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Screening Room now showing short films from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival

Nate Weinstein — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 17:00:00 +0000

Can’t make it to Park City, Utah to mingle with independent film’s glitterati at the Sundance Film Festival this year? We’ll bring the magic to you.

To celebrate the kickoff of one of the world’s most acclaimed independent film festivals, YouTube and the Sundance Film Institute are teaming up to present a collection of past and present short films in the YouTube Screening Room. Over the next few weeks, we’ll feature:

Four career-starting short films from past Sundance Film Festivals
Four short films from past participants in the Sundance Director’s Lab
Twelve short films from the 2011 Sundance Film Festival

This week’s installment includes four new films from up-and-coming directors. The films’ settings range from a virtual, retro-gaming world to the very real struggles of contemporary Afghanistan.

8 Bits Witness a fight between an 8-bit superhero and a high-def boss, set in a retro-gaming world. Directed by Valere Amirault, Sarah Laufer, Jean Delaunay and Benjamin Mattern.

Andy and Zach Andy tries to set up a new life when his roommate and best friend, Zach, moves out. Directed by Nick Paley.

Skateistan: To Live and Skate in Kabul Skateistan is an oasis where children can be children and build the kind of cross-cultural relationships that Afghanistan needs for future stability. Directed by Orlando von Einsiedel.

The High Level Bridge Trevor drops his camera from Edmonton's High Level Bridge in memory of those who have jumped. Directed by Trevor Anderson.

Check out the Screening Room again on January 27, 2011, and February 3, 2011, to catch the next two installments of short films from this year's Sundance Film Festival.

Kinzie Kramer, Associate Product Marketing Manager, just watched Battle of the Bands

A sneak peek at “Life in a Day”

Nate Weinstein — Thu, 06 Jan 2011 08:00:00 +0000

In December, we announced that “Life in a Day,” a documentary film directed by Oscar-winner Kevin Macdonald, produced by Ridley Scott, and filmed on July 24, 2010 by thousands of YouTube users around the world, was finished—and would have its world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival on January 27.

Today we’d like to share with you the first in a series of clips we’ll release between now and the world premiere. In this clip, beautifully shot by Toniu Xou and Patricia Marinez del Hoyoa of Spain, a young girl climbs a human castle in the small town of San Jaume dels Domenys in the Spanish province of Tarragona.

If watching this clip gets you excited for more, subscribe to the Life in a Day channel to be automatically updated when new clips are released.

And, most importantly, don’t forget to tune into the world premiere of “Life in a Day” at 5pm PT on Thursday, January 27, to see the 1,125 clips—out of more than 80,000 submitted—that made it into the final film.

Live in an incompatible time zone? Not to worry. The film will be re-broadcast at 7pm on Friday, January 28, in your local time zone, whatever that may be. The film will be closed captioned and subtitled on YouTube in 25 languages, and will provide an additional option for audio description (AD) in English. This will be your only chance to see “Life in a Day” before it is released later in 2011, so don’t miss out!

And for those of you who want to experience Sundance even more intimately, check out the Life in a Day channel daily from January 24 to January 27 to see on-the-ground updates from Kevin Macdonald and a group of contributors to the “Life in a Day” project whom Kevin has invited to join him for the world premiere. You can also submit questions on the channel during that time for a chance to take part in a live Q&A with Kevin and the 20 contributors following the world premiere.

Tim Partridge, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched Homeless Man with Golden Radio Voice."

The Mexican Revolution on YouTube

Nate Weinstein — Thu, 04 Nov 2010 20:49:00 +0000

November 20 will mark the 100th anniversary of the start of the Mexican Revolution and we’re looking forward to observing that anniversary on YouTube by celebrating a new revolution that’s taking place in Mexico today: a cultural revolution that has pushed Mexican filmmakers onto a global stage.

A number of the nation’s most talented filmmakers, including Gael Garcia Bernal (who starred in Amores Perros, The Motorcycle Diaries and Pedro Almodovar’s Bad Education), Diego Luna (who came to fame with Y tu mama tambien), Carlos Reygadas (who won the jury prize at Cannes for his film Silent Light in 2007), Rodrigo Garcia (who directed the award winning Nine Lives and was nominated for an Emmy for directing an episode of HBO’s Big Love) and Patricia Riggen (who directed 2008 Sundance hit La misma luna), to name just a few, have banded together to create a feature film, Revolución, made up of 10 individual short films that explore the topic of Mexico’s revolution 100 years after it took place. The film has played at numerous film festivals throughout the last year, including the Cannes Film Festival, and will be available on YouTube for 24 hours on November 20 (thanks to YouTube partner Mubi) and for Mexico from November 20th at 23 hrs to November 21st until 23 hrs.

In advance of the film’s premiere, you’re invited to submit questions about the movie, the filmmakers or about the Mexican Revolution at youtube.com/mubi. The filmmakers will answer the most popular questions in videos that will be posted to the Mubi channel on November 20, the day of the film’s premiere.

