Comcast and the Institute Launch “Days of Remembrance” Series Featuring Award-Winning Documentary Films

Ten Documentary Films from USC Shoah Foundation Institute Will Be Available Free Through Comcast’s On Demand, XfinityTV.com and Xfinity TV iPad App Platforms in Conjunction with Holocaust Remembrance Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Comcast and the Institute Launch “Days of Remembrance” Series Featuring Award-Winning Documentary Films

Ten Documentary Films from USC Shoah Foundation Institute Will Be Available Free Through Comcast’s On Demand, XfinityTV.com and Xfinity TV iPad App Platforms in Conjunction with Holocaust Remembrance Day

PHILADELPHIA, PA and LOS ANGELES, CA – April 11, 2011 – Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), one of the world’s leading media, entertainment and communications companies, and the USC Shoah Foundation Institute, an organization dedicated to overcoming prejudice and intolerance through the educational use of its visual history testimonies, today announced the launch of the 2011 “Days of Remembrance” series, a new cross-platform offering that will bring ten award-winning films about the Holocaust to Comcast customers On Demand and through the Xfinity TV iPad app and to any Internet user nationwide at www.XfinityTV.com.  These films, exclusively on Comcast, are available free starting today through May 25 in conjunction with Holocaust Remembrance Day on May 1.

Established in 1994 by Steven Spielberg to collect and preserve the testimonies of survivors and witnesses of the Holocaust, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute maintains one of the largest video digital libraries in the world: an archive of nearly 52,000 video testimonies from 56 countries and in 32 languages.

“It is an honor to partner with the Shoah Foundation Institute and to support them by raising awareness of their work and mission,” said Brian L. Roberts, Chairman and CEO of Comcast Corporation.  “At Comcast, we have a unique opportunity to leverage our technology and platforms to reach millions of people and bring attention to important issues like educating people about prejudice and intolerance.  The stories of Holocaust and genocide survivors are critical to share.  We are proud to introduce these important documentary films to our customers and hope that through our partnership, we can advance the Shoah Foundation Institute’s mission to educate and inspire people across the nation.”

“We are extremely pleased to be working with Comcast on a variety of educational initiatives that will help further the Institute’s mission,” said Steven Spielberg, Founder of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute.  “As we commemorate the Holocaust and honor the survivors during the Days of Remembrance, we hope that by sharing these films and firsthand accounts, these eyewitnesses to history will serve as teachers for future generations.  This partnership allows us to expand significantly the reach and impact of our documentary films and enables us to touch millions of people across the United States.”

“We believe that every survivor has a unique and important story to share, and our partnership with Comcast provides an opportunity for millions of people to listen to and learn from these stories,” said Stephen D. Smith, Executive Director of the USC Shoah Foundation Institute.  “Through Comcast’s On Demand, XfinityTV.com and Xfinity TV iPad app platforms, we will be able to reach real people in their everyday lives.  We hope the documentary films and the testimonies will inspire viewers to think about the power of their own voices and what they – and all of us – can do to carry forward the message of survivors.”

The ten documentary films feature firsthand accounts from individual survivors and witnesses of their personal experiences during the Holocaust, and are all presented by the USC Shoah Foundation Institute.  This is the first time these films will be offered as a complete package to a U.S. television audience.

Comcast customers can find these films in the On Demand library by selecting the “Top Picks” or “Free Movies” categories and then “Days of Remembrance.”  The films will also be available through XfinityTV.com (http://xfinitytv.comcast.net/specials/daysofremembrance) and the Xfinity TV iPad app.  The XfinityTV.com site will feature additional content from the Institute, including short clips of survivor testimonies, background information on the organization and its work, and a link to http://onevoiceatatime.org, where visitors can watch full testimony.

To build awareness of the partnership and the cross-platform offering, Comcast has developed a robust marketing campaign to support the content and drive viewership, including a two-month national Public Service Announcement campaign that will be carried on Comcast Cable systems nationwide.

The “Days of Remembrance” offering is available to Comcast customers through May 25 and includes:
Ten documentary films

• The Last Days (1998) - Academy Award® for Best Feature Documentary
• The Lost Children of Berlin (1997)
• Broken Silence (2001) – 5 part series
• Eyes of the Holocaust (2001)
• Some Who Lived (2001)
• Children from the Abyss (2001)
• I Remember (2001)
• Hell on Earth (2001)
• Voices from the List (2004)
• Spell Your Name (2006)
• I Only Wanted to Live (2006)

Short Film about the USC Shoah Foundation Institute

• In Perpetuity (2009)

Comcast is committed to leveraging its technology and platforms to help broaden the reach of important organizations and causes and bring new exciting content to customers.  The company partnered with Stand Up to Cancer on the first-ever On Demand initiative to broaden awareness and raise critical funds for cancer research.  Earlier this year, Comcast also partnered with the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library and Museum to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy Presidency by creating an On Demand destination featuring one of the largest public offerings of JFK content outside of the JFK Library.

About Comcast Corporation
Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq:  CMCSA, CMCSK) (www.comcast.com) is one of the world’s leading media, entertainment and communications companies.  Comcast is principally involved in the operation of cable systems through Comcast Cable and in the development, production and distribution of entertainment, news, sports and other content for global audiences through NBCUniversal.  Comcast Cable is one of the nation's largest video, high-speed Internet and phone providers to residential and business customers.  Comcast is the majority owner and manager of NBCUniversal, which owns and operates entertainment and news cable networks, the NBC and Telemundo broadcast networks, local television station groups, television production operations, a major motion picture company and theme parks.

About the USC Shoah Foundation Institute for Visual History and Education
In 1994, after completing the film Schindler’s List, Steven Spielberg established the Shoah Foundation to collect and preserve the video testimonies of survivors and other witnesses of the Holocaust. He envisioned that these eyewitness accounts could have a profound effect on education, and that the survivors could become teachers of humanity for generations to come. Today, the USC Shoah Foundation Institute’s Visual History Archive is one of the largest video digital libraries in the world, with nearly 52,000 testimonies in 32 languages and from 56 countries.

The Shoah Foundation Institute is part of the University of Southern California’s Dana and David Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences; its mission is to overcome prejudice, intolerance, and bigotry—and the suffering they cause—through the educational use of its visual history testimonies.

Working within the University and with partners around the world to advance education, research and scholarship, the Institute provides unique and essential content through the dissemination of its testimonies.

Through innovative online tools, resources, and groundbreaking programs developed for educators and students, the Institute is playing a global role in transforming education. In addition, the Institute is working to preserve its testimonies in perpetuity, and to expand the archive with accounts of survivors and witnesses of other genocides.

About the Days of Remembrance
The United States Congress established the Days of Remembrance as the nation’s annual commemoration of the Holocaust.  This year, Holocaust Remembrance Day is Sunday, May 1. 

Observances and remembrance activities can occur during the week of Remembrance that runs from the Sunday before Holocaust Remembrance Day through the following Sunday. Days of Remembrance are observed by state and local governments, military bases, workplaces, schools, churches, synagogues, and civic centers.
 

Comcast Corporation
Ellen Mellody
215-286-4675
ellen_mellody@comcast.com

USC Shoah Foundation Institute
Talia Cohen
213-740-6036
taliacoh@dornsife.usc.edu