Awards Ceremony Airs Live Exclusively On IFC
Pre-Ceremony Red Carpet Live Coverage on WE: Women's Entertainment
Rebroadcast Makes Its Debut on AMC
L'Oréal Paris Signed on as Sponsor to Run Across All Three Rainbow Brands; Individual Network Sponsors Include: Target, Acura, Honda Odyssey, and Celebrity Cruises
NEW YORK, NY, January 11, 2006 – Rainbow Media announced today that for the first time, all three of its national networks – AMC, IFC and WE: Women's Entertainment – will come together in a cross-platform programming initiative designed to offer viewers unprecedented pre – and post-ceremony coverage of Film Independent's 2006 Independent Spirit Awards.
As the first event to honor independent film exclusively, the Spirit Awards has made a name for itself as the premier awards event for the independent film community. Hosted annually on the Saturday before the Oscars®, the Spirit Awards is a celebration of independent filmmakers who bring a unique vision and a spirit of independence to filmmaking. Last year, the 20th Anniversary ceremony was hosted by Samuel L. Jackson and honored such films as Sideways, Garden State and Mean Creek. The Awards show has become the vanguard event in independent film and attracts major sponsors. L'Oréal Paris has signed on as a sponsor for this year's Rainbow Media multi-cast and will be featured across the three Rainbow networks, providing, for the first time in Rainbow's history, a cross-platform initiative for advertisers across the three national networks. Additional sponsors signed on for portions of the multi-cast include: Target, Acura, Honda Odyssey, and Celebrity Cruises.
"With this year's Spirit Awards we are maximizing the power of all three of Rainbow's national brands, dramatically expanding the audience for a film event that continues to grow in prominence," stated Ed Carroll, President of Rainbow Entertainment Services. "The live, uncensored broadcast on IFC; the re-broadcast on AMC; and the red carpet arrivals on WE will offer viewers nationwide a multi-faceted experience of the Awards show. We fully support the independent film community and are excited to celebrate this important and entertaining event."
"Having just celebrated our 20th Anniversary of the Independent Spirit Awards, we feel more than ever that the Spirit Awards celebrate the best in original filmmaking and further increase the audience and awareness for these films," said Dawn Hudson, Executive Director of Film Independent. "We are thrilled to be part of Rainbow Media's historical cross-platform initiative as their commitment to the Independent Spirit Awards works in tandem with Film Independent's overall mission to celebrate the wide spectrum of independent filmmaking."
Rainbow Media received the exclusive broadcast rights to air the annual awards ceremony through 2009, with IFC renewing its long-standing commitment to the awards show which was set in 1997, ensuring the broadcast of the awards will air live, uncut and without commercial interruption. The deal also adds the power of AMC as an additional broadcast partner, providing the awards show with its biggest basic cable platform for its tape-delayed re-broadcast. Additionally, WE will provide live action via pre-ceremony red carpet coverage.
For this year's coverage of the Film Independent Spirit Awards on AMC, IFC and WE, sponsor tactics include: on-air presence through tagged tune-ins, billboards, vignettes featuring the nominees, branded trivia pop-ups, and on-line presence.
IFC
- For the tenth year, IFC exclusively airs the Awards live from Santa Monica on March 4 from 5 – 7 pm ET/ 2 – 4 pm PT. IFC is a premiere sponsor of the 2006 ceremony.
- Sponsored vignettes of past and present Award winners will air both before and during the award show.
- IFC continues its partnership with Target for the exclusive live broadcast. Acura has also signed on for the second year and is the sole sponsor of The Best Fest on IFC, featuring past film award winners and nominees, which will air on IFC leading up to the Spirit Awards.
- Both sponsors receive on-air presence through tune-ins, vignettes featuring nominees, and post- Spirit Award vignettes.
WE: Women's Entertainment
- WE will feature an exciting live red carpet welcome to viewers a half hour before the ceremony at 4:30 pm ET/1:30PM PT, and repeat again at 7:30 pm ET/4:30 pm PT prior to the AMC rebroadcast, to highlight the fashions, the personalities and the spontaneous interactions with the ceremony's celebrity honorees and attendants.
- Honda Odyssey has signed on as the exclusive sponsor of WE's live red carpet event and will receive on-air presence through tagged tune- ins, billboards, and vignettes featuring the nominees, as well as on-line presence at www.we.tv with sponsor logo and link, banner ads, and logo in the monthly WE newsletter.
AMC
- AMC will re-air the program later in the evening, March 4 from 10 pm – 12 am ET/PT
- The Independent Spirit Awards will provide AMC with a new addition to its awards show lineup, which includes American Cinematheque.
- AMC has also signed Celebrity Cruises as an exclusive sponsor of its re-broadcast. They will receive on-air presence through tagged tune-ins billboards, vignettes featuring nominees, and branded trivia pop-ups.
About Rainbow Media
A leader in the entertainment industry, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation. Rainbow creates and manages some of the country's most compelling and dynamic programming with linear networks including national networks – AMC, fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women's Entertainment; its regional programming service – Rainbow Sports Networks; on-demand networks including Mag Rack and sportskool; and the largest suite of high definition channels available anywhere – the VOOM HD Networks. Rainbow's other businesses include its film distribution, production and exhibition division – IFC Entertainment; in addition to its advertising sales division – Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation – and its full service network programming origination and distribution company – Rainbow Network Communications.
About Film Independent
Film Independent is the largest non-profit organization dedicated to supporting independent filmmakers, expanding the audience for independent film, and increasing diversity in the industry. Film Independent works to cultivate the careers of its diverse body of members and to help filmmakers across the spectrum find their audiences.
Film Independent provides its 6,300 members access to resources and onsite facilities to get films made; more than 100 free screenings each year; more than 150 educational events and workshops; and Project: Involve, a diversity/mentoring program for under-represented filmmakers.
Film Independent produces the world-class Los Angeles Film Festival, celebrating the best of American and international independent film. This year's festival runs June 22 – July 2, 2006. Film Independent also produces the Independent Spirit Awards, the premier awards event of the independent film community.
Join our community of independent filmmakers, film lovers, and industry leaders. Visit Film Independent.org or call 310.432.1200.