The Defiant Ones (documentary)

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The Defiant Ones
The Defiant Ones (documentary).jpg
Poster
Genre Documentary
Written by Allen Hughes
Lasse Järvi
Doug Pray
Directed by Allen Hughes
Music by Atticus Ross
Leopold Ross
Claudia Sarne
Country of originUnited States
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes4
Production
Producer(s) Ryan Gallagher
Broderick Johnson
Gene Kirkwood
Andrew A. Kosove
Laura Lancaster
Charles Parish
Brady Kephart
Sarah Anthony
Steven D. Williams
Fritzi Horstman
Allen Hughes
Doug Pray
Cinematography Shane Daly
Charles Parish
Vincent Wrenn
Editor(s)Lasse Järvi
Doug Pray
Running time4 hours (1 hour per episode)
Release
Original network HBO
Original releaseJuly 9 (2017-07-09) –
July 12, 2017 (2017-07-12)

The Defiant Ones is a four-part American television documentary miniseries, directed by Allen Hughes, that aired on HBO from July 9 to July 12, 2017. It focuses on the careers of and partnership between Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre, co-founders of Beats Electronics.

Documentary television is a genre of television programming that broadcasts documentaries.

A miniseries is a television program that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. The term "serial" is used in the United Kingdom and in other Commonwealth nations, though its meaning doesn't necessary equate to "miniseries" in its usage.

HBO American premium cable and satellite television network

Home Box Office (HBO) is an American premium cable and satellite television network that is owned by the namesake unit Home Box Office, Inc., a division of AT&T's WarnerMedia. The program which featured on the network consists primarily of theatrically released motion pictures and original television shows, along with made-for-cable movies, documentaries and occasional comedy and concert specials.

Contents

Synopsis

The four-part documentary examines the partnership between Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre and their leading roles in a chain of transformative events in contemporary culture through interviews with the men themselves and others who were involved. Some scenarios are broadly reenacted.

Cast

Interviews

Jimmy Iovine American music executive

James Iovine is an American record producer best known as the co-founder of Interscope Records. In 2006, Iovine and rapper-producer Dr. Dre founded Beats Electronics, which produces audio products and operated a now-defunct music streaming service. The company was purchased by Apple Inc. for $3 billion in May 2014.

Dr. Dre American rapper, record producer, entrepreneur and actor

Andre Romelle Young, known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, and entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and was previously co-owner of Death Row Records. He has produced albums for and overseen the careers of many rappers, including 2Pac, The D.O.C., Snoop Dogg, Eminem, Xzibit, Knoc-turn'al, 50 Cent, The Game, and Kendrick Lamar. He is credited as a key figure in the crafting and popularization of West Coast G-funk, a rap style characterized as synthesizer-based with slow, heavy beats. As of 2018, he is the third richest figure in hip hop, with a net worth of $770 million.

Trent Reznor American musician

Michael Trent Reznor is an American singer, songwriter, musician, record producer, and film score composer. He is the founder, primary musician, and principal songwriter of the industrial rock project Nine Inch Nails, which he founded in 1988 and of which he was the sole official member until adding long-time collaborator Atticus Ross as a permanent member in 2016. His first release under the Nine Inch Nails name, the 1989 album Pretty Hate Machine, was a commercial and critical success. He has since released eight Nine Inch Nails studio albums. He left Interscope Records in 2007 and was an independent recording artist until signing with Columbia Records in 2012.

Reenactments

Episodes

Part 1

Years before they sell their Beats headphone company to Apple Inc. for US $3 billion (the largest acquisition in Apple's history), Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine's music careers begin on opposite coasts with nothing but a little ambition, many frustrating set-backs, and a few good breaks — allowing each to show the world their talent for producing hits.

Beats Electronics LLC is a subsidiary of Apple Inc. that produces audio products. Headquartered in Culver City, California, the company was founded by music producer and rapper Dr. Dre and Interscope Records co-founder Jimmy Iovine.

Apple Inc. Technology company; developer of consumer electronics and multimedia platforms

Apple Inc. is an American multinational technology company headquartered in Cupertino, California, that designs, develops, and sells consumer electronics, computer software, and online services. It is considered one of the Big Four of technology along with Amazon, Google, and Facebook.

United States dollar Currency of the United States of America

The United States dollar is the official currency of the United States and its territories per the United States Constitution since 1792. In practice, the dollar is divided into 100 smaller cent (¢) units, but is occasionally divided into 1000 mills (₥) for accounting. The circulating paper money consists of Federal Reserve Notes that are denominated in United States dollars.

Part 2

NWA skyrockets to success with provocative recordings like "Fuck tha Police" but tragedies, ego and money conflicts eventually leave Dr. Dre on his own. Meanwhile, Jimmy Iovine finds his own mix of huge hits and personal battles while producing Tom Petty, Stevie Nicks, and U2.

N.W.A was an American hip hop group from Los Angeles, California. They were among the earliest and most significant popularizers and controversial figures of the gangsta rap subgenre, and are widely considered one of the greatest and most influential groups in the history of hip hop music.

"Fuck tha Police" is a protest song by American rap group N.W.A that appears on the album Straight Outta Compton as well as on the N.W.A's Greatest Hits compilation. It was ranked number 425 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The lyrics protest police brutality and racial profiling.

Tom Petty American musician

Thomas Earl Petty was an American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, record producer, and actor. He was the lead singer of Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, formed in 1976. He previously led the band Mudcrutch. He was also a co-founder of the late 1980s supergroup the Traveling Wilburys.

