ANIMOTO FOR A CAUSE INVITES NON-PROFITS TO CHANGE THE WORLD, ONE VIDEO AT A TIME

Non-profit organizations and community activists can now create dynamic online videos to promote their cause for free; more than 20 launch partners include American Cancer Society, Save Darfur, Susan G. Komen Foundation, and Teach for America  

New York, NY, APRIL 21, 2009 Video creation platform Animoto ® (http://animoto.com) today released Animoto for a Cause (http://animoto.com/cause), giving non-profit organizations and community activists free and unlimited access to the full range of Animoto's services, both standard and premium. Animoto is the web application that lets anyone quickly and easily create dynamic, professional-quality videos from their own photos and music, and now organizations can use the service to promote their cause in a multitude of ways online, from posting and sharing videos on websites, YouTube and social networks, to downloading them to DVD for distribution at events.   Animoto for a Cause launches with 20 participating charities, ranging from national to regional, and applications are now open to qualified organizations, groups, individuals, non-profits, or activists to use the service.

"We are extremely excited about partnering with Animoto.   The program is greatly assisting Help the Children with delivering our message in a creative and professional way," says Roger Presgrove, President & CEO, Help the Children. "The videos are high-quality, and something we are very proud to share with our supporters. We sincerely appreciate Animoto for giving us an opportunity to be a part of their team."  

Animoto for a Cause will donate pro-accounts to organizations and people who are working toward improving their community, and the world at large. Community activists, those throwing fundraisers on behalf of a cause, large or small non-profits, and college organizations are just a sample of some of the groups Animoto is encouraging to apply. Those who sign up will receive:
•      Unlimited full-length video-making capabilities.
•      Animoto's Commercial Music Library of 300+ songs, all of which are licensed for promotional purposes and free to use.
•      A Call-to-Action button feature that links to an outside site once the video concludes, perfect for driving traffic to a site and asking for donations or volunteers.
•      Unlimited DVD-quality downloads, which are more than double the resolution of standard Animoto videos. DVDs can be burned, re-sold, or played during fundraising events.
•      The ability to post videos to MySpace, Facebook, YouTube, and other popular social networking sites.
•      A text feature that allows relevant information and stats to be included in the video.

"Animoto is dedicated to helping any person or organization, no matter how large or small, with their cause - whether it's helping the homeless, saving the polar bears, or just getting people at your school to recycle," says Brad Jefferson, CEO and Co-founder of Animoto. "Animoto for a Cause is our gift to those people who are trying to make a difference, and we want to help empower them with a tool to reach their community in new and exciting ways. We're excited to donate our pro-accounts to those who are trying to make the world a better place."

For the launch of Animoto for a Cause, Animoto has partnered with 20 non-profits across several industries to showcase its broad application and the diverse ways in which the service can be used.   Launch partners include:
•      Action Against Hunger- http://www.actionagainsthunger.org
•      American Cancer Society- http://www.cancer.org    
•      Art for Progress - http://www.artforprogress.org
•      Best Buddies - http://www.bestbuddies.org  
•      Bridges to Community - http://www.bridgestocommunity.org
•      C3 Missions International - http://www.c3missions.org
•      Children's Aid Society - http://www.childrensaidsociety.org  
•      Engage Her - http://www.engageher.org
•      Help the Children - http://www.helpthechildren.org
•      International Campaign for Tibet - http://www.savetibet.org  
•      LaidOff Camp - http://ny.laidoffcamp.org
•      New Immigrant Community Empowerment - http://www.nynice.org
•      Operation: Love ReUnited - http://www.oplove.org
•      Religions for Peace - http://www.wcrp.org
•      Save Darfur - http://www.savedarfur.org
•      Star Shooter - http://www.starshooter.org  
•      Susan G. Komen - Louisville Affiliate - http://www.komenlouisville.org  
•      Teach for America - http://teachforamerica.org
•      The Animal Protection and Rescue League - http://www.aprl.org  
•      V-Day - http://vday.org

"The synchronized music and motion cause the images to come alive and truly convey the emotion and passion involved with our events, such as Race for the Cure," says Lee Anna Smith, Information Coordinator, Susan G. Komen- Louisville Affiliate. "Animoto provides a fresh, dynamic approach to how we promote our events and engage our constituents."

More information on how these partners are using Animoto for a Cause can be found at http://animoto.com/cause.

Award-winning Animoto was recently nominated as the best services & applications website in the 13th Annual Webby Awards which honors excellence on the Internet.   The heart of Animoto is its Cinematic Artificial Intelligenceâ„¢ technology that thinks like an actual director and editor using the same sophisticated post-production skills and techniques that are used in television and film.   The technology takes into account every nuance of a song: the genre, song structure, energy, rhythm, instrumentation, and vocals.   No two videos are ever the same; even videos generated with an identical set of images and music will each have a completely distinct set of motion design.   Videos are produced in widescreen format, can be emailed, embedded on any website or downloaded in DVD-quality formats for display on computers, televisions, and even large projection screens.

About Animoto
The founders of Animoto Productions include veterans of the entertainment industry who share a passion for helping people share their stories and express themselves through online media by innovating technologies in the field of video production.   Animoto Productions, founded in August 2006, is based in New York City with an office in San Francisco.   Visit http://animoto.com.

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