Youku parent firm goes back to old name

Koo attributes the booming market for videos made by ordinary people to the fact that lowering the threshold for admittance has allowed more people to create videos.

Gu Sibin, chief products officer of Heyi Group, says: "The popularity of uploaded videos used to greatly depend on whether they are recommended by website editors. However, the users will have more methods to attract viewers in the future."

He says the more views a channel has, the more power the content up-loaders will have over their channels which are closely connected with online shopping, crowdfunding and a share of advertising income.

Youku has about 10 personalized channels, with an estimated value of more than 100 million yuan.

Gu Sibin expects that number to increase with their more flexible platform.

According to Wei Ming, who heads program production on Youku.com, encouraging grassroots projects will lead to ideas for new, major projects.

He says grassroots productions have already proven they can translate to major mainstream audiences.

Old Boys: The Way of the Dragon, a feature-length film developed from a short video uploaded to Youku became a hit not only in cinemas, but a social phenomenon with the song Little Apple from the film, becoming an unexpected viral hit.

Heyi Pictures has invested in more than 20 films since its founding last August.

Nevertheless, a major cinema release is still not big enough in Koo's eyes.

"People will see us making our advance in many different dimensions in the near future," Koo says, smiling.

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