1. A method implemented by a computer performing instructions, tangibly embodied in a computer readable medium, for processing multimedia data, the method comprising: generating a user preference description defining a hierarchical structure to describe preferences for filtering and searching of multimedia content based on a content description identifying directors or actors for multimedia streams identified by their titles, the hierarchical structure including first and second preference elements, the first preference element explicitly identifying a single content description component and the second preference element explicitly identifying a specific combination of a plurality of content description components, wherein each of at least two content description components in the specific combination specifies a corresponding director or actor without reference to any of the titles, and wherein the user preference description specifies a first preference value for the first preference element and a second preference value for the second preference element, the first preference value characterizing user preference for the single description component and the second preference value providing a single value characterizing user preference for the specific combination of the plurality of content description components, wherein the second preference value is set using explicit user input or a user's access pattern to multimedia content; and using the user preference description to filter or search for preferred content in the multimedia streams.