Jewish Heritage Month (May) Signals Launch of New TV Series - "Boycott" - Inspired by Real-Life Events of the 1902 Kosher Meat Boycott, Led by Jewish Female Immigrants
"Boycott" is a one-hour scripted, dramatic, historical-fiction, limited-series, written by Jeff Mustard, a multiple award-winning writer/producer/director. Inspired by the real-life events of the 1902 Kosher Meat Boycott protests when thousands of women "rioted and rallied" throughout the streets of the Lower East Side due to a planned increase in the cost of beef, Mustard leveraged the extraordinary highlights of the "rallies, protests, arrests and public outrage" (both pro and con) of this event, a mostly all-female led boycott, as the scaffolding upon which he created the series.
BOCA RATON, Fla., May 13, 2020 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Project Intro | Overview: T.V. Series | Musical Stage Play
The show features co-female-leads, is braided with engaging fictional storylines and character arcs, and is constructed in six one-hour episodes as a prestige television series ideal for network, cable, or streaming platforms.
Mustard discovered the little-known 1902 Kosher Meat Boycott story more than three years ago, and since that time, has worked on creating the tv series. In early 2019, Mustard had an epiphany. "I decided the series had all the elements for a stage play musical - a hip-hop-style show, Hamilton-Esque," says Mustard. With this in mind, Mustard took the majority of 2019 (9 months) to write lyrics, find the right cast - 4 females, two males, who could sing/rap, and produced six songs, under the title, Boycott: A NYC 1902 Hip Hop Musical. The show album he produced, comprises sixty-minutes plus of music. The musical show's "tag line" -- "Resistance Never Sounded so Good" is an homage to oppressed women who break the bonds of patriarchy. These are prominent, recurring themes throughout the tv series, and the musical stage play. These sentiments and others reflecting "aggravation, agitation, and frustration" are prominently featured in lyrics throughout the music tracks.
THE STORY | THE PREMISE
In NYC, 1902, two unremarkable women take on one of the nation's most powerful business monopolies - the Meat Trust - a/k/a The Cattle Barons, during the last breaths of the Gilded Era, with results no one could have imagined - changing the course of U.S. history.
"Boycott" Website: http://boycott1902.com/
Facebook Page: http://www.Facebook.com/boycott1902
THE COMPELLING TALE - MUSTARD WAS DRAWN TO THIS EVENT.
Mustard's tv show, and musical, tells the tale of this fascinating story set in this extraordinary world - New York, City, Lower East Side (Ward 10 - to be exact), more than 100 years ago. "The land of pickled herring, borscht, street knishes, tzimmes, cholent, and all the food from Eastern Europe that gives Jewish people their identity," says Mustard. "Little did Fanny and Sarah, (who Mustard made the co-leads of the show), the two women who, in a spontaneous moment triggered this event, know at the time," says Mustard, "that their 'agitation, aggravation, and frustration'" (a lyrical refrain used in one of the songs), against the Big Six Cattle Barons, would have the impact on the country that it did." Says Mustard, "America and American's, to this day, enjoy their fruits of their labor and their hard-won battles against the Cattle Barons."
WHY THIS STORY, WHY NOW?
"There has never been a better time to tell this story," says Mustard. "Remarkably, so much of what these women went through more than 100 years ago, is as relevant today as it was then." Issues that were prevalent then are still remarkably, sadly, just as relevant. Profound cultural topics related to immigrants, immigration, patriarchy, bigotry, racism, as well as feminism, feminist activities, the ["proper" as defined by both the [religious] Jewish and the secular communities] role of women, Jewish women in society, are timely, poignant and powerful themes in the show.
Celebrate this Story Now - Anniversary of the 1902 Kosher Meat Boycott
May 15 - June 5 - The Meat Boycott Anniversary & Three Weeks of the Meat Boycott Protests
Mustard is publicly launching the project now, in May, as a T.V. series (award-winning pilot written, and multiple other one hour episodes, written), as well as the Musical adaptation version, by design, coinciding with Jewish Heritage Month. Further, the anniversary of the actual Kosher Meat Boycott is May 15, a date that marks the 118th anniversary of the protests.
Until now, few know the story of this extraordinary three-week, female-led battle, that by all accounts was a critical inflection point in female social activism. This family-friendly, four-quadrant, period thriller, in Mustard's view, has the makings of a Bechdel Blockbuster. Compared to other female cultural icons and feature films, Mustard says, "Before Norma Rae, before Karen Silkwood, before Thelma and Louise, before Erin Brockovich, there was Fanny and Sarah."
