Mouths 2 Feed Filmworks have begun production on Behind The Mic and On The Set, a 4x1-hour documentary series on some New York City’s legendary Air Personalities; DJ’s and radio personnel, for debut in winter/spring 2008.

 Behind The Mic And  On The Set  will revolve around  New York’s legendary air personalities,  Deejays and station mangers that left their imprint on urban radio from 1970 up to the present, with each of the four specials specifically focusing on  radio, The Pioneers of New York Urban Radio Part 1&2.  In  Retrospect: The Chief Rocker Frankie Crocker and  New York Urban  Radio ;The  Good, The Bad The Ugly. The series features new interviews in high-definition with nearly 100 personalities including:  Percy Sutton, Hal Jackson, Gary Byrd, Hank Spann, Paco, Carlos Dejesus, Bob Law, Kenny  Webb,  Pierre Sutton, Barry Mayo, Vaughn Harper, Lenny Greene,  Angie Martinez,  Ed Lova, Funkmaster Flex, Kool DJ Red Alert, Davhed Levy, Steve  Harvey,  Mr. Magic, Marley Marl, Fifty Cents, Starr & Bucwild, Wendy Williams, Jay Z,  Mary J Blige, Russell Simmons, Wycleff, Kid Capri, David Dinkins, Al Sharpton, Public  Enemy, KRS-1, Heavy D, Dougie  Fresh, Fantasia, Ruben Stoddard, Tyrese, Jamie Foxx, Charlie Rheingold, Ralph McDaniels and more. In addition, the series will reveal never-before-seen archived images and clips of these celebrities.

"These legends continue to entertain decades of new and old listeners" said Percy Sutton, Founder of Inner City Broadcasting. “Urban radio in New York has always been the trendsetter and emulated across the globe,  Mouths to Feed Filmworks is honored to have these legendary broadcasters   share their memories of their earliest work, their most successful projects and the people who helped them along the way."

This innovative yet sophisticated documentary offers an historical perspective of urban radio in New York City from 1970 – 2006 as seen through the eyes of the station owners, general managers, and program directors; such as Percy Sutton, Pierre Sutton, Hal Jackson, Barry Mayo, and Judy Ellis, who had the vision and ingenuity to change the scope of New York radio to one that catered to generations of listeners by finding the appropriate staff and radio personalities to bring the dream to fruition. The documentary will also focus on the on-air personalities and mix masters who have helped shape and create urban radio. It will begin with a look back at the early radio pioneers from the 1970’s like Vy Higginsen, Gary Byrd, Chuck Leonard, Paco, Roscoe, Carlos Dejesus, Jerry Bledsoe, Hank Spann, and Ken Webb, and a retrospective account of the late great Frankie Crocker, to today’s legends; Bugsy, Mr. Magic, Vaughn Harper, Wendy Williams, Angie Martinez, and Ed Lova, and Jeff Foxx to name a few - all of whom will discuss the road to becoming well known and successful broadcasters in New York, and their influence on listeners of all ages. 

The documentary will also focus on the importance of mixers/DJ. Mixmaster’s such as Jonathan Fearing, Ted Currier, Shep Pettibone, Kool DJ Red Alert, Chuck Chillout, Marley Marl, Funk Master Flex, Tony Humphries, and the Latin Rascals, all of whom were innovators in that they were able to bring to the airwaves music from the streets and clubs, long before anyone knew what impact this new format would have on the listening audience and urban radio as a whole.  The risk proved to be very lucrative – both to the stations and to the DJ’s themselves.  These ‘street’ DJ’s provided a unique style that catapulted them to the top of the urban radio scene and the airwaves, via their on air persona and eccentricities, their skillful scratching and mixing, their introduction of “street” records, underground, and club music – all of which allowed the stations to target and capture younger listeners, and a demand for their competitors to step up their game in order to remain favorable while staying competitive with arbitron ratings.

The documentary will offer the prospective and insight of prominent members of the African American community who will provide their views on the importance of New York urban radio, in relation to where it began, to where it is today.  They will discuss the way in which radio has provided a vehicle for information for the community, aspiring musicians, and political activists; and has continued to influence the community as we proceed through the 21^st century, and beyond. They will touch on the way in which radio has become controversial by promoting “shock jocks”, explicit content, and the issue of more music and less content. 

In addition, popular recording artists, record executives, sports figures and other members of the entertainment industry, will provide an up close and personal account of their experience with the legendary radio personalities who reigned supreme in their era.  The recording artists will also give their take on the trend-setting influence that New York radio, has had on their career. Record executives will also discuss the importance of New York radio in its’ ability to catapult the careers of new talent, increase record sales, and contribute to the overall success of major and independent record labels due to New York radio’s massive audience share.   

The documentary will showcase some of urban radios’ most influential and charismatic personalities, who will share their experience as a DJ, and how their ingenuity has stretched far beyond the on air role as a musical engineer. In many cases, the mentoring relationships have fostered lasting bonds that affected their lives outside of radio. The documentary will focus on and highlight their careers; and how, in some cases, their radio notoriety has enabled them to branch out into other areas of business – such as television, film, etc; increasing their popularity and broadening the stations’ listening base. The documentary will also look at the socio economic impact New York radio has had on urban communities; impacting how they spend their time, money, as well as the terminology they use on a day to day basis.