Companies Enable Users to Speak Out on Personal and Life Topics Through Video, to Be Documented in TV Series 'Facebook Diaries'
PALO ALTO, Calif. and PHILADELPHIA, Feb. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ --
Facebook, the Internet's leading social utility, and Ziddio.com, a national
multiplatform user-generated video site recently launched by Comcast
Interactive Media, today announced a partnership that will allow Facebook
users to create and share user-generated videos and give them the chance to
become part of a new television series titled "Facebook Diaries."
Beginning in March, the companies will kickoff a program that includes
contests asking users to submit short video segments about their lives.
Throughout the contests, Facebook users will be encouraged to upload, view,
share and rate the videos. Selected videos will be featured prominently
online on Facebook and Ziddio.com and on television including Comcast's ON
DEMAND service.
Submitted videos will also form the basis for the new television
series, "Facebook Diaries," to be produced by R.J. Cutler, the
Oscar-nominated, Emmy award-winning producer of TV shows, including
"American High" and "30 Days." Cutler will choose from the best submissions
and weave them together to produce ten half-hour episodes that will air
online and on television.
"Video sharing is extremely popular among Facebook's 16 million users,"
said Owen Van Natta, chief operating officer, Facebook. "Through our
partnership with Comcast, we are making it even easier for the Facebook
community to share video content in a trusted online environment and giving
them the opportunity to tell their stories on TV."
"Ziddio has leveraged Comcast's powerful reach in broadband and
television to create a nationwide site that elevates the world of
user-generated videos to a cross-platform experience," said Amy Banse,
president, Comcast Interactive Media. "We are excited to connect this
phenomenon with the Facebook community and bring Ziddio to its unique
demographic."
"Everyone has a story to tell and 'Facebook Diaries' is a really new
and exciting way for people to share their experiences," said producer R.J.
Cutler. "The concept is a fresh spin on entertainment and programming, and
I think it's truly groundbreaking. Facebook and Comcast are terrific
partners for this and I can't wait to get started."
Once the contests launch in March, Facebook users can begin uploading
video by joining the Ziddio-sponsored group on Facebook or through Ziddio
at http://www.ziddio.com. To join Facebook, people can authenticate into a
school or work network, or they can join a regional network by registering
at http://www.facebook.com.
Ziddio is a new multiplatform user-generated site launched last year by
Comcast Interactive Media. The site brings together premium networks and
partners to host co-branded contests with unique prizes and the chance for
users to showcase their content across multiple platforms -- online, on
Comcast's ON DEMAND service and on linear networks.
About Facebook
Founded in February 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook helps people
better understand the world around them by developing technologies that
facilitate the spread of information through social networks. The site has
over 16 million registered users in over 47,000 geographic, work-related,
collegiate, and high school networks, and according to ComScore's
MediaMetrix report, Facebook ranks as the seventh-most trafficked site in
the United States. Facebook is privately held and headquartered in Palo
Alto, Calif.
About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK) (http://www.comcast.com) is
the nation's leading provider of cable, entertainment and communications
products and services. With 24.2 million cable customers, 11.5 million
high-speed Internet customers, and 2.5 million voice customers, Comcast is
principally involved in the development, management and operation of
broadband cable systems and in the delivery of programming content.
Comcast's content networks and investments include E! Entertainment
Television, Style Network, The Golf Channel, VERSUS, G4, AZN Television,
PBS KIDS Sprout, TV One and four regional Comcast SportsNets and Comcast
Interactive Media. Comcast also has a majority ownership in Comcast
Spectacor, whose major holdings include the Philadelphia Flyers NHL hockey
team, the Philadelphia 76ers NBA basketball team and two large multipurpose
arenas in Philadelphia.
About R.J. Cutler
R.J. Cutler is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy award-winning producer,
director, filmmaker and president of Actual Reality Pictures, which
specializes in the development and production of non-fiction projects for
film and television. Over the course of his career, Cutler has garnered
numerous awards and nominations including an Emmy for creating, directing
and executive producing American High (PBS & Fox) and an Oscar nomination
for the highly-acclaimed documentary The War Room. Cutler's previous
projects include: THIN (HBO), 30 Days (FX), Oh Baby, Now What? (A&E),
Black.White (FX), Flip That House (TLC), Freshman Diaries (Showtime), The
Residents (TLC), American Candidate (Showtime), Military Diaries (VH-1),
Bound for Glory (ESPN), A Perfect Candidate, Making Dazed (AMC) and The War
Room. He also produced the nightly National Public Radio series Heat, which
won the 1991 Peabody Award for Excellence in Broadcasting.
Facebook(R) is a registered trademark of Facebook, Inc. Other names may
be trademarks of their respective owners.
SOURCE Comcast Corporation
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