Get your questions ready after watching this video from the filmmakers of Revolución:

Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, Directors' invitation to watch Revolución

Future Shorts – Future Creative People

Nate Weinstein — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 23:48:00 +0000

Futureshorts is one of the largest short film aggregators in the world. In this guest blog post, founder and creative director Fabien Riggal talks about curating shorts on YouTube, including a selection from their new live event series, Future Shorts ONE.

We passionately believe in the medium of short film and its creativity, giving filmmakers the opportunity to experiment, learn and come up with innovative ideas. Our company was set up to create the most important audience and community around short film, creating a culture of experiencing a showcase of films in a social thinking environment. The Internet brings people together in communal spaces to watch films and create a dialogue around them. This is what filmmakers want. This is what audiences want.

Today, we're curating the YouTube homepage with films from Future Shorts ONE, a new global event launching on Saturday, November 6. In the video below, we talk about why we chose these films to represent ONE, along with some information on the event:

ONE takes place in 12 countries and 50 cities every month, with live simultaneous events that connect thousands of people around the world. Each location showcases the same selection of the world's boldest short films, many of them on YouTube on our channel, alongside the best in local live music, performance and design. To find out if ONE will be near you, click here.

Fabien Riggall, Founder and Creative director, Future Shorts, just watched "The Lost Tribes of New York City"

AFI Fest 2010

Nate Weinstein — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 16:22:00 +0000

The American Film Institute's AFI Fest, featuring a world class selection of short and feature films, is only a week away. In this guest blog post, AFI's Bob Jennings and Lane Kneedler discuss the festival and the treasure trove of short films they find online.

Any festival can tell you programming short films is very hard. At AFI Fest, we only have space for about 30 shorts and over 3,000 submissions to choose from. However, this year we didn’t limit ourselves to just submissions. We also travelled to other festivals and looked increasingly to the web as a source for content to curate and showcase.

It’s an incredible experience to find short films and show them in a theater with an audience. Hearing a group of strangers laughing and crying together in the dark is an almost spiritual experience. We are also delighted to showcase as many films from our Official Selections on YouTube as possible. We want to help short filmmakers find audiences in any way we can. YouTube has proven that there are huge audiences out there for this content and it’s our pleasure to help highlight as much as we can, which is why we're happy to be the guest editors of today's homepage.

AFI is also proud to be a YouTube Partner. Our channel has nearly 700 videos that include never-before-seen interviews with Master Filmmakers like Alfred Hitchcock and Martin Scorsese, clips from our annual AFI Life Achievement Award and more. Recently, we started posting a new video every Monday through Friday and the response has been astounding as we’re approaching nearly 2 million views per month.

While AFI is proud to host a prestigious film festival and continues to build a robust YouTube Channel, we are a non-profit organization that relies on a national membership program to help us preserve the history of film, educate the next generation of filmmakers and honor the artists. If you're interested in joining, check out AFI.com/members.

AFI FEST 2010 presented by Audi takes place November 4-11 in Hollywood, California. For more info visit www.afi.com/afifest.

Bob Jennings, Manager, AFI Social Media & Lane Kneedler, Associate Director of Programming, AFI Fest just watched Marcel the Shell With Shoes On

Explore the Life in a Day video gallery

Nate Weinstein — Mon, 06 Sep 2010 05:26:00 +0000

On July 24, people around the world made history by capturing glimpses of their lives on camera and submitting the videos to Life in a Day, an experiment to create a documentary about a single day on Earth. In total, 80,000 videos were submitted from 197 countries, making this the world's largest user-generated film. Now, you can explore many of these videos in the gallery on the Life in a Day channel .

To make browsing easy, you can sort videos by geography, time of day, mood and more. The film's Academy Award-winning director, Kevin Macdonald, and his team are adding more videos to the Life in a Day gallery as they are reviewed, so check back soon for more content. You'll also find updates from Macdonald and editor Joe Walker as they lead a team of researchers in reviewing and cutting the footage down to the final feature-length film. Remember to subscribe to the channel for more news on the film's progress as Kevin and producer Ridley Scott gear up for the world premiere in January at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Congratulations again to all of the participants. Thanks for making history.

Nate Weinstein, Entertainment Marketing, just watched Dancing Merengue Dog

Lock and Load: It’s Life in a Day

Nate Weinstein — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 03:29:00 +0000

What are you doing today? Something routine like cooking breakfast or taking the dog for a walk? Or is it something extraordinary like your child's first soccer game or your wedding day?

Whatever it is, big or small, we hope you’ll capture it on video and take part in "Life in a Day," a user-generated documentary that will tell the story of a single day on Earth, as seen through your eyes. You have until 11:59 p.m. local time to film something, so get going. For more information, visit the Life in a Day channel.

Get out those cameras and let's make film history!

Nate Weinstein, Entertainment Marketing, just watched "The Film Editor’s How-To Guide for Life in a Day."

On July 24, it’s time to make film history

Nate Weinstein — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 04:59:00 +0000

This Saturday, don’t forget to charge those batteries, polish those lenses, and get your cameras ready to capture a glimpse of your life for "Life in a Day."

