Comedic Documentary MORTIFIED NATION Opens in Theaters and On Demand

Prepare to share the shame. Brainstorm Media, Rival Pictures, Hungry Monster Productions, are pleased to announce the November release of Mortified Nation, a comedic documentary about adults who share their most embarrassing childhood diaries, letters, poems and art... in front of total strangers. The film's special Los Angeles Premiere on November 16th at Lincoln Middle School will raise awareness for the non-profit, Story Pirates.

Los Angeles residents play a significant role in the film, which documents the rise of Mortified-a Grassroots stage show that began as a tiny theater experiment and grew into a global project hailed "a cultural phenomenon" by Newsweek and praised by This American Life, The Today Show, and Entertainment Weekly. The film combines performance footage of these popular public confessions-which was founded in Los Angeles in 2002-with an examination of the movement behind it.

Capturing performances in numerous cities (Portland, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco), highlights include:

The dorky diaries of a teenage girl pining for her first kiss in the 1990s.

The heavy metal lyrics of a sex-starved nerd in 1980s who dreamed of becoming ?bigger than Motley Crue.

The diaries of a closeted, black teenager raised in an ultra-religious Texas home.

?With humor and heart, Mortified Nation chronicles how the simple act of exposing one's private past can inspire an entire nation to "share the shame," and the surprising impact that can have. ?In the era of It Gets Better videos and anti-bullying advocacy, Mortified Nation delivers a comedic but powerful take on adolescent survival. "While humor is the driving force, the film actually tackles issues facing teenagers of any generation-identity, sexuality, family, religion, even abuse," said Mortified Nation director Mike Mayer. "I saw the movie as a chance to use laughter to humanize the teenage experience in a way that a 1980s After School Special never could. Real life is dramatic, funny and strange all at once." ?In the history of teen angst cinema, no film has ever captured the adolescent experience quite like this. "Everyone can relate to something in this film," said Mayer. "If you remember being fifteen and freaked out, this film was made for you." ?

RELEASE INFO & PREMIERE
In theaters in select major markets starting November 2013, including a very special LA premiere at Lincoln Middle School on November 16, featuring a Q&A with filmmakers. The event will also spread awareness for Story Pirates, a non-profit celebrating The Words and ideas of young people. Available to buy and rent via on demand services (iTunes, Amazon, GooglePlay, VUDU, Playstation, Xbox, and Vimeo On Demand) November 5th, 2013. Visit http://www.MortifiedNation.com for showtimes, trailer and more.

Rival Pictures
Rival Pictures is the producing trio of Edward Parks, Frank Mele and Rachel Ward. Dedicated to creating fiercely original content of all kinds, Rival produces films, web content, and commercials. Their first three features premiered and sold at the Sundance Film Festival, including the documentary, Beats, Rhymes and Life: The Travels of a Tribe Called Quest which was awarded Best Documentary by the Producers Guild of America in?2012. Recent projects include LUV, Space Station 76, as well as documentaries Caucus and Mortified Nation.

Brainstorm Media
Brainstorm Media develops, produces and distributes films for all media. Founded in 1995, it
was the first independent aggregator for VOD and TV. Now, a full service distributor, it
continues to push the threshold by integrating digital, TV, and theatrical strategies.
Brainstorm is partnered with DIRECTV on the documentary film series Something To Talk
About and the company releases movies under the Fangoria label in all media.

Hungry Monster Productions
Hungry Monster Productions is the production arm of director-producer Mike Mayer, who has helmed a feature for Magnolia Pictures (Graduation), projects for The History Channel, Flaunt Magazine, and others.

Mortified Media
For over a decade, Mortified Media has produced nostalgic stage shows, books, web content, and an interview series, The Mortified Sessions, which aired on Sundance Channel for two seasons and is currently available on Netflix.

Story Pirates
Story Pirates is an education and media organization founded in 2003 to celebrate The Words and ideas of young people. By pairing world-class teachers with first-rate actors and comedians, we offer a variety of tools to make learning more engaging and effective. Dually based in New York and Los Angeles, we bring our musical sketch comedy show featuring stories written by students and performed by professional artists to over 250 schools and theaters around the country.