HI-TRANSFER

Last month we announced YouTube Next Cause: a new program designed to help nonprofit organizations that are already changing the world better use online video to drive action.

We were honored, inspired and deeply moved by many of the applications we received.

We are proud to introduce you to some members of the first class of YouTube Next Cause: 20 organizations who’ve demonstrated passion and huge potential for using YouTube to further their causes.

The organizations come from big cities and small towns across the country from Illinois to Colorado to Texas to California and many work all over the world. They also work on variety of issues from animal abuse to homelessness to poverty alleviation to children’s health.

 Check out these great organizations:

 

Autism Speaks
Children's Hospital Boston
IFAW - International Fund for Animal Welfare
Sunlight Foundation
BuildOn
American Heart Association
CARE
American Foundation for Equal Rights
Malaria No More
The Humane Society of the United States
The Pablove Foundation
COTS - Committee on the Shelterless
Durango Discovery Museum
Save Mount Diablo
Art Resources in Teaching
breakthrough
Per Scholas
The Supply
Born Free USA
The Lazarex Cancer Foundation

Stay tuned to this blog for more updates from the YouTube Next Cause channels, and learn more about other programs helping partners grow at the YouTube Creator Hub.

Jessica Mason, communications associate, recently watched “The Story of Keep Calm and Carry On”

One of the most rewarding projects I worked on in 2011 was the Next Creator program (comprised of YouTube NextUp, YouTube Next Chef, and YouTube Next Trainer). These programs worked to catapult 91 content creators’ careers across 15 different countries, by providing them with production and audience development training, new video equipment, promotion, and mentoring from DeStorm, FreddieW, Michelle Phan, Chow.com and Billy Blanks.

But what’s next for the Next Creator program? There are still millions of creators who could benefit from participating in the program, so we’re excited to continue to expand the program further. That’s where you come in — we'd like to hear which type of content we should launch for the next round. Maybe you're a budding beauty guru and want to see YouTube Next Beautician; or, perhaps you're a habitual big personality vlogger and have been waiting for YouTube Next Vlogger.

Whatever you want to see next, let us know by voting on some categories and by suggesting your own here. You may vote and submit as many as you’d like before February 19th. We'll then evaluate the top-voted suggestions and bring some of these to you this year!

2012 is going to be an incredibly exciting year for YouTube creators. Stay tuned for more initiatives that will empower you to take your YouTube career to the next level — coming very soon!

Bing Chen, global creator initiatives manager, recently watched Ryan The Truth Higa’s “Word of the Day - Swog."

Until now, when you uploaded to YouTube, your video was hosted and shared, but couldn’t really be changed. If you wanted to trim off the end, swap out the soundtrack, or add an effect, you had to edit your video using a separate program and upload again.

Starting today, you can edit your uploaded videos right on YouTube and maintain the same video IDs. This means you keep your view count and comments, and all existing links to your video will continue to work. No re-uploading necessary!

Here’s how it works: just click Edit video on the video’s page or on your My Videos page:
You can stabilize your hand-held footage, rotate a video, and boost the contrast and colors. Try “I’m Feeling Lucky” for 1-click color correction:

On July 24, 2010, thousands of people around the world uploaded videos of their day to YouTube to take part in Life in a Day, a historic cinematic experiment to create a documentary film about a single day on earth. From over 80,000 submissions, executive producer Ridley Scott and Oscar winning director Kevin Macdonald have crafted a 90-minute feature film that paints a surprising, moving and entertaining portrait of the world today.

The movie premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in January, and was simultaneously live streamed here on YouTube. However if you missed it, or want to see it again on the big screen, worry not. National Geographic will be bringing ‘Life in a Day’ to theaters around the US on July 24th, 2011 - the first anniversary of the day the movie was shot.

To whet your appetite, the official trailer for ‘Life in a Day’ has just gone live.



For those outside the US, stay tuned for information about international releases in the coming months, and remember, you can subscribe to the official ‘Life in a Day’ channel to be the first to hear news and updates from the team.

Tim Partridge, Marketing Manager, just watched “The ‘Life in a Day’ trailer.”