Two weeks ago, we announced this historic cinematic experiment to create the world's largest user-generated documentary, made possible by LG, produced and directed by renowned filmmakers Ridley Scott and Kevin Macdonald, and filmed by you. In the words of Ridley, it’s now time to "just do it."

If your video is selected for inclusion in the final film, you’ll be credited as a co-director and may be one of 20 contributors selected to attend the world premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival.

Visit the Life in a Day channel for more information.

Nate Weinstein, Entertainment Marketing, just watched "How You Can Build the Soundtrack to Life In A Day."

Life in a Day

Nate Weinstein — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 05:00:00 +0000

Every day, 6.7 billion people view the world through their own unique lens. Imagine if there was a way to collect all of these perspectives, to aggregate and mold them into the cohesive story of a single day on earth.

Today, we’re excited to announce the launch of “Life in a Day,” a historic cinematic experiment that will attempt to do just that: document one day, as seen through the eyes of people around the world. On July 24, you have 24 hours to capture a snapshot of your life on camera. You can film the ordinary -- a sunrise, the commute to work, a neighborhood soccer match, or the extraordinary -- a baby’s first steps, your reaction to the passing of a loved one, or even a marriage.

Kevin Macdonald, the Oscar-winning director of films such as The Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void and One Day in September, will then edit the most compelling footage into a feature documentary film, to be executive produced by Ridley Scott, the director behind films like Gladiator, Black Hawk Down, Thelma & Louise, Blade Runner and Robin Hood. LG Electronics is supporting “Life in a Day” as a key part of its long-standing Life’s Good campaign and to support the creation of quality online content that can be shared and enjoyed by all.

The film will premiere at the 2011 Sundance Film Festival and if your footage makes it into the final cut, you’ll be credited as a co-director and may be one of 20 contributors selected to attend the premiere.

Want to take part? Here’s what to do.

1. Visit the “Life in a Day” channel and learn more about the project. Be sure to read through the steps you need to take to participate and the guidelines for creating your video(s). Also check out some of the sample videos for inspirational ideas.

2. On July 24, capture your day on camera.

3. Upload your footage to the “Life in a Day” channel any time before July 31.

Regardless of whether your footage makes it into the final film, your video(s) will live on on the “Life in a Day” channel as a time capsule that will tell future generations what it was like to be alive on July 24, 2010.

Be a part of history.

Tim Partridge, Product Marketing Manager, recently watched “Life in a Day trailer.”

2010 Tribeca Film Festival on YouTube

Nate Weinstein — Sat, 08 May 2010 04:00:00 +0000

The 9th annual Tribeca Film Festival came to a close earlier this week in lower Manhattan and we were proud to be a part of it. As a sponsor of the World Documentary Category, we supported the premieres of films from countries around the world that dealt with important issues ranging from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to the black market for falcons. We also spent time talking to filmmakers about opportunities to distribute their films on YouTube, which you can learn more about on our Filmmakers Wanted channel.

Fortunately, our partnership with Tribeca goes far beyond our sponsorship of the festival and we're delighted to let you know that six films from this year's festival are now available for rent on the Tribeca Film channel, as are numerous films from previous years.

Here's a snapshot of these newest Tribeca releases:

Metropia

In the year 2024, all of Europe is united by a vast web of underground railways, populated by an army of downtrodden worker bees. When one such cog starts hearing voices and encounters a femme fatale shampoo model who seems to hold some answers, he finds himself unearthing a vast Orwellian conspiracy in this visually arresting animated noir. With the voices of Vincent Gallo, Juliette Lewis, Udo Kier, Stellan Skarsgård, and Alexander Skarsgård.

The Infidel

Mahmud Nasir (comedian Omid Djalili) may not be the most observant Muslim but deep down he is a true believer. His life is capsized when he not only learns he was adopted, but also, even more scandalous, that his birth mother was Jewish and his given name was Solly Shimshillewitz. As Mahmud tumbles into a full-scale identity crisis, a true comedy of religious errors unfolds. With Richard Schiff and Matt Lucas.

sex & drugs & rock & roll

Mat Whitecross (codirector of The Road to Guantanamo) paints a stylized, ripsnorting portrait of mercurial British punk rock pioneer Ian Dury (portrayed by BAFTA nominee Andy Serkis). From a troubled childhood and a battle with debilitating polio to the effects of fame on relationships and fatherhood, here are the highs and lows of a life lived sneeringly, unapologetically out loud. With Olivia Williams, Ray Winstone, and Naomie Harris.

The Trotsky

Like most high schoolers, Leon Bronstein (Jay Baruchel, Tropic Thunder) is having an identity crisis. What differentiates Leon, however, is that he believes he is the reincarnation of Soviet thinker Leon Trotksy and predestined to follow the same path as his namesake. Tackling issues from students' rights to semi-formal dances, this "revolutionary" comedy will have you united in laughter.

Road, Movie

Loath to take over the family hair-oil business, young Vishnu jumps at the chance to drive his uncle's beat-up Chevy truck across India to its new owner. The young runaway, wandering old entertainer and beautiful woman he picks up along the way make for a magical journey that will change Vishnu's life. With the sumptuous landscape of India as his canvas, director Dev Benegal paints a delightfully original road movie.

Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, recently watched "The Sandpit."

The Dirty Dancing viewing party

Nate Weinstein — Wed, 07 Apr 2010 22:00:00 +0000

Did you know that in Dirty Dancing the role of the heartbreaker from the wrong side of the tracks, Johnny Castle, was initially offered to Val Kilmer instead of Patrick Swayze?

If you love random movie trivia like this, then you will not want to miss tonight's viewing party. Just go to Lionsgate's YouTube channel at 8 p.m. ET / 5 p.m. PT, hit play, and use the Twitter gadget beneath the video to share your thoughts on Swayze's moves, Jennifer Grey's outfits, and everything else "Dirty Dancing." We'll be watching and Tweeting from the gadget, too, sharing our own tidbits about the movie and reading your comments.

See you there!

Nate Weinstein, Marketing Associate, recently watched "One of the Last."

Submit questions for YouTube user’s interview with James Cameron

Nate Weinstein — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 05:00:00 +0000

If you've got a question for the director of Avatar, now's your chance to ask it. The famous director is opening himself up to the YouTube community, allowing our own DaveyBoyz to interview him based on the questions you submit via the Official Avatar Channel on YouTube.

Questions will be organized into the following categories — the environment, technology, the military-industrial complex, vision of the future, and imagining a society — and you'll have until 11:59 p.m. ET on March 21 to submit and vote on them. DaveyBoyz, who already has experience talking to the cast at the film's London premiere, will pose the 10 most popular questions to the director in an exclusive interview in L.A. on March 23. The interview will be uploaded to YouTube during the week of April 19, so stay tuned to see how it went.

Nate Weinstein, Entertainment Marketing Associate, just watched "Acting for the Camera."

BBQ and Movies

Nate Weinstein — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 07:00:00 +0000

Today marks the last day of the SXSW Film Festival (stay tuned for a "BBQ and Music" blog as the music portion of SXSW kicks off tomorrow), where we continued to roll out our Filmmakers Wanted campaign, launched back at Sundance, to educate filmmakers about opportunities to distribute and make money from their work on YouTube, especially through YouTube's new Rentals program.

Here's a shot of some of our handiwork for those of you who couldn't make it to Austin this year...

But for any filmmakers out there who want more than just my amateur photo of a poster, visit our Filmmakers Wanted channel for information on Rentals and how to become a partner.

As much as we've enjoyed our stay here in Austin, it's never a party unless we get to celebrate with all of you. So we've put together a kickin' collection of music documentaries to transport you to that artistic otherworld where music and film coexist in beautiful harmony (and if this virtual otherworld doesn't do it for you, try to get to Austin next year -- the BBQ's really good, too).

Below are descriptions of the films, which are available for rent, and trailers to help you decide what to watch.

The Socalled Movie

Socalled is a Canadian klezmer/hip hop artist and part-time magician with millions of views on YouTube (and he also happens to be performing at tonight's SXSW Film Closing Party if you're here in Austin!). Find out what drives this eccentric rapper as he blasts through the boundaries that separate music from different cultures, eras and generations in "The Socalled Movie."

loudQUIETloud

In the late 80's and early 90's, The Pixies took the indie rock world by storm until internal strife tore them apart. This rockumentary takes you behind the scenes of their 2004 reunion tour and explores some of the band's darker demons.

DiG!

Winner of the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, "DiG!" recounts the friendship and rivalry between the American rock bands The Brian Jonestown Massacre and The Dandy Warhols.

Air Guitar Nation

In "Air Guitar Nation," a cadre of the nation's greatest would-be guitar heroes - including C-Diddy, Jam Toast and The Shred - converge on the first-ever U.S. Air Guitar Championships, before moving onto the world finals in Finland.

Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, recently watched "Socalled - (Rock the) Belz"

Sundance Film Festival Rentals Now Available on YouTube

Nate Weinstein — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:10:00 +0000

On Wednesday, we announced our partnership with the Sundance Film Festival to make five films – three world premieres at this year’s festival and two audience favorites from last year’s – available for rent on YouTube starting today, January 22, and running through the end of the festival on January 31.

We’re writing today to let you know that these five films are now live on the YouTube homepage, just in time for your weekend viewing. You’ll also be able to find them throughout the next ten days by visiting YouTube Movies or through search.

Of course, you’re probably still wondering how this rentals business works. When you click on the thumbnail of the film you want to watch, you’ll be taken to a regular YouTube watch page where you’ll find a YouTube Rentals window over the video player. If you’re not signed in to your account, you’ll be prompted to do so. You’ll then need to complete your account setup by signing up for Google Checkout. Once complete, you’ll be taken back to the YouTube watch page where you can watch a trailer; if you decide you want to purchase a rental, click on the yellow “Rent” button and you’re ready to go.

To see an overview of the process, watch this quick demo video.

Please keep in mind that this product is an early beta, which means you may encounter glitches during your rentals experience. Help us build a better product faster by sharing your feedback through our help center.

If you’re ready to start browsing the films, read the descriptions below and click on the links to see more.

"Children of Invention" explores the American Dream as seen through the eyes of a Chinese American family living in suburban Boston.

