VBS.tv
| Company type | Digital television platform |
|---|---|
| Industry | Entertainment, Media |
| Founded | March 2007 |
| Founder | Suroosh Alvi (co-founder) |
| Fate | Merged into VICE.com |
| Headquarters | New York City , United States |
Area served | International |
Key people | Spike Jonze (creative director), Santiago Stelley (content director) |
| Products | Original short-form documentaries, digital video content |
| Parent | Vice Media |
| Website | vice |
VBS.tv was a digital television platform owned by Vice Media and subsequently merged into VICE.com. It specialized in producing original short-form documentaries via VICE Films, focusing on subjects such as humanitarian concerns, music, travel, and current events. The network’s creative direction was led by Spike Jonze.
Origins
Launched in March 2007, VBS emerged from a collaboration between Viacom’s MTV Networks and Logo Group. MTV provided the initial funding for the venture, while Vice supplied the programming content, maintaining distribution rights for VBS materials across its international platforms. Co-founder Suroosh Alvi highlighted Vice’s dedication to immersive journalism grounded in factual evidence, setting it apart from conventional media outlets.
Distribution
VBS programming was available through its website and broadcast on channels like MTV Latin America and MTV2, where it appeared as a weekly segment. Its distinctive reporting approach was also incorporated into CNN’s "CNN presents" series, broadening its audience reach. Currently, much of VBS’s video archive is accessible on VICE.com.
Programming
The network’s productions spanned topics including popular culture, travel, extreme sports, and music. It also developed content addressing specialized interests and current affairs, featuring interviews with prominent personalities and documentaries exploring environmental degradation. Drug-related issues were examined in films covering scopolamine use in Colombia, cocaine trafficking submarines, and Amazonian hallucinogenic frogs. Additional reports included short documentaries on crises such as Darfur, Hurricane Katrina, Liberia, North Korea, and Japan’s Aokigahara Forest suicides. The feature-length documentary Heavy Metal in Baghdad, focusing on the band Acrassicauda, was among its notable works. Santiago Stelley held the position of content director.
Filmography
| Title | Format | Producer | Channel | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vice Guide to Travel | Documentary series | VBS.tv | VBS.tv, MTV2 | 2006 |
| Colombian Devil's Breath | Documentary film | VBS.tv | VBS.tv | 2007 |
| Balls Deep: Sewers of Bogota | Documentary film | VBS.tv | VBS.tv | 2007 |
| Asses of the Caribbean | Documentary film | VBS.tv | VBS.tv | 2007 |
| True Norwegian Black Metal | Documentary series | VBS.tv | VBS.tv | 2007 |
| Heavy Metal in Baghdad | Rockumentary | VBS.tv | VBS.tv, festivals | 2007 |
| Alarma! | Documentary feature | VBS.tv | VBS.tv, festivals | 2008 |
| The Alli Show | Docu-series | VBS.tv | MTV2 | 2009 |
| VBS Meets Watermelon Woman | Documentary film | VBS.tv | VBS.tv | 2009 |
| White Lightnin' | Dramatic feature | VICE Films | Festivals | 2009 |
| Aokigahara Suicide Forest | Documentary film | VBS.tv | VBS.tv | 2009 |
| Hamilton's Pharmacopeia: Sapo Diaries | Documentary film | VBS.tv | VBS.tv | 2009 |
| The Vice Guide to Everything | TV series | VBS.tv | MTV2 | 2010 |
| Interview with a Cannibal | Documentary film | VBS.tv | VBS.tv | 2010 |
| Rule Britannia | Documentary series | VBS.tv | VBS.tv | 2010 |
| The Ride | Documentary feature | VICE Films | Festivals | 2010 |
| Heimo's Arctic Refuge | Documentary film | VBS.tv | VBS.tv | 2010 |
| The Fourth Dimension | Three short films | VICE Films | Festivals | 2012 |
| Vice | Documentary television | HBO | HBO | 2013 |
| Lil Bub & Friendz | Documentary feature | VICE Films | Festivals | 2013 |
| Reincarnated | Documentary feature | VICE Films | Festivals | 2013 |