Part 3

Jimmy Iovine co-founds Interscope Records and signs edgy artists like Nine Inch Nails and Dr. Dre, whose 1992 album The Chronic helps ignite a national, political firestorm over gangster rap lyrics and free speech. Simultaneously, Dre, Snoop Dogg, and Tupac Shakur get in a violent feud with East Coast rivals.

Interscope Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group through its Interscope Geffen A&M imprint. It was originally founded in late 1990 by Jimmy Iovine and Ted Field as a $20 million joint venture with Warner Music Group's Atlantic Records. At the time, it differed from most record companies by giving decision-making authority to its A&R staff and allowing artists and producers complete creative control. It had its first hit records less than a year after it was founded, and achieved profitability in 1993. Iovine served as chairman and CEO until May 2014, when he was succeeded by John Janick.

Nine Inch Nails American industrial rock band

Nine Inch Nails, commonly abbreviated as NIN, is an American industrial rock band from Cleveland, Ohio, founded in 1988. The band consists of producer and multi-instrumentalist Trent Reznor, as well as English musician Atticus Ross. Over the course of their three-decade existence, the band has signed with several major labels, the most current being Capitol Records, under the name The Null Corporation.

<i>The Chronic</i> 1992 studio album by Dr. Dre

The Chronic is the debut studio album by American hip hop recording artist Dr. Dre. It was released on December 15, 1992, by his own record label Death Row Records and distributed by Interscope Records and Priority Records. Recording sessions for the album took place in June 1992 at Death Row Studios in Los Angeles and at Bernie Grundman Mastering in Hollywood. The album is named after a slang term for high-grade cannabis, and its cover is a homage to Zig-Zag rolling papers. It was Dr. Dre's first solo album after he had departed from hip hop group N.W.A and its label Ruthless Records over a financial dispute. On The Chronic, he included both subtle and direct insults at Ruthless and its owner, former N.W.A member Eazy-E. Although a solo album, it features many appearances by American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, who used the album as a launch pad for his own solo career.

Part 4

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine strike gold with Eminem and others, but Napster and digital piracy threaten to destroy the music business. Desperate for alternatives and facing hard personal times, Jimmy and Dre create Beats Electronics which leads to a historic 2014 megadeal with Apple Inc., forever sealing their legacies.

Release

The documentary aired on HBO on four consecutive nights from July 9 to July 12, 2017, and was also made available in its entirety for streaming on Blu-ray. The DVD/Blu-ray release was eventually pressed by Universal Pictures Home Entertainment. [1] It was given a TV-MA rating, meaning that it may be unsuitable for children under the age of 17. [2]

On February 9, 2018, Netflix announced it had acquired the exclusive distribution rights to the series in all territories outside of the United States and Canada. [3] The streaming service premiered the series in their acquired territories on March 23, 2018, listing it under their "Netflix Original Series" banner.

Soundtrack

The soundtrack to the documentary was released on Interscope Records, under license from Universal Music Enterprises.

Editing

Critics have praised the limited series for its groundbreaking picture editing by Doug Pray and Lasse Järvi. Aside from its “fast pace and entertaining design,” [4] the series has been noted especially for its editorial use of reaction shots, where interviewees appear to be silently engaged, as dialogue plays underneath, a technique they named “The Empathy Cut.” [5] [6]

Reception

The documentary received generally positive reviews. Jon Caramanica of The New York Times called it "glossy, rapidly-paced, ambitious and often fun" as well as "impressively lush and well-resourced" in his positive review. [7] Lorraine Ali of the Los Angeles Times wrote that "the decades of struggle and successes leading up to" the deal with Apple "make this four-part series stand out in the crowded field of music docs" in her positive review. [2] Jem Aswad of Variety.com wrote that the documentary "tells a compelling story and tells it effectively and well, but its bloated length is a bit hard to justify." [8]

Awards

The Defiant Ones won the 2017 Grammy Award for Best Music Film and the IDA Award for Best Limited Series. The series also garnered five Emmy Award nominations (Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series, Picture Editing for a Nonfiction Program, Sound Editing for a Nonfiction Program, Sound Mixing for a Nonfiction Program, Writing for a Nonfiction Program) and an ACE Eddie nomination for Best Edited Documentary. Director Allen Hughes won the NAACP Award for Outstanding Direction in a Documentary. Editors Doug Pray and Lasse Järvi won an HPA Award for Outstanding Editing (Television over 30 minutes).

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References

  1. ↑ "The Defiant Ones". www.uphe.com. 16 September 2017.
  2. 1 2 Ali, Lorraine. "HBO's 'The Defiant Ones' a fascinating look at music's odd couple". latimes.com. Retrieved 10 March 2018.
  3. ↑ "THE DEFIANT ONES". Netflix Media Center.
  4. ↑ Travers, Ben (6 July 2017). "'The Defiant Ones' Review: HBO's Addictive Dr. Dre Documentary is a Tribute to Producers as Much as Music". indieWire. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  5. ↑ Aswad, Jem (7 July 2017). "TV Review: HBO's Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine Documentary 'The Defiant Ones'". Variety. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  6. ↑ Dawson, Ron (21 August 2017). "HBO's The Defiant Ones and the Trend of Editor As Writer". Frame.io. Retrieved 24 October 2018.
  7. ↑ Caramanica, Jon (7 July 2017). "Review: In 'The Defiant Ones,' a Revealing Portrait of Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine" . Retrieved 10 March 2018– via NYTimes.com.
  8. ↑ Aswad, Jem (7 July 2017). "TV Review: HBO's Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine Documentary 'The Defiant Ones'" . Retrieved 10 March 2018.
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