In "Homewrecker," a prisoner on work release and a live-wire kook take a day-long ride in a seemingly stolen vehicle that neither of them will soon forget.

In "The Cove" an elite team of activists, filmmakers and freedivers embark on a covert mission to penetrate a remote and hidden cove in Japan, and shine a light on a dark and deadly secret.

When humble Linas, kicked off of his friends couch and spurned by his lover, finds a forgotten van on a llama farm outside Seattle, he begins lurching east with nothing to lose in "Bass Ackwards."

In "One Too Many Mornings," Fisher and Pete are two dudes with dude problems -- one drinks too much and one just got cheated on by his girlfriend -- and few prospects of helping each other out.

Enjoy some of the festival without the cold,
The YouTube Team

Sundance Shorts in the Screening Room

Nate Weinstein — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 04:00:00 +0000

Yesterday, it was feature films for rent. Today, it's shorts for free.

Every year, the shorts programmers of the Sundance Film Festival have the privilege of selecting the creme de la creme of the world's short films for their official selection. This year, we're proud to announce that we've partnered with the Festival to bring a selection of these films to your YouTube player, courtesy of Verizon.

For the next six weeks, you can watch this eclectic mix of comic, tragic, documentary, animated and experimental shorts in the Screening Room. The first four films cover a wildly diverse range of subjects and stories, including a very out-there take on opera; a celebration of a man's life on his hundredth birthday; a young wolf who decides to confront his father; and a coming of age tale for two high school graduates.

More films to come, so stay tuned.

Nate Weinstein, Entertainment Marketing Associate, just watched "Glottal Opera"

YouTube to Sundance: Independent Filmmakers Wanted

Nate Weinstein — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:00:00 +0000

Today's blog post comes from the chilly slopes of Park City, Utah, where we’re getting ready to kick-off our sponsorship of the 2010 Sundance Film Festival. So, why are we here?

Independent filmmakers have been critical contributors to our platform ever since we launched our site, almost five years ago. In that time, we’ve increasingly come to understand some of the challenges facing these filmmakers: technology has made it easier and cheaper than ever to produce films; more films have led to more competition for audiences; more competition for audiences has led to more films needing massive marketing budgets to cut through the clutter. And these high costs have made it difficult for independent films to compete, leaving too many films going unseen.

While YouTube has offered an easy and economical way for filmmakers -- as well as content creators of all kinds -- to instantaneously connect with fans around the world, many of them have told us that the ad-supported business model doesn't always meet their distribution and monetization needs. And so, we are excited today to announce our partnership with the Sundance Film Festival to make five films from the 2010 and 2009 festivals available for rent for U.S. users on YouTube starting this Friday and running through Sunday, January 31. In addition to these five films, a small collection of rental videos from other U.S. partners across different industries, including health and education, will be made available in the weeks ahead. We’re also excited to put out the call for more independent filmmakers to join the rental program as part of our "Filmmakers Wanted" campaign at the festival.

These are early days and in the coming weeks we'll also invite a small group of partners across other industries, in addition to independent film, to participate in this new option. Anything that brings more content to the YouTube community is a good thing. And making content available for rent will give our partners unprecedented control over the distribution of their work -- they can decide the price of their videos and the rental duration; they can decide when and where their content is available; and they can keep 100% of their rights.

But enough talking! You want to watch movies! To prepare for Friday's debut, take a minute to set up your Google Checkout account and watch the trailers below to decide what to rent. On Friday, we'll post another blog to walk you through how to find and start watching some of these independent films.

Grab the popcorn and Swedish Fish,

The YouTube Team

Countdown to Super Bowl XLIV

Nate Weinstein — Wed, 06 Jan 2010 19:06:00 +0000

One of our most popular advertiser-supported programs is AdBlitz, which asks you to vote on the year's best Super Bowl commercial. For 2010, we've beefed up the channel with extensive NFL playoff coverage, travel videos for those going to Miami for the big game, Super Bowl party planning tips and recipes, and more. The AdBlitz Pre-Game channel, brought to you by Kia Motors, features videos from a diverse array of partners, including Fox Sports, Yardbarker, JR Sport Brief, Fitzy, The Dallas Cowboy Show, CowboyTD, The Travel Channel, Foodwishes and The Food Network.

Here are just a few examples of what you'll find:

Check back regularly for updated coverage and prediction videos. Once the Super Bowl begins on February 7, return to view and vote on all the ads, which are always a main topic of conversation in the days following the event.

Andrew Bangs, Sports Manager, recently watched "Griner Dunks Twice."

“The Beautiful Life” Makes Its YouTube Premiere

Nate Weinstein — Thu, 17 Dec 2009 20:38:00 +0000

Update (5pm PT): Wondering which YouTube videos inspire the creator of TBL? Watch Ashton's celebrity playlist here.

++++++++++++++++

Today we are teaming up with Katalyst, a studio for social media co-founded by Ashton Kutcher, and HP to bring previously unaired episodes of Katalyst’s television drama "The Beautiful Life" to YouTube at www.youtube.com/TBL.

