MTV Documentary Films Sets Projects With Alexandra Pelosi, Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato And Alexandra Shiva

Dino-Ray Ramos

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Sheila Nevins, head of MTV Documentary Films, has set new projects from Alexandra Pelosi (Journey with George), Fenton Bailey & Randy Barbato (The Eyes of Tammy Faye) and Alexandra Shiva (How to Dance in Ohio). The new pics add to the unit’s growing slate of films that sheds light on key social, political and cultural topics directly affecting today’s youth.

The new projects, which will join MTV Documentary Films awards contenders St. Louis Superman and Gay Chorus Deep South, are currently underway. Pelosi, Barbato & Bailey and Shiva have collectively worked on 30 films with Nevins, the former longtime president of HBO Documentary Films who joined the new unit in May.

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Pelosi’s America on Selfies (wt) sees her traveling across the country gauging the way America is changing as we prep for the 2020 election. The docu is described as “A real-time pulse check on the state of democracy as the country moves closer to November, the film seeks to answer these questions: How does America really look these days and how do Americans feel about their country now?”

In Bailey and Barbato’s Going to Pot: The Highs and Lows of It, they explore the growing marijuana industry by delving into its misconceptions and promises of its explosion. The pair, who recently made Emmy history as producers RuPaul’s Drag Race, team with director Matt Yoka and “take the audience on a journey that explores the good, the bad and the evil effects of pot.”

Shiva’s yet-to-be-titled project will explore the epidemic of suicide among young people. Per the description of the project, the film will “offer life-saving information to reconsider that moment of despair, to understand the role of depression and impulsivity in the act, and to destigmatize mental health.” This marks the first film between Shiva and Nevins since collaborating on the Peabody-winning How to Dance in Ohio, about autistic teenagers preparing for their spring formal.

The newly announced projects adds to MTV Documentary Films’ expansion of the global youth brand across its network of channels, platforms, live events and third-party development through MTV Studios.

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