People who create content for YouTube today come from all walks of life: aspiring filmmakers, moms with cooking shows, teenage gossip vloggers, fantasy football commentators, ironing skydivers—the list goes on and on.

Very often, these dedicated YouTubers wear several hats at once: actor, writer, director, producer, cinematographer, studio head, and lead marketer—in other words, to get their videos to the world, they need to know how to do it all. But we figure there are people out there who’ve always wanted to express themselves through video, but may be limited by funding, video-making skills, insufficient tools, or just knowing where to start. That’s why today we’re establishing the YouTube Creator Institute - the first initiative from YouTube Next - to help nurture these content creators, existing YouTube partners, and the next generation of stellar YouTube talent with the skills they need to thrive online and offline.

We’ve worked with some of the world’s leading film and television schools to put together the YouTube Creator Institute. Based both at YouTube and onsite at the campuses of our institutional partners, participants will learn from a unique new media curriculum, apply new media tools, find out how to build their audiences, be promoted globally on the YouTube platform, and engage with industry leaders and experts. Participants will learn everything from story arcing to cinematography, money-making strategies to social media tactics. The wider YouTube community will be able to learn along the way, too, by following the rise of the YouTube Creator Institute’s inaugural class on YouTube this summer.



The inaugural YouTube Creator Institute programs begin in the United States in May this year.

The University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts is the country’s first film school and regarded as one of the leading schools in the world, with an alumni base of industry leaders and an array of notable accolades. The YouTube-USC Creator Institute takes place from May 25 until June 22 in Los Angeles, CA.

Columbia College Chicago’s Television Department has been innovating around new online media strategies for years, with students creating award-winning web-isodes while investigating new opportunities in the online space. The YouTube-Columbia College Chicago Creator Institute begins on May 31 and ends on July 22 in Chicago, IL.

Any U.S. citizen over 18 is welcome to apply, and candidates may apply online at www.youtube.com/creatorinstitute from now until March 25. Applications include two short answer questions and a maximum two-minute demonstration of the creator’s craft, whether it be a short film, a clip of a personal cooking show, or a snapshot of a nature expedition. Afterwards, the YouTube community will vote for two weeks between March 28 and April 8 for their favorite creators. The top voted candidates will move on to the final round, where our film and television school partners will choose the inaugural class for each of their programs, which will be announced on April 20. Learn more about the application and judging criteria.

Stay tuned for more YouTube Creator Institute and creator opportunities in the near future.

Bing Chen, YouTube Creator Initiatives and Product Marketing, recently watched, ““Rocketeer” cover, mastered by Kurt Hugo Schneider.”

2010 was a big year for content creators on YouTube. Our Partner Program grew to over 15,000 partners worldwide; presidential parodies and clever online-only ads became viral sensations; “annoying” but lovable fruits and unassuming Alabamans transformed uncomfortable situations into triumphant social memes. What became clearer than ever was the YouTube community’s ability to constantly bring new entertainment and experiences into the mainstream. And, many of our partners were making enough money doing what they love to buy a new house, or even make a career out of their videos. In fact, the number of partners making over $1,000 a month is up 300% since the beginning of 2010 and we now have hundreds of partners making six figures a year. But frankly, “hundreds” making a living on YouTube isn’t enough and in 2011 we know we can and should do more to help our partners grow.

Today, we are happy to announce a significant increase in our commitment to our aspiring and successful creators on YouTube.

• YouTube Next. YouTube Next is a new team tasked with supercharging creator development and accelerating partner growth and success. The team will also spearhead a series of YouTube Next-branded programs and services that will build off past partner development initiatives such as the Partner Grants Program that advanced partners funds based on future YouTube revenue share and the recent $1,000 credits at B&H Photo given to partners to purchase new camera equipment. The YouTube Next team and programs will expand our partner meet-ups and community events, increase investment in partner education and training and launch new capabilities in audience development.