The TBL series is being presented without commercial interruption by HP in connection with its Create Change program. As part of "The Beautiful Life" experience on YouTube, Katalyst and HP have asked the show’s stars and viewers to participate by recording, tagging and posting video commentary about how they will create positive change in 2010.

We're excited to bring first-run original programming like this to the YouTube community. The first two episodes of the series, originally aired on the CW, will debut today, followed by the remaining three episodes beginning on December 21. We're sure devout TBL fans will enjoy this holiday treat, and we think the show is likely to find many new fans through YouTube.

George Strompolos, Strategic Partnerships, recently watched "The Beautiful Life - Episode 2."

The Screening Room: Fresh Films Just Added

Nate Weinstein — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 05:00:00 +0000

This month, we’re proud to present eight of the best short films we’ve ever seen (ever!) in the Screening Room, our destination for top films from the film festival circuit.

While we often program the Screening Room around specific themes (perhaps horror flicks or graphic novel adaptations ring a bell?), this month’s sponsor, Canon's VIXIA, had just one request for us: skip the theme and bring people some of the finest films out there.

So, without further ado, here are the first four….

“Madame Tutli-Putli” is a stunning stop-motion animated film that was nominated for an Academy Award in 2007. The animation took over five years to complete and featured a groundbreaking technique that included adding composited human eyes to stop-motion puppets.

"The Mozart of Pickpockets," from France, was not only nominated for an Academy Award, but actually won the honor in 2007. It tells the story of two hapless Parisian pickpockets who finally hit their stride when they take a young immigrant boy under their wings.

Directed by New Zealand filmmaker Taika Waititi (whose feature film “Eagle vs. Shark” was snapped up by Miramax Films at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival), "Two Cars, One Night" is another Academy Award nominee. It tells the darling story of young love born out of rivalry in a parking lot outside a rural pub. Waititi's latest film, "Boy," was just selected for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival.

Lastly, "Doxology," a stop-motion animated short featuring a dancing Oldsmobile, a boozy encounter with God, and lots of teeth brushing, hair combing and flossing, won the Slamdance Film Festival in 2008 and was nominated for a Student Academy Award.

We’ll feature another four stand-out shorts starting December 15, so save room for more.

Dim the lights,

Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, recently watched “Pilgrims”

Spaghetti Western Viewing Party Tonight

Nate Weinstein — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 21:00:00 +0000

There are two kinds of people in the world: those who watch Spaghetti Westerns by themselves and those who watch them with their YouTube buddies.

If the latter sounds like fun, join us for a live viewing party of "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" at 6pm PT in the Screening Room. To the right of the player, you'll see a Twitter feed collecting real-time tweets from other fans watching the film. If you want to contribute to the conversation, just log in to your Twitter account through the gadget and send your tweets, being sure to use the default hashtag, #screeningroom.

We'll be right there with you, sharing our own thoughts on one of the best westerns of all time. See you there!

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Entertainment, recently watched "Lego Matrix Trinity Help."

Last Chance for "Bram Stoker’s Dracula"

Nate Weinstein — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 18:00:00 +0000

Update (9pm PT): Unfortunately, this viewing party had to be canceled. We're sorry for any inconvenience this may have caused.

Update (6pm PT): We're experiencing a technical glitch in the Screening Room, so we'll be pushing the viewing party back 1 hour to 7pm PT. See you there!

+++++++
Tonight is your last chance to watch "Bram Stoker's Dracula" on YouTube, and your only chance to watch it with other vampire lovers from around the United States.

Join us in the YouTube Screening Room at 6pm PST for a live viewing party. To the right of the player, you'll see a Twitter feed collecting real-time tweets from other fans watching the film. If you want to contribute to the conversation, just login to your Twitter account through the gadget and send your tweets, being sure to use the default hashtag, #screeningroom.

We'll be there, along with our friends at Crackle, reacting to your thoughts and dropping a few of our own.

Remember to subscribe to Crackle's YouTube channel to stay on top of new feature-length movies coming to YouTube.

See you at the party - we'll be "stoked" to have you...

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Entertainment, recently watched "SpatSolver."

Now Playing: "Bram Stoker’s Dracula"

Nate Weinstein — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:15:00 +0000

Update (11/1) Thanks to everyone who voted. Here are the final results of the "Who's the greatest Dracula" poll:

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Everywhere you look, vampires seem to be all the rage. But before the broody youngsters of "Twilight" and the Southern nightwalkers of "True Blood" took center stage, there was one Count who ruled the bloodsucking roost: Dracula.

In honor of the world's most famous monster (and everyone's go-to Halloween costume), we're pleased to bring you Bram Stoker's Dracula, courtesy of our friends at Crackle. Directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gary Oldman in one of his most memorable roles, it's the story of darkness's cursed prince searching for his suicidal bride in 18th-century England. With Academy Award-winning costumes, killer performances from Anthony Hopkins, Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder, and a healthy dose of horror, this flick has something for film buffs of varying tastes.

Before you watch, there are a few things we need to note. First, this film is rated R for violence and brief nudity. This means that you'll need to verify that you're 18 years of age or older by either signing into your existing YouTube account or creating a new one. Second, this video is limited to audiences in the U.S. (apologies to our international users). And, third, the film will only be available on YouTube through November 9.

