HONG KONG, March 22, 2012 /PRNewswire-Asia/ -- Youku Inc.
(NYSE: YOKU), China's leading
Internet television company ("Youku"), today launched the Youku
Original "Beautiful 2012" campaign with the debut of four "micro
movies" from award-winning Asian directors at the Hong Kong International Film Festival (the
"HKIFF").
Youku Original and the HKIFF invited leading Asian directors Gu
Changwei, Tsai Ming-liang,
Ann Hui, and Kim Tae-yong to direct "micro movies" ("wei
dianying" in Mandarin) for "Beautiful 2012," a year-long Youku
Original campaign highlighting selected original content. The
internationally recognized, award-winning directors represent
Mainland China, Taiwan,
Hong Kong and South Korea, respectively. The micro movies
will premiere at the HKIFF before being released exclusively on
Youku's online platform over the course of the year.
This is one of the HKIFF's first times to showcase micro movies,
a new, web-native storytelling format that has emerged alongside
the rise of online new media platforms like Youku's. The size and
scope of Youku's platform, its 300 million monthly viewers, and the
overnight success of online-only movies like "Old Boys" Youku
promoted in 2010 have drawn interest from many established
directors who used to produce traditional movies.
The press conference for the four micro movies also featured a
trailer for "Spring Flowers,"
another film in Youku's Beautiful 2012 series. "Spring Flowers" was directed by Lv Huizhou, who
also directed the short film "Love at the Crossroads" in the 2011
Youku series "One Step Away." To date, "Love at the Crossroads" has
been viewed 17 million times.
"Online platforms offer filmmakers a range of flexibility in
terms of accessibility, story length and format that traditional
media have difficulty providing," said Roger Garcia, Executive Director of Hong Kong International Film Festival Society.
"The 'micro movie' is an exciting new option for writers and
directors, and we share Youku's vision of developing it into a new
format for our millennia."
"With these new 'micro movies,' Youku continues to explore
creative options to match content with formats native to the web,"
said Frank Ming Wei, Youku's Senior
Vice President. "We see our cooperation with HKIFF as an
affirmation of the importance of online video to the Internet
generation, and of the growing influence of online video platforms
for traditional media, viewer expectations, and brand
advertising."
In addition to drawing the attention from an increasing number
of established film and television talents, Youku Original movies
and television serial dramas have also attracted sponsorship from
major brands, including General Motors ("11 Degrees New Media Film
Project," 2010), Philips ("One Step Away," 2011), Hyundai ("Hip Hop
Office Quartet," 2008-present), and Sony ("Miss Puff," 2011-present). The film
"Spring Flowers" is sponsored by
Canon.
"Long Tau," from Gu Changwei, depicts the intertwined stories of
a writer, an artist, a young girl, and a trash-picker. "The
Walker," by Tsai Ming-liang,
considers the history, present, and future of Hong Kong through a walk down the city's
streets. Ann Hui's "My Way" tells the story of a middle-aged,
conventionally successful businessman who knows, deep inside, that
he is in fact a woman. "You Are More Than Beautiful," from
Kim Tae-Yong, follows a man who
hires a woman to pretend to be his partner while he visits his
ailing father.
Youku Original is a key part of Youku's content strategy, which
features the promotion of 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:
Jean Shao
Director, International Communications
Youku Inc.
Tel: +86-10-5885-1881 x7128
Email: shaodan@youku.com
SOURCE Youku Inc.