美国国家公共电台 NPR MTV Launches New Documentary Division Led By Producer Sheila Nevins

 

AILSA CHANG, HOST:

From its hit show "Jersey¹ Shore" to the Video Music Awards, MTV is all about youth culture in its many forms. And now, it's branching out. The network has announced a new documentary division. Sheila Nevins will lead it. She is 80 years old, and she is an institution in the world of documentary film. NPR's Elizabeth Blair joins us now with all the details. Hey, Elizabeth.

ELIZABETH BLAIR, BYLINE²: Hi, Ailsa.

CHANG: So - OK, for people who may not recognize her name, tell us more about who Sheila Nevins is.

BLAIR: Sheila Nevins was the president of HBO Documentary Films, and she started there in 1979...

CHANG: Wow.

BLAIR: ...So before MTV was even born. She grew up in New York City. She went to Barnard and the Yale School of Drama in the early '60s. And as an executive producer, she's got a very broad palette. She's overseen³ documentaries about artists and entertainers, but also serious topics like addiction⁴ and global terrorism. Some of her credits include "Citizenfour," the Edward Snowden documentary; "Paradise Lost" about the West Memphis Three; and more recently, she produced the true crime drama "The Jinx" about real estate heir Robert Durst.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "THE JINX")

UNIDENTIFIED REPORTER: The family of Kathleen Durst, from the beginning, had said they believed Robert Durst was responsible.

BLAIR: Now, that documentary, which seemed fairly traditional, had an ending that really threw people for a loop. And that unexpected edge is something Nevins is really known for - finding subjects that appeal, but also experimenting with the form.

CHANG: Well, I mean, MTV - you know, it already has reality shows. It has news. So what's the thinking behind adding a whole other documentary division? What's the goal here?

BLAIR: Well, first and foremost, they need to attract and keep young viewers on whatever platform they're on. And while they've made some award-winning documentaries over the years, they've been in a ratings slump⁵ until about a year ago. They're looking for something fresh, and docs are very popular right now. MTV has also long projected its brand as being very civic-minded. Think Rock the Vote.

CHANG: Oh, yeah.

BLAIR: And it produced the documentary series "16 And Pregnant," which looked at different issues facing a teenager who gets pregnant, from adoption⁶ to graduating high school. And so now it's looking to Sheila Nevins to bring her gravitas and formidable skill to helping⁷ a new generation of filmmakers explore different platforms and stories.

CHANG: So I'm just going to say it out loud. Nevins just turned 80. MTV obviously caters⁸ to teens, young adults, young people. What is the thinking behind hiring someone like Nevins?

BLAIR: She's 80, and she has got a lot of experience. I spoke⁹ with Chris...

CHANG: (Laughter) That's fair.

BLAIR: Yeah. I spoke with Chris McCarthy, president of MTV, about this question. And the fact that Nevins is 80 years old does not seem to concern him in the slightest. In fact, to hear him tell it, her experience is her superpower. McCarthy, who hired her, said he's admired Nevins ever since he was a kid watching HBO's "Taxicab Confessions," which is a gritty, unscripted series of conversations between cab drivers and their customers. He said he loves that Nevins is committed to stories about the underdog, and he wants his team to learn the craft of documentary filmmaking from her firsthand. He wants her to help elevate the storytelling to a new level on MTV.

CHANG: All right. Well, that's NPR arts correspondent Elizabeth Blair. Thanks.

BLAIR: Thank you.

1 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 overseen   

v.监督，监视( oversee的过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was overseen stealing the letters. 他被人撞见在偷信件。 来自辞典例句
• It will be overseen by ThomasLi, director of IBM China Research Laboratory. 该实验室由IBM中国研究院院长李实恭(ThomasLi)引导。 来自互联网

4 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

5 slump   

n.暴跌，意气消沉，（土地）下沉；vi.猛然掉落，坍塌，大幅度下跌

参考例句：

• She is in a slump in her career.她处在事业的低谷。
• Economists are forecasting a slump.经济学家们预言将发生经济衰退。

6 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

7 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

8 caters   

提供饮食及服务( cater的第三人称单数 )； 满足需要，适合

参考例句：

• That shop caters exclusively to the weaker sex. 那家商店专供妇女需要的商品。
• The boutique caters for a rather select clientele. 这家精品店为特定的顾客群服务。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。