to be called, has faded from the public’s memory, it has remained a subject of intense study by both law enforcement groups and independent scholars. For many Memphians, the incident has not faded from memory, says producer/director Marie Pizano. “It was kind of like 9/11, in that people remembered where they were when they heard it happened.”

One of the people who never forgot was James Howell, a retired Memphis police officer who wrote Echoes of Shannon Street. Pizano who moved to Memphis in 1999, was intrigued by the book’s copious details. The former actress had turned to the financial industry after a life-threatening motorcycle wreck. She later drifted into managing musical artists, and became interested in filmmaking while working to license her client’s songs for films. She worked as a producer on the Mob documentary Momo: The Sam Ginancna Story, and got the bug to strike out on her own. Her production company recently put together the narrative feature film Shattered, but Shannon Street is Pizano’s first foray into directing. “This was the first time I literally dove in and did it all myself,” she said. “The story intrigued me, not only because of the tragedy of the story, but because it’s what’s going on in our world today. You can’t change history, but you can learn from it…It intrigued me that something like this happened, and it’s still hurting people today. And no one talks about it. They just want to bury it.” ”

Pizano spent two years researching and filming the documentary, with the help of cinematographer and editor Keith Cadwallader. The movie includes interviews from police, community leaders, and five members of the family of Lindberg Sanders, the eccentric—or possibly mentally ill—religious leader in whose home Patrolman R.S. Hestor was held hostage. Sanders and six others in the home were shot when police rushed the home after a 30-hour siege. Hestor was found beaten to death.

Unsurprisingly, none of parties agree on what actually went down that day. Pizano says her film tells all sides of the story in an effort to get to the truth.  “I think it will give some answers to unanswered questions, and it will enlighten and surprise you about what all of the parties involved thought and felt. It will give you a perspective for a little bit of walking in someone else’s shoes, and why this happened.”

Shannon Street: Under A Blood Red Moon opens at Studio on the Square today, January 6.