Green Day's AMERICAN IDIOT Writers Honored with Character Approved Award

USA Network announced today the ten honorees for the second annual Character Approved Awards, including Green Day and playwright Nora Ephrron.  The Character Approved Awards are a multimedia campaign honoring individuals who are changing the face of American culture. Inspired by USA's Characters Welcome brand, the initiative is dedicated to celebrating the true trailblazers across a variety of disciplines such as art, philanthropy, new media and film.

"Character Approved is a celebration of the real Characters making an impact on our culture today," said Chris McCumber, USA executive vice president, marketing, digital and brand strategy. "Our honorees are all at the top of their game, and we're thrilled to shine a light on their unique accomplishments."

Character Approved honorees are innovators in their field who are influencing our opinions, our style and our view of the world. They surprise us and inspire us with fresh ideas. They are celebrated by their peers and have an authentic style. USA recognizes these ten individuals for their cultural impact, legacy and persona with the hallmark of recognition, the USA Network "seal of approval":

• Green Day, Grammy Award-winning rock band (Music)
• Kathryn Bigelow, Academy Award-nominated film director, "The Hurt Locker" (Film/TV)
• Nora Ephron, best-selling novelist, Academy Award-nominated screenwriter and playwright           (Writing) 
• Narciso Rodriguez, multiple award-winning American fashion designer (Fashion) 
• Angela Brooks, groundbreaking sustainable architect, principal of Pugh + Scarpa Architects    (Architecture) 
• Kehinde Wiley, revolutionary urban arts painter (Art) 
• Yves Behar, innovative industrial designer of the Jawbone Bluetooth headset and the $100     XO laptop (Design) 
• Dan Barber, renowned restaurateur, Blue Hill and Stone Barns Center for Food & Agriculture  (Food) 
• Jessica Jackley, social entrepreneur and microfinancier, co-founder Kiva.org (Giving) 
• Alex Rigopulos and Eran Egozy, game creators of Guitar Hero and Rock Band (New  Media/Technology) 

The honorees will be featured in vignettes introduced by Mark Feuerstein (ROYAL PAINS) and directed by Henry Alex Rubin (Murderball), which will debut Thursday, February 25 on USA Network. The vignettes provide an inside look at the lives, the works and influences of these characters, and will be aired over the course of six weeks across the network's programming and online at characterapproved.usanetwork.com.

To recognize the Character Approved honorees and their accomplishments, USA in partnership with Vanity Fair will host an invitation-only VIP cocktail reception in New York City on Thursday, February 25. The event will be held at the iconic IAC Building, which was designed by Frank Gehry. USA's Mark Feuerstein will officially unveil the 2010 honorees and their on-air vignettes. Performing live will be the cast of Green Day's "American Idiot." This will be their first live appearance in New York City ahead of the show's Broadway debut on Wednesday, March 24. Alexandra Richards will be holding court as the DJ for the evening and several from USA's roster of stars will be in attendance, as well as many of the 2010 Character Approved honorees.

In the program's inaugural year of 2009, USA honored seven visionary characters including Lupe Fiasco, Shepard Fairey, David Chang, Patrick Robinson, Charles Best, Jimmy Wales and Jennifer Siegal.

For over a decade and a half, the members of Green Day-Billie Joe Armstrong (vocals, guitar), Mike Dirnt (bass guitar, vocals), and Tré Cool (drums, percussion)-have been at the forefront of rock music. The band achieved breakout success in 1994, with the debut of their first major-label album, Dookie, which won a Grammy Award for Best Alternative Music Performance and sold over 15 million copies worldwide. American Idiot, their 2004 rock opera, reignited the band's popularity, earned them two more Grammys (for Best Rock Album and Record of the Year) and firmly cemented Green Day as one of music's biggest acts. The band's eighth studio album, 21st Century Breakdown, was released in 2009 and just garnered them another Grammy for Best Rock Album. Green Day: Rock Band-a special edition of the Rock Band video game-will be released later this year, providing a chance for a new generation of fans to rock out to the music of Green Day.

The musical adaptation of AMERICAN IDIOT debuts on Broadway this spring after a record-breaking run in California.

The cast of AMERICAN IDIOT stars Tony Award winner John Gallagher Jr. (Spring Awakening) alongside Tony Award Nominee Stark Sands (Journey's End), Michael Esper (A Man For All Seasons), Rebecca Naomi Jones (Passing Strange), Christina Sajous (The Wild Party), Mary Faber (Avenue Q) and Tony Vincent (Jesus Christ Superstar). Also featured in the cast are Declan Bennett, Andrew Call, Gerard Canonico, Miguel Cervantes, Joshua Henry, Van Hughes, Brian CharLes Johnson , Joshua Kobak, Lorin Latarro, Omar Lopez-Cepero , Leslie McDonel, Chase Peacock , Theo Stockman, Ben Thompson , Alysha Umphress , Aspen Vincent and Libby Winters.

Norah Ephron is the co-author of the current Off-Broadway play, LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE.

To purchase tickets for AMERICAN IDIOT or LOVE, LOSS, AND WHAT I WORE, visit telecharge.com.