Awards Ceremony Airs Live Exclusively and Uncut on IFC Primetime Rebroadcast to Air on AMC Pre-Ceremony Red Carpet Live Coverage on WE tv
Rainbow's Exclusive Broadcast Coverage Garners Extensive International Pickup
Network Sponsors Include Acura, DIRECTV, L'Oréal Paris
and M&M's
New York, NY, February 5, 2007 – Rainbow Media announced today that, for the second consecutive year, three of its national networks – AMC, IFC and WE tv – will come together again in a cross-platform programming initiative designed to offer viewers unprecedented pre- and post-ceremony coverage of the 2007 Film Independent's Spirit Awards. The Awards show will air live exclusively on IFC on Saturday, February 24 at 5 pm ET with an edited rebroadcast later that evening on AMC at 10 pm ET. The event's live Red Carpet festivities will begin a half-hour prior to the show on WE tv at 4:30 pm ET. As the vanguard event in independent film, the Awards show attracts major sponsors, and this year's Rainbow Media multi-cast includes sponsorship from Acura and DIRECTV, L'Oréal Paris and M & M's. Sponsors will receive cross-platform opportunities including: on-air presence through tagged tune-ins that will run cross- channel, integrative billboards and in-show pop-ups, as well as on-line presence.
As the first event to honor independent film exclusively, the Spirit Awards is 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. This year, the 22nd Annual ceremony will be hosted by comedian Sarah Silverman. Last year's ceremony, which also was hosted by Silverman, honored such films as Brokeback Mountain, Capote and Crash.
"Rainbow is maximizing the power of three of its national brands to dramatically expand 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 tv 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."
"The Spirit Awards truly celebrate the best in original filmmaking and help to 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 cross-platform initiative again this year as their commitment to the event 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 tv will provide live action via pre-ceremony red carpet coverage. This year, all three Rainbow networks will incorporate online presence with mini-websites linked to each homepage promoting the ceremony coverage, and a live webcam will stream footage from backstage, the red carpet and the IFC after party.
In 2006, the first year the Spirit Awards aired internationally, broadcasters in more than 65 countries and territories around the globe bought the rights to share Rainbow Media's exclusive coverage with their viewers. Poised to repeat last year's overwhelming success, Rainbow Media has secured solid early sales of its exclusive coverage of the 2007 Awards ceremony to broadcasters on three continents. The sales-brokered by UK's Electric Sky-come at a pace well ahead of the process last year. Broadcasters already onboard include: NonStop Television's entertainment channel Star! (Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxemburg, The Netherlands and Belgium), ITV4 (UK and Ireland) and Infinito (Latin America, Brazil, Portugal and Portuguese speaking Africa).
Following is a network breakdown of this year's coverage and sponsorship:
IFC
- For the 11th year, IFC exclusively airs the Awards ceremony live from Santa Monica on February 24 at 5pm ET/ 2pm PT. IFC is a premier sponsor of the 2007 ceremony.
- The winning film from IFC Media Lab and Film Independent's 2007 Spirit Awards Contest –which challenged filmmakers around the nation to submit short films online with the theme "What Does Independence Mean to You?" – will be announced and air live during the broadcast.
- Sponsored vignettes of past and present Award winners will air weeks leading up to and after the award show.
- Acura has signed on for a third year, and is the on site sponsor as well as 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.
- Acura, DIRECTV, L'Oréal Paris and M & M's will receive on-air presence through tune-ins and sponsored "pop-ups" that will run throughout the show.
WE tv
- WE tv will feature live Red Carpet coverage hosted by Rachael Harris ("Fat Actress", "For Your Consideration") and Chuck Nice ("Cinematherapy") beginning a half-hour before the ceremony at 4:30 pm ET/ 1:30pm PT, and repeat again at 7:30 pm ET/PT prior to the AMC rebroadcast, to highlight the fashions, personalities and spontaneous interactions with the ceremony's celebrity honorees and attendants.
- As sponsors, L'Oréal Paris and M & M's will receive exclusive interview vignettes with the 2007 nominees.
- Online, in addition to banners and branded broadband content, sponsors will receive branding via a we.tv Red Carpet Interactive Poll where viewers will be able to vote on the outfit to be worn by one of the female nominees at the Awards. This will be promoted live within the WE tv Red Carpet airing and will drive to we.tv for voting.
