HBO GIVES AUDIENCES A DROP OF TRUE BLOOD WITH ONLINE PREMIERE OF ALL-NEW, ORIGINAL MINISODES

Written by Show Creator Alan Ball and Featuring Lead Cast Members, Minisodes Begin Debuting Online Today with Network Debut, May 2

New York, N.Y., April 27, 2010 - As audiences get ready for the highly anticipated new season of True Blood, debuting on HBO, June 13, the network is giving viewers a drop of True Blood with an online premiere of six original minisodes for the series. Written by show creator Alan Ball and featuring lead cast members, the minisodes are entirely new, with scenes that can't be found in past or future seasons. The first minisode will debut online today exclusively on Yahoo! at: www.tv.yahoo.com.

Following its debut on Yahoo!, the first minisode will be available for streaming and sharing at www.hbo.com and the official True Blood Facebook page: www.facebook.com/trueblood beginning on Wednesday, April 28 and can be seen on HBO starting on Sunday, May 2 and HBO On Demand on Monday, May 3. Subsequent minisodes will have exclusive debuts each week for five weeks on select online sites, followed by HBO.com. The minisodes will make their network premiere every Sunday night immediately after the season 2 encore presentations at 8pm, with HOD premieres each Monday.

"The minisodes provide a wonderful and rare opportunity to take a deeper look into Bon Temps and the characters that live in this colorful town," said Alan Ball, Creator and Executive Producer of True Blood. "The scenes are so much fun, and the performances as stellar as always. I can't wait to share them with everyone, old fans and new."

"We can't think of a better way to quench fans' thirst for True Blood than to give them six, entirely new minisodes that let them step back into the amazing world created by Alan Ball," said Zach Enterlin, Vice President of Advertising and Promotion, HBO. "The minisodes are a perfect way to reward fans of the series while simultaneously exposing new, interested viewers to the show."

As meticulously crafted as the show itself, the True Blood minisodes were shot on location by the series' production team and feature lead characters Sookie, Bill, Eric, Tara, Sam, Jason, Lafayette, Jessica and Pam in all new, original scenes with a nod to past and future storylines. The 3-5 minute minisodes promise to entice "Trubies" as well as potential viewers with scenes that will whet their appetites for things to come.

The minisodes are part of a comprehensive True Blood marketing campaign created by HBO that began in March with a viral video and poster campaign. The campaign will continue through the network premiere and includes everything from screening events, online, mobile and social media outreach, stunts, multi-platform and viral videos and traditional media.

Mixing romance, suspense, mystery and humor, the Emmy(R) and Golden Globe(R)-winning original series takes place in the not-too-distant future, when vampires have come out of the coffin, thanks to the invention of mass-produced synthetic blood that means they no longer need humans as a nutritional source. Centered in the backwoods Louisiana town of Bon Temps, True Blood follows the ongoing adventures and deadly twists and turns that threaten telepathic heroine Sookie Stackhouse (Anna Paquin), her soul mate, 173-year-old vampire Bill Compton (Stephen Moyer), and everyone else around her. Alan Ball (creator of the Emmy(R)-winning HBO series "Six Feet Under") created and executive produces the show, which is based on the best-selling Sookie Stackhouse novels by Charlaine Harris.

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