A GLOBAL-AUDIENCE: A PRESTIGE, FAMILY-FRIENDLY, FOUR QUADRANT, PERIOD-THRILLER
"Boycott," has all the elements to appeal to a global-wide audience, a trans-media entertainment product, ideally suited for network, cable, or streaming platforms," says Mustard. "Real-life stories with powerful female protagonists are in great demand," says Mustard, "this, combined with the visually sumptuous, time, place and setting of the story in New York City's Lower Eastside at the beginning of the 20th century has potentially great appeal to producers and studios."
"Boycott" Website: http://boycott1902.com/
Facebook Page: http://www.Facebook.com/boycott1902
WHAT:
The "1902 Kosher Beef Boycott," is singularly one of the essential historic female events to occur in NYC Lower East Side. This extraordinary historical incident has inspired the creation of a network or streaming-quality television series - "Boycott." The pilot episode is written, which has received numerous Hollywood contest recognitions. And lyrics have been written, and six hip-hop style songs produced for a musical adaptation of the tv series as a broadway-style musical.
WHEN:
THE ACTUAL (ANNUAL HISTORICAL) DATES OF THE "BOYCOTT" EVENT ARE MAY 15TH - JUNE 5TH - THIS YEAR IS 118 YEARS FROM EVENT DATE.
B.G.: THE DISCOVERY | THE RESEARCH | THE WRITING
After Jeff Mustard learned of the 1902 Kosher Beef Boycott about four years ago, from a framed newspaper article on the wall of a restaurant, he set upon a journey to learn more. Says Mustard, "I spent a year researching this project, and about a year writing. I approached this originally as a feature film," says Mustard, a born and bred Brooklynite. More than 200 pages later, it became apparent:
A. Too much story.
B. Can't be a feature film - feature films are about 120 pages.
And so, "Boycott" became a Limited series tv show. "Not so terrible in our society's new Golden Era of "binge-worthy" Television." Mustard also has a limited series spinoff in mind. "In the sequel," says Mustard, "we follow the children, ten years later, who hopefully we love, are invested in, want to see more of, and are grown up, and now working in the burgeoning NYC garment industry." This story, says Mustard, is also based on powerful, authentic events that unfolded during this period.
"Boycott" Website: http://boycott1902.com/
Facebook Page: http://www.Facebook.com/boycott1902
ABOUT JEFF MUSTARD
Jeff Mustard is a prolific hyphenate, with an extensive credit roster as a writer, producer, director, including acting credits, for tv, film and theatre. An accomplished advertising, marketing and public relations professional, Mustard has been involved, in varying capacities, in the film, tv and production industries, not only as a writer/producer, but as publicist and marketer for high profile entertainment and business personalities.
Jeff Mustard's work has been published nationally in print, radio, television and the stage. He is the co-author/ghostwriter of a Wall Street Journal Best-Selling Book, A Message from Garcia: Yes, You Can Succeed, published by John Wiley. He was head writer of The Best of Wine and Food, a television series hosted by George Hamilton, syndicated nationally on the Food Network, and the writer/producer/ director of Deerfield Days, an award-winning documentary film.
The former President of the South Florida Screenwriters Guild, (not WGA-related), Mustard was the Creator/Executive Producer of the Make-A-Film Competition, a successful event for emerging filmmakers produced in conjunction with Independent Feature Project (IFP)/Miami and IFP/Los Angeles. Early in his career he performed as a stand-up comic, and appeared in television commercials, an HBO Comedy Special, Richard Jeni: Crazy from the Heat, and two made-for-cable movies, Miami Models, and International Tease.
Contracted by former "Miami Vice" co-star, Philip Michael Thomas, Mustard performed in two Edward Albee productions produced by Mr. Thomas at his North Miami Theater. Mustard was contracted by Alamo Rent-A-Car to write, produce and direct a stage play for the organization in Las Vegas.
Mustard's radio production company, Hysterical Comedy Services provided comedy materials — skits, sketches, fake commercials and song parodies to three of the nation's largest radio comedy syndicators– Premiere Radio Networks, Pro-Media and Olympia Radio Networks. His material was broadcast by hundreds of radio stations to millions of listeners across the country.
Editors Note/Media Contact: For Interviews, Graphics, Posters, Logos, Use of Music Audio Files and Video Clips for Podcasts and Broadcast - Online and Offline Use.
Contact: Jeff Mustard | 954-801-8263 | [email protected]
"Boycott" Website: http://boycott1902.com/
Facebook Page: http://www.Facebook.com/boycott1902
SOURCE Jeff Mustard
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