About the video: Friday, June 20, 2008 YouTube Lures Top Filmmakers with Video Player with Twice the Quality of Standard Player

HOLLYWOOD -- Here on Wednesday night at the Henry Fonda Theater, YouTube co-founder Chad Hurley kicked off YouTube's debut of a new showcase for long and short-form films. Beet.TV was on the scene.

The YouTube Screening Room has attracted several highly regarded filmmakers -- and not just for the online exposure of the mega video sharing site, but for the improved quality of the video stream.

The video player deployed in the screening room has twice the quality of the standard YouTube player. We understand that YouTube is experimenting with higher quality players that improve the screen image by a factor of two. Apparently this is what we find in the Screening Room.

There is no sharable embed code, so streaming views can only take place in the "Screening Room."

We spoke with Fredrick Emilson who directed the Oscar-winning animated short Love and War. He told us how the quality of the new video player and the functionality to properly present films shot in a "shoe-box" format was key in embracing YouTube. Same sentiments from Bob Pearlstein, director of "Our Time is Up."

Sara Pollack, who heads film and animation at YouTube, told us how she has curated films for the new YouTube channel. She has personally solicited filmmakers and is now looking for submission via e-mail and will soon have an online submission.

We also spoke with Oscar-winning director Torill Kove of the Danish Poet. She won the Academy Award last year for Best Animated Short. The film is amazing.

-- Andy Plesser http://www.beet.tv/2008/06/youtube-lures-t.html