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MTV’S “RETURN TO DUTY” TAKES AN EMOTIONAL JOURNEY WITH “THE REAL WORLD: BROOKLYN’S” RYAN CONKLIN AS HE RETURNS TO THE BATTLEFIELDS OF IRAQ

One-Hour Documentary Premieres On MTV Veteran’s Day, Wednesday, November 11 at 9PM ET/PT

MTV, MTV2 and mtvU to Celebrate Millennial Veterans’ Service, Connect Them to Resources, and Empower Young Civilians to Support their Peers

MTV will honor young veterans and active duty servicemen and women this Veteran’s Day with the premiere of “Return to Duty” — Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 9 pm ET/PT on MTV, and at 11 pm ET/PT on MTV2 – along with a suite of special programming and links to Veterans resources across all of its platforms. Viewers of “The Real World: Brooklyn” vividly remember the emotional moment when cast member and Army vet Ryan Conklin was unexpectedly recalled for a second tour of duty in Iraq. And now, Ryan himself takes us through the year since that day. In “Return to Duty”, we go to Ryan’s hometown of Gettysburg as he prepares to go back to Iraq, and as he once again has to say good-bye to his family. Once in Iraq and back on parole through the streets of Baghdad, Ryan shows us a view of the war that’s different than anything we’ve seen before.

Recently, MTV research revealed that 74 percent of young people ages 18-29 personally know someone who has fought in Iraq or Afghanistan. With this in mind, MTV, MTV2 and mtvU are featuring a number of public service announcements, short-form features and resources as part of an ongoing commitment to support our newest generation of veterans. This content will focus on the difficult transition these men and women face as they come home to civilian life and how their civilian counterparts can help make this adjustment easier.

Veteran’s Day Programming Includes:

Return To Duty (9 pm ET/PT on MTV; 11 pm ET/PT on MTV2) – Return to Duty is Ryan’s gritty and very personal document of his return as a patrol gunner to the sweltering streets of Baghdad. Equipped with his own video camera, and the addition of a camera crew embedded with his unit, it’s a soldier’s view of America’s changing military presence in the long war in Iraq. His very close-knit family back home must cope with the fear and absence of their son fighting overseas once again; while his new found relationship with Real World: Brooklyn roommate Baya is put to a critical test.

Today’s Student Vets: From War to College (Airing on MTV, MTV2, and mtvU) – Rich, a young veteran, attends a University in Manhattan after his military tour abroad and talks candidly about the difficulties he’s faced since returning to campus – from emotional to academic. This short-form feature will follow Rich and two other young veterans as they make the challenging transition back into college life, delving into the emotional struggles they face, and how civilian students can play a role in helping them adjust back into civilian life. This feature, sponsored by the McCormick Foundation, will be released as part of mtvU and The Jed Foundation’s Peabody Award-winning “Half of Us” campaign, which works to fight the stigma around mental health and encourage help-seeking among college students across the country. Veterans and students can access the campaign’s Veterans resource center at www.halfofus.com/veterans.

Public Service Announcements (Airing on MTV, MTV2 and mtvU)– In partnership with the Bob Woodruff Foundation, mtvU’s Half of Us campaign is releasing three new PSAs addressing the emotional struggles college veterans face when returning to campus and how civilian students can play a role in easing that transition. To view the public service announcements, please head to http://www.halfofus.com/video/.

Brave.MTV.com – All of MTV’s Veterans-related programming will drive viewers to this comprehensive action center, where Vets can access resources, civilians can get involved and support America’s young veterans, and anyone can check out MTV’s acclaimed veterans programming, including “Kanye West: Homecoming” and “A Night for Vets: An MTV Concert for the BRAVE.” The site connects Veterans to online support systems from Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America (IAVA) the country’s first and largest nonpartisan, non-profit for veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The website also offers a broad range of resources, including information on how to use the new GI Bill, and for those enrolled in college a pathway to join the Student Veterans of America. Civilians are offered opportunities to sign MTV’s B.R.A.V.E. petition — to ensure our returning veterans get the support they need – and to get involved in Vets-related service projects and more.

IAVA’s Third Annual Heroes Gala- Additionally, the network will be deeply involved with IAVA’s Third Annual Heroes Gala. Here, MTV networks will be honored with the 2009 IAVA Civilian Service Award for stewarding programming showing the true face of combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and highlighting the opportunities and challenges facing new veterans.

MTV.com – For exclusive video blogs and photos of Ryan and his family, including never before seen video from Iraq, check out www.returntoduty.mtv.com. The site also allows viewers to watch the full season of The Real World: Brooklyn and view photos of the cast.

“Return To Duty” was created for MTV by Bunim-Murray Productions. Jon Murray and Jim Johnston serve as Executive Producers of “Return To Duty.” Jacquelyn French is the MTV executive overseeing the project.
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ABOUT MTV:
MTV is the dynamic, vibrant experiment at the intersection of music, creativity and youth culture. For over 27 years, MTV has evolved, challenged the norm, and detonated boundaries — giving each new generation a creative outlet and voice that entertains, informs and unites on every platform and screen. On-air, MTV is the number one rated full-day ad-supported cable network for P12-24. Online, MTV.com averaged 21.7 million monthly unique visitors during the first quarter of 2009 — up +7% from the 4Q/2008. Total video streams for the first quarter of 2009 increased by 13% from 4Q/2008 and by 21% over the same time period last year. And MTV’s successful sibling networks MTV2, mtvU and MTV Tr3s each deliver unprecedented customized content, super-serving music fans, college students and young American Latinos like no one else. MTV is part of MTV Networks, a unit of Viacom (NYSE: VIA, VIA.B), one of the world’s leading creators of programming and content across all media platforms. Wanna know more? Come on in… www.mtvpress.com.

ABOUT BUNIM-MURRAY PRODUCTIONS:
Bunim-Murray Productions is the leading independent producer of innovative entertainment content. The company is widely credited with creating the reality television genre with its hit series The Real World (now in production on its 23rd season and renewed for an additional 3 seasons on MTV). BMP continued to innovate with the first reality game show, Road Rules, in 1995, the first reality sitcom, The Simple Life, in 2003, and the first reality soap opera, Starting Over, in 2003. Bunim-Murray’s current programming includes The Bad Girls Club (Oxygen), Keeping up with the Kardashians and Kourtney and Khloe Take Miami (currently airing on E! Entertainment), The Real World/Road Rules Challenge (renewed for an additional 4 seasons on MTV), the 6th season of Project Runway and the Models of the Runway (currently airing on Lifetime) and the upcoming Styl’d (on MTV). Launched in 2006 to better reach the Digital Generation, Bunim-Murray’s M Theory Entertainment is a spin-off entity focusing on new media initiatives. In 2007 Bunim-Murray launched BMP Films, a film division, which premiered its first documentary, Autism: The Musical, at the 2007 Tribeca Film Festival, and its first scripted film Pedro, at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival, which made its television debut on April 1 on MTV. Autism: The Musical premiered to rave reviews on HBO on March 25, 2008 and won 2 Primetime EMMY awards. The company’s second documentary, Shadow Billionaire, premiered at the 2009 Tribeca Film Festival. In 2008 Bunim-Murray Productions formed M Music, a music management division, with its first band, A Cursive Memory, signing with Vagrant Records. Bunim-Murray Productions is based in Van Nuys, CA. It was founded in 1987 by Jonathan Murray and the late Mary-Ellis Bunim.