BEIJING, Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Youku Inc.
(NYSE: YOKU), China's leading
Internet television company, formally launched its new "Youku
Presents" initiative to promote young filmmakers with the premiere
of "Operation Thanksgiving," a series
of short web movies by five promising young directors sponsored by
Youku Presents.
Youku Presents offers budding directors guidance and support,
including the sponsorship, resources, and promotion they need to
bring their films from vision to reality. This new initiative also
provides these young directors the opportunity to reach an audience
of over 300 million viewers through Youku's platform. Youku
Presents builds on the successes of Youku Original, which has
attracted ambitious young directors to the platform. Youku
currently receives about 80,000 user generated uploads per day.
"Over the past three years," said Youku Senior Vice President
Frank Ming Wei, "Youku has had the
privilege of working with talented young directors to bring their
work to the public -- from 'Hip-Hop Office Quartet' to last year's
'Old Boys.' We are delighted to preserve that tradition with Youku
Presents, and we look forward to fostering new talent for years to
come as we tap the creative potential of our users and the
commercial potential of our platform."
"Operation Thanksgiving" is the
first major Youku Presents project. The five directors, some web
awards winners from this year's Beijing College Student Film
Festival who received sponsorship from Youku's Young Directors
Support Plan, will produce five short web movies related to the
theme of Thanksgiving and aimed at
encouraging young people to thank the people who have helped them
in their lives.
Timed to coincide with the Thanksgiving holiday, "Operation Thanksgiving" is a spiritual successor to the "11
Degrees New Media Film Project," which ran from August to
November 2010 (the "11 Degrees").
Produced by Youku Original and Chevy
Cruze, the "11 Degrees" campaign generated nationwide
discussion regarding its depiction of Chinese youth striving to
make their way in the world. "11 Degrees" proved wildly popular,
leading all Youku films by total video views (103 million), total
comments (131,900), upvotes (1.1 million thumbs-up), and social
media retweets (more than 26 million).
Taking part in "Operation Thanksgiving" are directors Angelina Zhu, with "Sticky Fingers";
Yang Miao, with "Dad and Dead"; Lan
Haitao, with "Travel with Love"; November Studio with "One Night in Beijing"; and Shen Qinyuan, with "Warnings
from the Corners." The series will culminate in "Father," a hotly
anticipated new film from the Chopsticks Brothers, the team whose
"Old Boys" was the runaway hit of "11 Degrees". "Father" was
produced separately from the rest of the "Operation Thanksgiving" films, with support from
Chevy Cruze, the original sponsor in
"11 Degrees".
The Young Directors Support Plan, Youku Presents, and Youku
Original are only three of the ways in which Youku works to support
creative talents. The Company also sponsors a number of online and
offline support programs and community building efforts, from
online discussion groups for young filmmakers, regular online
presentations of new works, to partnerships with major Chinese film
festivals and offline film screenings. The scale and reach of
Youku's platform have also drawn some filmmakers and sponsors to
leverage it in viral campaigns.
Youku pursues a hybrid content strategy, which focuses on
offering a combination of licensed professional content, in-house
production from Youku Original, and user-generated content.
About Youku
Youku Inc. is China's leading
Internet television company. Our Internet television platform
enables users to search, view and share high-quality video content
quickly and easily across multiple devices. Youku, which stands for
"what's best and what's cool" in Chinese, is the most recognized
online video brand in China.
Youku's American depositary shares, each representing 18 of our
Class A ordinary shares, are traded on NYSE under the symbol
"YOKU".
For more information, please contact:
Media Relations:
Jean Shao
Director, International Communications
Youku Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5885-1881 x7128
Email: shaodan@youku.com
Investor Relations:
Ryan Cheung
Corporate Finance Director
Youku Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5885-1881 x6090
Email: ryan.cheung@youku.com
SOURCE Youku.com Inc.