How do you think Gary Oldman ranks in the pantheon of Count Dracula actors? Cast your vote in the poll in the upper right hand corner.

Happy Halloween!

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Entertainment, just watched "Vampires: Is it Real?"

The Doha Tribeca Film Festival Hits the YouTube Screening Room

Nate Weinstein — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 18:05:00 +0000

Today marks the first day of the inaugural Doha Tribeca Film Festival, a partnership between the Qatar Museums Authority and the Tribeca Film Festival, to celebrate the best of Arabic and international cinema through an annual film festival and year-round workshops in Doha, Qatar's capital. The festival hopes to inspire, engage and educate a new generation of cinema appreciation in the Middle East, much in the same way that the Tribeca Film Festival has stimulated the local film community in New York.

To celebrate the festival's launch, we've turned the YouTube Screening Room over to the expert curators at the Doha Tribeca Film Festival, who have put together a lineup of five films (four shorts and one feature), selected to highlight diverse filmmaking voices with a strong Middle Eastern connection. Each of these films possesses the ability to entertain and to educate, and we hope that after watching you'll feel compelled to continue the conversation by commenting on, sharing and rating those that move you. Here's a sneak peek....

"Clear Cut, Simple," directed by Vineet Dewan, is based on a true story about an American soldier in Iraq, torn between his duty to the military and his friendship with his Iraqi interpreter. "Eclipse," directed by Mark Lapwood, is a meditative visual journey featuring stunning images of Mumbai. "Itmanna: Make A Wish," directed by Cherien Dabis, explores the tensions of a politically charged environment through the prism of a young girl's quest to buy a birthday cake. "The North Road," directed by Carlos Chahine, tracks a middle-aged man's return to his home country of Lebanon to deal with his father's remains. And "Ramchand Pakistani," a feature film directed by Mehreen Jabbar, is based on a true story about a Pakistani Hindu family's accidental crossing of the Pakistani-Indian border in 2002.

Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, recently watched "Easy to Assemble #1: What's In Store."

Taxi Driver Viewing Party Tonight!

Nate Weinstein — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 21:49:00 +0000

Movie buffs of YouTube unite.

Tonight, we'll be hosting a live viewing party of the critically-acclaimed feature film Taxi Driver in the YouTube Screening Room, courtesy of our friends at Crackle.

Visit the Screening Room at 6pm PT to start watching. You'll see an embedded Twitter feed collecting real-time tweets from other fans watching the film. If you want to offer your own comments, log in to your Twitter account and post them with the hashtag #yttaxidriver.

We'll be there with you, dropping some trivia, quotes and favorite moments for your communal viewing pleasure. Remember, Taxi Driver is rated R, so you'll need to be logged into your YouTube account to watch, and unfortunately, the video is restricted to users in the U.S. only.

To stay on top of great new films from Crackle, be sure to subscribe to their YouTube channel.

See you in the Screening Room.

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Entertainment, just watched The Most Dramatically Normal Day Ever.

You Talking To Me?

Nate Weinstein — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 01:00:00 +0000

If you don't know who Travis Bickle is, you probably should.

Widely considered one of the greatest films of all time, Taxi Driver paints a dark, gritty, and at times violent portrait of a lonely man in the urban jungle. Now, courtesy of our friends at Crackle, you can watch the entire film on YouTube through next Sunday, October 18.

Even if you haven't seen the film yet, you may be familiar with some of the memorable quotes (like "You talkin' to me? You talkin' to me? Well, I'm the only one here."). Well, if you think you've got a killer Bobby D. impression, now is the time to share it with the world. Film yourself reenacting a scene from the movie, and post it as a video response to Taxi Driver. The best impressions will be featured in a blog next week.

One quick note -- as you may know, Taxi Driver is rated R for violence and language. This means that in order to watch it on YouTube, you'll need to be signed into your account and confirm that you are 17 years of age or older.

We'll be partnering with Crackle to bring you more great films in the future. Be sure to stay on top of what's new by subscribing to their YouTube channel.

Enjoy!

Nate Weinstein, Entertainment Marketing, just watched "Super Action Man."

Who Would Win in a Fight?

Nate Weinstein — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 04:00:00 +0000

Update (8/29): Thanks to everyone who voted. Here are the final results of the poll.

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Today, we're wondering who would emerge victorious in a battle royale between two ninja warriors, both of whom are currently starring in movies on YouTube. One is the greatest martial artist of all time; one is YouTube's most subscribed user. Two men enter, one man leaves.

vs.

Who do you think would win in a match between these titans? Would Bruce Lee dazzle Nigahiga with his speed or would the YouTube phenom overwhelm with his legion of 1 million plus followers? Check out the poll at the top right of the blog to cast your vote, and remember what Lee once said: "I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times."

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Film, recently watched "Off the Wall Street Art."

