Press Release |
Press Release |
Press Release |
SUNNYVALE, Calif. & LOS ANGELES, Jan 17, 2007 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Yahoo! Inc. (Nasdaq:YHOO), a leading global Internet company, today announced it has teamed up with FYI - Film Your Issue as the exclusive online sponsor of the "Issue Film" competition (www.filmyourissue.com), an unprecedented initiative to engage young adults in public dialogue about pressing issues of importance, locally or internationally. Beginning today, young people ages 16 to 25 in America and worldwide are invited to create 30- to 60-second short online videos that focus on contemporary issues that matter most to them. These videos empower young adults to engage in pressing social issues and allow them to add their voice to the public dialogue through the increasingly popular medium of online video. The videos will be hosted by Jumpcut, www.jumpcut.com, an online video editing and remixing site recently acquired by Yahoo!.
"A generation of young, talented filmmakers is on the rise thanks to the explosion of online video," said Jason Zajac, vice president and general manager of social media for Yahoo! Search. "Video has the power to convey messages like no other medium. Through our sponsorship with FYI, Yahoo! and Jumpcut will empower these young adults to unleash their creative and civic passion on a wide range of social issues."
As the exclusive online partner of this initiative, Yahoo! will host the video entries, provide a voting platform, promote the film competition across the Yahoo! network, and provide online video editing and publishing tools through its recently-acquired Jumpcut video platform. With Jumpcut's free online editing tools, contestants can easily create and upload videos of their own original footage or remix their video or others from public video clips and photos available on Jumpcut from the community. Additionally, Yahoo! Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Terry Semel will be a judge on the distinguished panel of judges compiled by Film Your Issue. Other judges include Walter Cronkite, Brian Williams, John Cusack, Wolf Blitzer, Peter Jackson and many other media luminaries.
"FYI - Film Your Issue has taken this young generation's medium of short film and user-generated content and is channeling it as a formidable platform for young Americans to add their voice to the important public dialogue on pressing social issues, in both the U.S. and globally," said HeathCliff Rothman, president, Film Your Issue. "The FYI - Film Your Issue partnership with Yahoo! provides entrants both the platform and the tools to engage, create and participate in the exploding online community of digital video, the world's most powerful medium."
FYI - Film Your Issue 2007 competition will launch in Park City, Utah during film festival season. FYI - Film Your Issue is also presenting as Special Guests representatives from its global organizational partners, the United Nations DPI, The Humane Society and Natural Resources Defense Council, under the joint banner of Film and Social Consciousness during the festival season.
Entries will be posted on Yahoo! Jumpcut beginning February 1, 2007. The submission deadline is April 15, 2007, while the official voting period will be April 25 to May 8, 2007. Winners will be announced in New York in June 2007. Winners will receive a summer 2007 internship at Universal Pictures, a trip to New York for the FYI 2007 Awards Ceremony at United Nations Headquarters and their entries broadcast on STARZ and STARZ Edge. For rules and more information on the competition, visit FilmYourIssue.com.
About Yahoo!
Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global Internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo!'s mission is to connect people to their passions, their communities, and the world's knowledge. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Yahoo! and the Yahoo! logos are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of Yahoo! Inc. All other names are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE: Yahoo! Inc.
Yahoo! Sheila Tran, 408-349-6455 tsheila@yahoo-inc.com or FYI - Film Your Issue c/o The Rose Group Jordan Kaye Jordan@therosegrp.com David Glaubke, 310-280-3710 David@therosegrp.com
Copyright Business Wire 2007
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