Shawn Fanning, the man who took on the majors big time when he first founded Napster, will be the subject of a new MTV biopic. The cable network has hired filmmaker Alex Winter (best known as Bill in the ‘Excellent Adventure’, but subsequently director of ‘Freaked’ and ‘Fever’) to write and direct the piece for MTV Original Movies.
Fanning famously created the Napster software program in his college dorm room, and in doing so starting an online revolution, a major internet company and one of the biggest legal suits in the history of the music industry. Fanning will collaborate with Winter on the screenplay, and the film’s soundtrack will be released on Fanning’s as yet unnamed new record label.
Talking about the project, MTV VP of original movies Maggie Malina told reporters: "We really want to take a look at what it was like to live and breathe that roller coaster ride with Napster while indicating what happened in his past and future - not just for him, but for everyone who loves music. We really want to capture the adventuresome and pioneering spirit he brought to Napster in a way that is not the ordinary biopic. That's why Alex is great for it -- because he brings the creative artistic vision of how to tell this story."