Twinkle Toes Creator Dances Into America's Hearts, Wins Yahoo! Yammys - The Yahoo! Video Search Awards, Sponsored by Casio

Twinkle Toes Creator Dances Into America's Hearts, Wins Yahoo! Yammys - The Yahoo! Video Search Awards, Sponsored by Casio

Amateur Filmmaker Trumps Hundreds of Competitors to Win Red Carpet Premiere; Over 150,000 Votes Cast

SUNNYVALE, Calif., Sept. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Yahoo! Search announced today that a California amateur videographer, Marty A. Putz, and his short video creation "Twinkle Toes" trumped hundreds of other submissions to win the Yahoo! Video Search Awards, the Yammys, sponsored by Casio, Inc. Celebrity judges including Jenny McCarthy, Kelly Monaco, Pauly Shore, and commercial director Wyatt Neumann awarded "Twinkle Toes" the Grand Prize; the video also received the lion's share of more than 150,000 votes.

The Yammys contest was created to find and recognize the online video content that continues to make Yahoo! Video Search, http://video.search.yahoo.com/ , one of the most popular sites on the Web to find interesting, relevant, and fun video content. Yahoo! Search received hundreds of video submissions from around the country for the Yammys, videos that were representative of the varied and exciting creative content found online.

The videographer, Marty A. Putz of Studio City, California, will receive a full-blown, Hollywood style premiere for "Twinkle Toes" as part of the Yammys grand prize. Marty will walk down the red carpet later this fall with friends, family and new fans. In the humorous short film, "Twinkle Toes" enjoys music at a record store, perhaps a bit too much. The film was shot on site at a California record store and stars Putz wearing headphones and dancing as if oblivious to his surroundings.

"The web has become the center of the universe for cutting edge, creative content from amateur creators and Yahoo! Video Search is the gateway to that content," said Lorna Borenstein, vice president of marketing, Yahoo! Search and Marketplace. "We created the Yammys to inspire and yet recognize this growing group of creative content developers who are using today's technology to create works that millions can instantly enjoy."

The Winner and His Team

Putz works closely with his partner Randy R. Christini since their love of film sparked their friendship years ago. They have compiled many of their programs into "The Marty Putz Show," which they plan to launch on the Internet. Putz plans to share his prize with Christini.

We want to put it on sites like Yahoo! Video Search and on the Internet because it's the fastest way to get to the audience," Christini said. "We want it to be passed around; we are not protective of our work. We like it to be shared. We find our work funny but some of it is not television friendly. We know it's the kind of thing folks on the web will appreciate."

Putz is enthused by the grand prize movie premiere and other prizes that will help him enjoy the web's content. In addition to the movie premiere in the filmmakers' hometown, the Putz will also receive a Dell UltraSharp 24-inch Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor with Height Adjustable Stand (2405FPW) and a Panasonic 9 Inch Portable DVD Player (DVD-LS90).

"I've never won anything before. Randy won a free night at a campground once playing bingo but he never got to use it. I am delighted to share my prize with him and we're looking forward to editing on the Dell," Putz said. "Now we think we're Steven Spielberg and Orson Wells."

The Fan Favorites

This final round of the contest determined two categories of Yammys winners. Celebrity judges including Jenny McCarthy, Kelly Monaco, Pauly Shore and commercial director Wyatt Neumann, chose best of show winners from a list of semifinalists. Additionally, the public at large chose five "Fan Favorites" - one in each category of the contest. More than 150,000 votes were cast in the finals of the Fan Favorites competition.

"Twinkle Toes" won the Fan Favorite voting not only for its category, but overall; it was also the unanimous choice of the celebrity judges. Each of the category winners will also be screened at the world premiere event for "Twinkle Toes."

The Prizes

All 15 semi-finalists received a Casio Exilim EX-S500 digital camera, 20 Fandango movie tickets and a DVD package of celebrated films in each of the five categories.

In addition to all of the above, the Grand Prize Winner was awarded a red carpet premiere of the winning video in his hometown along with a Dell 24-inch Wide Aspect Flat Panel LCD Monitor with Height Adjustable Stand (UltraSharp 2405FPW) and a Panasonic DVD 9 Inch Portable DVD Player (DVD-LS90).

About Yahoo! Video Search

Today, users can discover and view any type of online video from news footage to movie trailers to television clips, including content from Buena Vista Pictures, CBS News, Discovery Channel, MTV, VH1 and more. In addition, Yahoo! Video Search offers access to content from the Yahoo! network by including movie trailers from Yahoo! Movies, music videos from Yahoo! Music, and exclusive Yahoo TV video from The Apprentice and The Contender.

About Yahoo!

Yahoo! Inc. is a leading global internet brand and one of the most trafficked Internet destinations worldwide. Yahoo! seeks to provide online products and services essential to users' lives, and offers a full range of tools and marketing solutions for businesses to connect with Internet users around the world. Yahoo! is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.

Source: Yahoo! Inc.

CONTACT: Sarah K. Cowan of SutherlandGold Communications, +1-415-934-9600, ext. 306, or sarah@sutherlandgold.com, for Yahoo!

Web site: http://video.search.yahoo.com/

------- Profile: Ent