• Next New Networks. We are extremely excited to announce the acquisition of Next New Networks. Since launching in March 2007, the Next New Networks team has built a highly effective platform for developing, packaging and building audiences around original web video programming, attracting over 2 billion views and 6 million subscribers across their partner networks of channels and shows. Within YouTube, Next New Networks will be a laboratory for experimentation and innovation with the team working in a hands on way with a wide variety of content partners and emerging talent to help them succeed on YouTube. We are thrilled with the new capability the team brings and the positive impact it will have making our YouTube partners more successful.

At YouTube, we’re focused on building a great technology platform for creators, and so we leave the actual creation of great videos to the people who do it best: our partners. This new group and the addition of the Next New Networks team doesn’t change that. But being a great platform for creators also means helping our partners get the tools and guidance they need to develop higher quality videos and drive bigger audiences to their work.

2011 promises to be an exciting year for the online video industry. We look forward to announcing more YouTube Next initiatives throughout the year, chronicling the impact on partners and highlighting the results on this blog for everyone to enjoy.

Tom Pickett, Director of Global Content Operations and YouTube Next, recently watched “GoPro HD: Human Flight - World Base Race 2010 with Neil Amonson.”

For “SHORT stories,” Showtime contacted cutting-edge creators from across the Web and asked them to tell a tale in an innovative way. The series sports the work of some of YouTube’s top creators, so naturally we’re interested in learning a whole lot more about how “SHORT stories” came to be. Showtime's Trevor Noren tells us more.



1) What gave you the idea to use YouTube stars in this way?
YouTube has become a venue for animators and filmmakers to explore new ways to communicate a narrative. Whether it’s an established artist like Don Hertzfeldt or a talent the community has discovered, like Cyriak or Levni Yilmaz, YouTube has offered an opportunity for artists to experiment and find out what people respond to. That spirit of innovation seemed like a natural fit for our brand. Unique storytelling is the hallmark of what we do as a network: our shows challenge viewers with characters they haven’t seen before. “SHORT stories” is a way for us to bring our brand to a new audience while at the same time showing the work of these amazing artists to our subscribers.

2) What was the process of working with them?
Our mission statement to the artists was pretty simple: “Tell a story in a way people haven’t seen before.” We figured a directive that open-ended would create a huge range of results. They didn’t disappoint. Don Hertzfeldt made up a language. Michael Langan employed thousands of still images to show a run around his block. Cyriak used his hands to tell the story of evolution. Whether acquiring a film already in the works or commissioning something entirely new, we did not interfere with the artists’ creative process. The filmmaker explained what they planned to do and we let them run with it. As a result, we ended up with an incredibly diverse collection of films.

3) What have you learned about the YouTube community over the course of this project?
How much they embrace the bizarre. It doesn’t matter if they know exactly what the filmmaker is trying to say with their video. They recognize the dedication that goes into creating the piece and they recognize the personality and vision behind it. It’s really amazing and inspiring how open-minded the community is to new ideas.

4) Will you pursue more of these and if so, how are you finding the filmmakers?
“SHORT stories” will be ongoing. We’ve identified a few potential candidates. We’d like to keep who they are a surprise. That said, the YouTube community is already helping us identify potential filmmakers. Names pop up all the time in comments on the videos. Everyone from Czech great Jan Svankmajer to Mystery Guitar Man. The best way for us to find new talent is to watch and listen to the YouTube community.

5) What’s something no one would know about these videos by looking at them?
The sheer amount of time that went into the creation of some of the films. Inspired by a vintage nutcracker that looked like a fish, it took PES five years to find all of the objects that went into “The Deep.” For Michael Langan, stitching together all of the still images for “Dahlia” took one month for every minute of the film. “Pretty, Dead” by Jeff Scher consists of more than 3,000 individual drawings. The final products themselves are incredible, but when you really start to understand what went into creating them, it’s remarkable. 

Trevor Noren, Creative Director, Digital Content, Showtime, recently watched “Shameless Trailer and Behind the Scenes.”

As 2010 draws to a close, it’s time to reflect on another incredible year in online video. During the last 12 months you all watched more than 700 billion YouTube videos, and uploaded more than 13 million hours of content to the site. We met a bunch of new faces (and fruits) and celebrated as new YouTube partners hit the big time with millions of views. Indeed, our partner program grew to around 15,000 participants worldwide.

