A feature film about the birth of MTV is officially moving forward. Neon has picked up the rights to adapt I Want My MTV: The Uncensored Story of the Music Video Revolution by Craig Marks and Rob Tannenbaum. Director Geremy Jasper will lead the project, which—like the book—dives into MTV’s launch and chaotic early years, told through the people who believed music and television were destined to collide. Set in the early 1980s, the movie arrives at a moment when the media landscape is shifting again; MTV recently shuttered its final music?only channels. The film aims to capture the network’s transformation from a scrappy cable experiment into a cultural powerhouse that reshaped music, youth identity, and TV itself. MTV debuted on August 1, 1981, kicking things off with “Video Killed the Radio Star” by the Buggles—also the last video played when MTV Music signed off on December 31, 2025, ending decades of nonstop music broadcasting. Casting is still underway. Jasper, who worked at MTV in the ’90s and early 2000s (and even met his wife there), says he was immediately drawn to the book’s wild, funny, and rebellious look at ’80s ambition and excess. He added that Neon shares the same bold creative spirit that once made MTV a cultural juggernaut.