A Note About Content Availability

Nate Weinstein — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Today, we wrap up our week-long feature of the 1984 classic, Ghostbusters. Over half a million of you tuned in, but many more of you outside the U.S. wanted to. Some of you have also wondered why the movie would come off the site. We work with our partners to make content as widely available as possible and for as long as possible. However, videos distributed on YouTube belongs to those who create and/or own them, not to us. Thus, it is the content creator who decides where and for how long his/her videos appear on the site. The situation gets especially complex with movies because ownership is often divided across different regions of the world.

We apologize to those who were not able to enjoy Ghostbusters this time around (those of you in the U.S. still have three hours to watch it!), but we hope to bring you more opportunities like this in the future.

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Film, recently favorited "Modest Mouse - King Rat."

Ghostbusters Last-Chance Viewing Party

Nate Weinstein — Wed, 19 Aug 2009 00:31:00 +0000

Is there anything better than kicking back to a great movie with a bucket of popcorn and a few of your closest friends? How about kicking back to a great movie with a bucket of popcorn and a few thousand of your YouTube buddies? This Wednesday night, August 19, we're planning to watch Ghostbusters one last time before it comes off YouTube and we'd love to do it with you. At 6pm PT/9pm ET, tune your player to Ghostbusters to watch one of the finest comedies of all time. Click the "share" button under the video to spread the video -- and your thoughts on it -- far and wide via social networks like Facebook and Twitter. (When Tweeting, be sure to include the hashtag #ghostbusters in your message so your comments can be associated with what hopefully becomes a national conversation. Sorry, this video is only available to U.S. viewers.) We'll be on Twitter and Facebook, too, throwing out trivia, classic quotes and our own favorite moments from the film. Of course, you can also comment directly on the film's YouTube page.

It's time to cross the streams. Thanks to Crackle for making it happen in the first place!

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Film, recently watched "Ghostbusters," of course.

Don’t Cross the (Video) Streams

Nate Weinstein — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 01:25:00 +0000

Update (8/15) Thanks to everyone who voted. Here are the final results of the poll.

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This summer marks the 25th anniversary of the film that put "crossing the streams," Gozer the Gozerian, and the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man on the map. An instant quotable classic, Ghostbusters -- and its memorable theme song -- has maintained a multi-generational following ever since its release in 1984. To celebrate the anniversary, we'll be showing Ghostbusters on YouTube with a special spotlight on the homepage starting tonight at 6pm PT. Or, you can find it by searching in our movies section.

But don't take this opportunity for granted. You only have seven days to watch the movie before it ceases any and all supernatural activity and returns forthwith to its place of origin -- or to the nearest convenient parallel dimension. So we're challenging you, the YouTube community, to get out there and watch it, comment on it, and share it with your friends.

There are also an abundance of great tribute videos to the heroes, the ghosts, and the ionization-rate for all ectoplasmic entities on YouTube. Here are a few standouts for your enjoyment:

Also, be sure to vote in our "Most Quotable Ghostbusters lines" poll located in the upper right-hand corner of this blog. If your favorite quote's missing, just leave it in the comments below.

Back off, man. I'm a scientist.

Nate Weinstein, YouTube Film, recently favorited "Delusional Downtown Divas."

Behind the Scenes at the Sundance Directors Lab

Nate Weinstein — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 21:00:00 +0000

Reservoir Dogs, Requiem for a Dream, and Half Nelson topped critics' lists when they came out, but before they achieved this recognition, they were all workshopped at the Sundance Directors Lab. Since its inception, the world's most famous film workshop has always occurred behind closed doors... until now.

Today, we're proud to present, in partnership with the Sundance Institute and sponsored by Honda, a behind-the-scenes tour of the Directors Lab in the YouTube Screening Room. To start, we'll follow three up-and-coming auteurs as they strive to transform their dream projects from vision to reality. From a first-time filmmaker learning the process to a director trying to make a comedy about Osama bin Laden, there's something here for everyone who's ever wondered about how films are made.

Stay tuned, because in two weeks we've got four more videos featuring exclusive footage of life at the Lab.

Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager, recently watched the trailer for "The September Issue."

Dreaming Big in the YouTube Screening Room

Nate Weinstein — Mon, 20 Jul 2009 22:00:00 +0000

Filmmaking is all about dreaming big. From taking a flicker of an idea, fleshing it out into a script, getting it in the can, and shepherding it from the editing suite to the big screen; it's a harrowing process often driven by a filmmaker's vision and ambition.

That's why today, we're proud to announce a brand new, six-week YouTube Screening Room program in conjunction with the Sundance Director's Lab and sponsored by Honda, celebrating the power of dreams. To start, we're bringing you four short films from celebrated directors Peter Sollett ("Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist"), Joshua Marston ("Maria Full of Grace"), Tamara Jenkins ("The Slums of Beverly Hills"), and Ryan Fleck and Anna Boden (Half Nelson), all of whom attended the Sundance Director's Lab on their way to making critically-acclaimed independent films.

Stay tuned, because in two weeks we'll be bringing you exclusive footage from inside the 2009 Sundance Director's Lab, where some of the world's most promising young directors are developing and fine-tuning their dream projects with leading industry consultants.

Posted by Sara Pollack, Entertainment Marketing Manager