It has been 20 years since the L.A. Riots, the four days of unrest, looting and rage that paralyzed Los Angeles and sent racial shockwaves throughout the country.

After decades of racial tension in South Central Los Angeles, VH1′s Emmy Award-winning “VH1 Rock Docs” franchise explores the connection between the violence manifested on the streets during the 1992 riots and the rage expressed in Hip Hop by NWA, Dr. Dre, Ice T, and Ice Cube among others with VH1′s “UPRISING: Hip Hop and the L.A. Riots” premiering Tuesday, May 1 at 9PM ET/PT on VH1.

Executive produced and narrated by Hip Hop legend Snoop Dogg and directed by Mark Ford , “UPRISING: Hip Hop and The L.A. Riots” tells the story of the most destructive riot in American history and is scored by some of the most iconic and controversial hip hop tracks of all time, such as NWA’s “F Tha Police” and Body Count’s “Cop Killer.”

With definitive first-hand accounts and exclusive rare footage that was locked away and hasn’t been seen until now, the documentary gives an inside look at the four fiery days that left 53 people dead and over 12,000 arrested, ”UPRISING” is told through the diverse perspective of the rappers, musicians, police officers and victims who lived through the landmark L.A. Riots in April, 1992.

Viewers will also witness never-before-heard stories from well known figures and Hip Hop artists who were affected by or actual participants in the riots, including: Rodney King, Arsenio Hall, Ice T, Professor Todd Boyd (USC), Connie Rice (Civil Rights attorney), John Singleton, Too Short, KRS-One, Nas and Henry Watson (one of the “LA Four” convicted of beating Reginald Denny) and many more.

After making its successful debut and receiving rave reviews at the SXSW Film Festival this past March “UPRISING: Hip Hop and the L.A. Riots,” puts a searing spotlight on race relations, revisits Hip Hop’s warning of what was to come and documents the turbulent days of the riot with first hand accounts from residents that were caught in the cross hairs.

VH1′s Emmy Award-winning Rock Docs are feature-length documentaries that tell unique stories of artists and music from a wide range of genres, styles and musical perspectives. ”UPRISING: Hip Hop and the LA Riots” is executive produced by Mark Ford  and Kevin Lopez for Creature Films and executive produced by Brad Abramson, Stephen Mintz, Shelly Tatro and Jeff Olde for VH1.

About Creature Films: Creature Films (www.creaturefilms.net) is a full service television and film production company and one of the leading producers of music driven entertainment. The company is owned and run by Mark Ford and Kevin Lopez. Together, they’ve produced over a hundred hours of television, with credits that include MTV’s Laguna Beach and Taking the Stage, VH1′s Behind the Musicand Bravo’s Kandi Factory.

VH1 connects viewers to the music, artists and pop culture that matter to them most with TV series, specials, live events, exclusive online content and public affairs initiatives. VH1 is available in 99 million households in the U.S. VH1 also has an array of digital channels and services including VH1Classic, VH1 Soul, VH1 Mobile, and extensive video on VH1.com. Connect with VH1 at VH1.com.

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Twilight star Taylor Lautner is set to explode on the big screen in a film fans say will be the film to really make him a real Hollywood star. He will be playing the part of a teenager named Nathan Price. Nathan always had the feeling that there was something not quite right with his life. He felt as though he was living someone else’s life.

When he stumbles upon an image of himself as a child on a missing person website, all of his darkest fears seem to come true. He realizes that his whole life is just one big lie. His parents are not really his parents at all and there seems to lie underneath the surface a much bigger, more dangerous and mysterious lie than he could ever have imagined.

As Nathan begins to put together the pieces of his life in trying to find his true identity he is pursued by a group of trained killers. Nathan is then forced to run for his life with the only person he can trust his neighbor Karen played by Lily Collins. To add romance to the film, Lautner’s real life girlfriend plays Lily.

Image Courtesy of  abductionthefilm.com

Together, they head off for an adventure of their lives and discover the mysterious death of Nathan’s real parents. Nathan and Karen must run for their lives with not a second to lose or they face the fear of being captured by an army of Assassins and federal operatives. Nathan must realize the only way to survive is to discover the truth of his biological father and take matters into his own hands.

The movie Abduction is directed by John Singleton, who is responsible for films such as Boyz in the Hood, Poetic Justice and Higher Learning. Abduction stars Taylor Lautner, Lily Collins and Sigourney Weaver. Lautner who is one of the most successful young stars in Hollywood over the last few years due to his work on the Twilight series looks set to make it big in this high paced action adventure.

It was made with a budget of about $40 million, as estimated by Variety magazine. Lionsgate studios won a bidding war for the script in 2010 for $1 million. Gotham group and Vertigo entertainment developed the script based on an idea by Jeremy Bell. Photography on the film began on July 12, 2010 in Pittsburgh, Penn.

Casting for extras was held at Carnegie Mellon University, which drew more than 900 people, many of whom were fans of the Twilight series. A majority of the film’s scenes were shot at Mount Lebanon. The film is also set to include some of the most intense fight scenes that are guaranteed to thrill audiences.

Lautner revealed recently that he performed nearly all of his own stunts in the movie. Lautner said he made the insurance companies covering the movie very nervous since he insisted on performing his own stunts. Although he got a few bruises, there was nothing that bad. Abduction is set to open in theatres on September 23 2011

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