Viddsee, a digital platform that curates short films around Asia, which we featured on our first episode of Vulcan TV, has just shared with us their latest announcement: since its launch in February 2013, it has recorded over 5 million unique viewers and programmed more than 10 dedicated Viddsee Channels showcasing talents from Hong Kong, Japan, Philippines, Singapore, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia and Thailand.
Viddsee has a clear vision: it hopes to raise the profile of the region’s film industry by growing its online distribution network. Last month, Viddsee also signed a content partnership with Yahoo. The Yahoo-Viddsee deal will bring award-winning short films to a significantly larger audience. How? Viddsee’s “Asian Short Films” channel will be featured on Yahoo’s entertainment portals for Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines.
The collection of well-told stories on Viddsee have entertained, inspired and moved many. Comments and feedback have expressed gratitude, praise, and encouragement, and the pleasant surprise in discovering perspectives and cultures different to their own through short films. One of such is Diogo Pinto, a Brazilian, who commented in reference to a Viddsee short film, “I really hope I can also make difference in someone’s life like the (short film) character’s father did”.
“I have learnt that a well told story can resonate very widely and very loudly,” says Singaporean filmmaker Daniel Yam. His short film, “Gift”, was originally produced for a local community non-profit. “I did not expect the film to travel so widely on Viddsee, and certainly did not expect viewers from countries like Greece, Romania, Brazil, or Russia,” he adds.
“With the confidence expressed by our users and filmmakers, and as proven by our metrics, we believe that we are on track to demonstrate that Asian short films can reach a global audience,” says Viddsee’s co-founder Derek Tan.
Recognizing this growth potential Viddsee introduces a new editorial and marketing feature Viddsee BUZZ. Viddsee BUZZ leverages on the nature of the social web to amplify conversations around film content. It brings relevance and context for each film to elicit a wider variety of responses and social sharing across platforms.
Derek Tan told tech blog e27 that they “realised that sharing a film title was very different when we were able to craft headlines and editorial to bring out the context of a film. This made it a lot easier for (the) audience to come in to watch a film and creates a more shareable environment.”
“We believe that successful film marketing needs active audience engagement. Viddsee BUZZ’s mix of editorial content and technology triggers the conversations and create engagement opportunities. We envision Viddsee BUZZ as the new communication model for film marketing,” says Viddsee’s community manager Grace Chin.
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