Edtv is a 1999 English-language Comedy Drama movie written by Lowell Ganz and Babaloo Mandel. The movie is directed by Ron Howard and produced by Ron Howard and Brian Grazer under the banner of Imagine Entertainment. In a Hail Mary move for corporate preservation, the San Francisco based Northwest Broadcasting Corporation launches True TV, a new network which will broadcast the life of an Average Joe or Jane, 24/7 live and thus unedited, the subject chosen signed initially for one month. The project is conceived and led by one of the producers, Cynthia, but her boss, NWBC president Whitaker, will take the credit if it succeeds, and let her sink as the captain of the ship if it fails. The network is rebranded EdTV when Cynthia believes she's found her subject, Ed Pekurny, a native Texas hayd, who fits the two main criteria that she is looking for in the person: he is easy on the eyes, and he has what ms to be a potential trainwreck of a life in that he he is thirty-one years old, spends most of his time hanging out at the bar, and has no ambition beyond his longtime dead end job as a clerk in a video store. Ed did not actively campaign for the job - his blowhard of a brother Ray was the one who played to the cameras when Cynthia's team was looking for subjects - but ultimately decided to do it after discussing it with those close to him, namely his immediately family of his mother, stepfather, and two siblings. After a slow start and despite some people associated with Ed hamming it up to the cameras in wanting their fifteen minutes of fame or , Ed becomes enough of a toast to the TV watching public for the network to become a success. However, having the cameras rolling during certain times may not be the most advantageous for those directly involved, especially as someone from Ed's distant past reenters his life, and an issue with regard to Ray's relationship with his current girlfriend, a UPS delivery person named Shari who if Ed was being honest would admit that he is attracted to himself. Other issues that eventually do emerge is Ed and those around him using the cameras as a convenient excuse for things that happen, and as Whitaker, against Cynthia's wants as the moves being totally self-serving, begins to manipulate Ed to make EdTV salacious TV viewing. Written by Huggo. Edtv stars Matthew Mcconaughey in the lead role along with an ensemble cast including Jenna Elfman, Woody Harrelson, Ellen Degeneres, Sally Kirkland, Martin Landau and Rob Reiner. The music was composed by Randy Edelman along with Bon Jovi. Cinematography was done by John Schwartzman and editing by Daniel P. Hanley and Mike Hill. The movie has a running time of 123 minutes. It was released on 20th May 1999. Edtv was made on a budget of $80 million and at the box office it grossed only $35 million. Distribution rights for the motion picture were acquired by Universal Pictures.