MGM Lion Caged by Google and YouTube
Or the story of how search engine giant Google got Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer to put full length movies on YouTube. That’s right, you will get to see some of your favorite MGM produced movies directly on your monitor, for free. The first full length feature to be hosted by YouTube is the 2003 adventure-comedy “Bulletproof Monk”, starring Jet Li, Sean William Scott and Jamie King
The days of watching 30 second clips of someone’s cat frolicking about the sofa are now over. Step aside furry little domestic felines and make way for the king of beasts, the MGM lion. Other things that have been put aside are YouTube’s conviction that full length movies have no business being uploaded to the popular video content provider, and MGM’s copyright infringement battles with YouTube.
Executive Vice President of MGM corporate communications Jeff Prior comments: “We kicked off in 2002 a very aggressive campaign to get the studio on all major platforms. We are on iTunes, Xbox, Hulu and Amazon, and YouTube seems a natural progression to go to next. They were looking to increase their proposition statement. It's really a great way for both companies to get together on an exciting partnership.”
YouTube has already signed similar deals with other content providers such as BBC Worldwide, Fox, CBS, HBO and Showtime.
The positive outcome of this YouTube-MGM marriage is that the users will gain free online access to MGM’s library of full length movies and TV shows, which features over 4,000 titles and more than 10,000 hours of TV shows. On the downside, regular users will no longer be able to upload unofficial MGM-related content to YouTube – special blocking software will be employed.
Bullet proof monk is the first 104 minutes movie to be featured on YouTube. If you have time to spare (or waste) click here to watch it.
The days of watching 30 second clips of someone’s cat frolicking about the sofa are now over. Step aside furry little domestic felines and make way for the king of beasts, the MGM lion. Other things that have been put aside are YouTube’s conviction that full length movies have no business being uploaded to the popular video content provider, and MGM’s copyright infringement battles with YouTube.
Executive Vice President of MGM corporate communications Jeff Prior comments: “We kicked off in 2002 a very aggressive campaign to get the studio on all major platforms. We are on iTunes, Xbox, Hulu and Amazon, and YouTube seems a natural progression to go to next. They were looking to increase their proposition statement. It's really a great way for both companies to get together on an exciting partnership.”
YouTube has already signed similar deals with other content providers such as BBC Worldwide, Fox, CBS, HBO and Showtime.
The positive outcome of this YouTube-MGM marriage is that the users will gain free online access to MGM’s library of full length movies and TV shows, which features over 4,000 titles and more than 10,000 hours of TV shows. On the downside, regular users will no longer be able to upload unofficial MGM-related content to YouTube – special blocking software will be employed.
Bullet proof monk is the first 104 minutes movie to be featured on YouTube. If you have time to spare (or waste) click here to watch it.
