Yahoo! Telemundo launches Hispanic short film festival
Posted by Elena del Valle on August 9, 2006
José Rivera Font, general manager Yahoo! North Latin America
Photo: Yahoo!
Coral Gables and Hialeah, Florida — Yahoo! Telemundo, leaning on Toyota sponsorship muscle, is launching a Hispanic short film festival, the Yahoo! Telemundo Short Film Festival. This festival is designed as a competition which promoters promise will enable Hispanic filmmakers to showcase their independently produced work to millions online, and allow online visitors to cast votes for the best short films in four different genres.
The winning U.S. filmmaker will travel to the Sundance Film Festival January 25 to 29, 2007; and the winning short will be featured on the Yahoo! Telemundo front page for 24 hours and on Telemundo and Mun2 networks.
Filmmaking enthusiasts have until September 5, 2006 to submit their two-to-ten minute short films on Yahoo! Telemundo Cine, the recently re-launched online movie channel. Films can be submitted in English or Spanish, or both, in the following categories: Comedy, Horror, Action/Drama and Animation. The online voting begins September 11 and runs through October 20.
“The Yahoo! Telemundo Short Film Festival was created for filmmakers in need of an outlet for their boundless creativity, talent and imagination,” said José Rivera Font, general manager, Yahoo! North Latin America.
“We are committed to the next generation of creatives whose stories need to be heard, with no limitation of language or media, by giving them access to a media world only Yahoo! Telemundo can offer. This is a groundbreaking competition where we may find the next Alfonso Cuarón or Alejandro González Iñárritu,” said Antoinette Zel, senior executive vice president, network strategy, Telemundo.
Festival organizers hope online visitors will vote weekly for their favorite film in each of the four genres. During the final week, the films with the greatest number of votes in each genre will compete to become the overall users’ choice. The short film which earns the most votes will air on Telemundo’s broadcast network in its Weekend Prime Time Movie Block and on mun2’s soon to be premiered movie-driven show, “Have you Cine?”
“We are targeting a market that is young, fresh and full of creative energy, much like the spirit evident in the new Yaris,” said Teri Hill, car advertising manager, Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc.
Toyota, the exclusive sponsor of the festival, is learning on the Festival and Yahoo! networks’ 12.8 million U.S. Hispanic online visitors* to promote Yaris, its new sub-compact model. The sponsorship is part of a multi-channel marketing campaign created by Conill, Toyota’s Latino communications agency. Additional information is available online at Yahoo!Telemundo Festival
*comScore Media Metrix, May 2006
