MTV Movie Awards to include user video category

Cory Bergman March 12th, 2007

MTV, Yahoo and Mark Burnett have teamed up to offer a MTV Movie Awards trophy for the best amateur video short. Beginning April 23rd, budding filmmakers will be able to upload their entry on Yahoo. The winner will be awarded a trophy during the MTV Movie Awards, and the rest of the submissions will be piped through a “World Wide Web Wall” that will be integrated into the live broadcast. Press release…

NEW YORK and SANTA MONICA, Calif., March 12 /PRNewswire/ — MTV: Music
Television and Yahoo! Movies today announced a partnership, working with
Mark Burnett Productions, to enhance the “2007 MTV Movie Awards” experience
like never before by giving fans the opportunity to participate in the show
via a new website on Yahoo! Movies. This year, fans will be given the
chance to realize their dreams of standing on stage at the “2007 MTV Movie
Awards” to accept the legendary golden bucket of popcorn in front of
Hollywood’s movers and shakers. Through “MTV Movie Awards on Yahoo!,”
aspiring filmmakers will be offered the platform to showcase their twisted
genius and story-telling talent. The interactive site, launching April 23,
will allow them to submit their own original movie shorts parodying films
from the past year for consideration in the first ever “BEST MOVIE SPOOF”
User Generated Category. The undiscovered talent will be revealed to the
world during MTV’s live June 3 broadcast from the Gibson Theater in
Universal City, Calif.

In addition to the movie spoof award, MTV, Yahoo! Movies and Mark
Burnett Productions are developing a section on this new interactive site
where viewers can create their own culture of sorts — whether it’s
commenting on the user-generated submissions or posting photos and videos.
Select content from the site will also take center stage at the awards on a
“World Wide Web Wall” that will be integrated into the live broadcast,
giving a voice to all the those up-and-coming filmmakers or those who
simply like to quarterback from the sidelines.

“How many of us have seen a movie and thought, ‘I could produce
something better, something funnier, something cooler?’” asked Christina
Norman, President of MTV. “MTV and Yahoo! Movies attract the world’s most
creative minds and we know that somewhere out there is an imaginative
filmmaker with a fresh take on today’s movies. Together, we’re giving them
a chance to share their inspiring, weird or hilarious work and reward their
personal sacrifices and countless hours of filming and editing with … a
cheesy bucket of gold- plated popcorn.”

“This competition breaks new ground in changing the way we discover
talent, giving amateur movie makers an opportunity to walk away with the
Golden Popcorn, ” said Vince Broady, head of Entertainment for Yahoo!.
“This is part of Yahoo’s continued commitment to give our users the chance
to participate in the biggest entertainment events of the year. It’s not
enough to put them in the front row — we want them on the stage.”

All aspiring content creators are encouraged to upload their
submissions via Yahoo! Movies while other visitors to the site can rate and
discuss the submissions. The final five nominees will be flown to the “2007
MTV Movie Awards” in Los Angeles. The fans will then vote on which of the
five nominees takes home the new “Best Spoof MTV Movie Award.”

“One of my first actions, after agreeing to produce the MTV Movie
Awards was to set up conversations between Yahoo! and MTV. It was a natural
fit considering Yahoo!’s enormous reach and MTV’s ultra cool brand,” said
Mark Burnett, Executive Producer. “The ability to create and interact with
User Generated Content is so important to today’s audience that this show
simply had to include UGC as a major element in the creative experience of
the 2007 awards.”

On the “MTV Movie Awards on Yahoo!” site, each award category will be
featured and fans can then vote on MTV.com for their favorites in MTV’s
infamously irreverent categories including “Best Kiss” and “Best Villain.”
Also, as MTV announces nominees and performers fans can look to Yahoo!
Movies for the exclusive news.

With the “World Wide Web Wall” and the new “Best Movie Spoof”
categories, the audience will get more opportunities to engage with the
show, both in the weeks leading up to it and on the actual live telecast.

This year’s experience builds on “MTV’s 2006 Movie Awards” online
success last year which delivered over 2 million streams, up over 50% from
the year before.

Mark Burnett serves as Executive Producer for the “2007 MTV Movie
Awards.” Salli Frattini is Executive Producer for MTV. Audrey Morrisey and
Ted Smith are Producers, Joe DeMaio is the Director and Kathy Flynn will
serve as Event Producer.