We’re privileged to work with the most passionate and talented partners in the world, who produce and upload videos that inspire us, make us laugh and move us -- and, most importantly, change the way we look at the world. In bedrooms, garages and studios across the globe, these talented and entrepreneurial YouTube partners are building the next generation of media companies, and in July this year we announced a new way we’d be supporting this via Partner Grants.

It’s clear that we want to see YouTube partners continue to create great video and further push the boundaries of what’s possible online. To that end, today we’re giving a $1,000 credit at B&H Photo to 500 partners around the world, who primarily create and distribute their content online, to purchase new video production equipment. This group includes well-known YouTube stars like ShayCarl, MysteryGuitarMan and FreddieW (and this past weekend we learned the latter two make quite a guitar-bass duo), and also successful musicians like Kina Grannis and promising new talents like EmilyNoel83, who was the inaugural winner of our “On The Rise” program last month. Collectively, these 500 partners generated billions of video views in 2010, and we chose them to receive a $1,000 credit based on their popularity during 2010, as well as their online focus.

We hope this will provide our most popular partners with the tools they need -- whether it be a new camera, sound & lighting equipment or editing software -- to produce even higher quality videos and ultimately drive bigger audiences to their work. Hundreds of creative people all around the world have launched professional careers after using YouTube as a global platform to demonstrate their talent - we want to see this number continue to grow.

On behalf of the entire YouTube community, we thank these partners for sharing their creativity and talent with us, and we look forward to what’s to come in 2011 and beyond.

Tom Pickett, Director of Content Operations & Online Creators, recently watched “P4A: The Annoying Orange Interviewed by Tay Zonday.”

Machinima.com programs and produces some of the most popular video channels on YouTube, including Machinima, Machinima Respawn, Machinima Sports, Machinima Realm, and Machinima Trailer Vault. They recently launched Bite Me, a five episode live-action series, that features three video gamers in the midst of a real-life zombie outbreak. We asked Andy Shapiro, VP of Development at Machinima, a few questions…

Tell us about Bite Me. What can the YouTube Community expect from the series?
With Bite Me, viewers will get a high-end premium live-action series that is designed to engage Machinima.com’s video gamer community, and appeal to a broader audience too. The initial run is five episodes that are structured to play both independently as well as a whole piece. Essentially, we are airing a pilot that, with success, we can continue producing as a regular series.

Bite Me was first conceived to tell the story of three habitual gamers that find themselves in a very real world situation. We didn’t want this to be just another zombie show, and wanted to creatively set it apart from the zombie movies and series that have come before. By setting the story during the actual zombie outbreak, we had fun writing about three under-estimated characters, who had to rise up after realizing that something terrible was happening. Ultimately this is an aspirational story, featuring unlikely heroes.

How have the fans reacted to the first episodes, and when do Episodes 3, 4, and 5 debut?
We are amazed by how the community has reacted to the series. The videos have had more than two million views so far, and we've loved reading the comments from the viewers. The response has been phenomenal, and people are responding well to the characters. We will debut the remaining episodes on December 11, December 17, and December 31 - exclusively on Machinima's YouTube Channel. You can check out the series and watch it from Episode 1 continuously here:



Why a zombie series, and why are people so passionate about zombies?
Zombies are the natural fit with our audience because zombies appear in their favorite movies, video games and comic books. It’s a genre with a deep history, that we intend to both honor and have fun with. There was a natural opportunity for integration with Capcom and their Dead Rising 2 title because our audience is not only fans of the game, but by including the title, we added more credibility to the characters as gamers and zombie experts.

You've had a lot of success with your YouTube Channels, Machinima, Respawn, Sports, Realm, and Trailer Vault? Can we expect more live-action series from Bite Me from Machinima.com?
We’re thrilled about the initial success the series. We’re learning a lot about digital story-telling, and are fortunate to have a very interactive audience who enjoys seeing us play with gaming culture. We look forward to growing our entertainment series, and people can check-out our channel for more of these types of projects.

Kenji Arai, Strategic Partner Manager, recently watched “Kev Jumba vs Globetrotters”.