AMC
- AMC will re-air the program later in the evening, February 24 at 10pm ET.
- Acura, DIRECTV, L'Oréal Paris and M& M's will all receive nomination vignettes, in-show pop-ups and integrated billboards.
- Online, the sponsors will receive presence on AMC's Independent Spirit Awards micro-site via their logo and link.
- Each sponsor will also receive brand presence during the Sunday Morning Shootout – Independent Spirit Awards special, premiering the day after the awards ceremony on Sunday, February 25th.
Following is the complete list of the Film Independent Spirit Award Nominees :
Best Feature:
"American Gun"
"The Dead Girl"
"Half Nelson"
"Little Miss Sunshine"
"Pan's Labyrinth"
Best Director:
Robert Altman, "A Prairie Home Companion"
Jonathan Dayton, Valerie Faris, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Ryan Fleck, "Half Nelson"
Karen Moncrieff, "The Dead Girl"
Steven Soderbergh, "Bubble"
Best First Feature:
"Day Night Day Night"
"Man Push Cart"
"The Motel"
"Sweet Land"
"Wristcutters: A Love Story"
Best Documentary:
"A Lion in the House"
"My Country, My Country"
"The Road to Guantanamo"
"The Trials of Darryl Hunt"
"You're Gonna Miss Me"
Best Foreign Film:
"12:08 East of Bucharest"
"The Blossoming of Maximo Oliveros"
"Chronicle of an Escape"
"Days of Glory"
"The Lives of Others"
Best Female Lead:
Shareeka Epps, "Half Nelson"
Catherine O'Hara, "For Your Consideration"
Elizabeth Reaser, "Sweet Land"
Michelle Williams, "Land of Plenty"
Robin Wright Penn, "Sorry, Haters"
Best Male Lead:
Aaron Eckhart, "Thank You For Smoking"
Ryan Gosling, "Half Nelson"
Edward Norton, "The Painted Veil"
Ahmad Razvi, "Man Push Cart"
Forest Whitaker, "American Gun"
Best Supporting Female:
Melonie Diaz, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"
Marcia Gay Harden, "American Gun"
Mary Beth Hurt, "The Dead Girl"
Frances McDormand, "Friends With Money"
Amber Tamblyn, "Stephanie Daley"
Best Supporting Male:
Alan Arkin, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Raymond J. Barry, "Steel City"
Daniel Craig, "Infamous"
Paul Dano, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Channing Tatum, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"
Best Screenplay:
Neil Burger, "The Illusionist"
Nicole Holofcener, "Friends with Money"
Ron Nyswaner, "The Painted Veil"
Jason Reitman, "Thank You For Smoking"
Jeff Stanzler, "Sorry, Haters"
Best First Screenplay:
Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck, "Half Nelson"
Michael Arndt, "Little Miss Sunshine"
Goran Dukic, "Wristcutters: A Love Story"
Dito Montiel, "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints"
Gabrielle Zevin, "Conversations with Other Women"
Best Cinematography:
Arin Crumley, "Four Eyed Monsters"
Anthony Dod Mantle, "Brothers of the Head"
Guillermo Navarro, "Pan's Labyrinth"
Aaron Platt, "Wild Tigers I Have Known"
Michael Simmonds, "Man Push Cart"
Someone to Watch Award:
So Yong Kim, "In Between Days"
Julia Loktev, "Day Night Day Night"
Richard Wong, "Colma: The Musical"
John Cassavetes Award:
"Chalk"
"Four Eyed Monsters"
"Old Joy"
"Quinceañera"
"Twelve and Holding"
Truer Than Fiction Award:
AJ Schnack, "Kurt Cobain: About a Son"
Adele Horne, "The Tailenders"
Eric Daniel Metzgar, "The Chances of the World Changing"
Producers Award:
Julie Lynn, "Nine Lives," "10 Items or Less"
Alex Orlovsky and Jamie Patricof, "Half Nelson," "Point&Shoot"
Howard Gertler and Tim Perell, "Shortbus," "Pizza"
Special Distinction:
David Lynch, Laura Dern, "Inland Empire"
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation (NYSE: CVC). Rainbow Media creates and manages some of the country's most compelling and dynamic entertainment brands including popular national and regional television channels AMC, fuse, The Independent Film Channel (IFC), WE tv, and two FSN affiliated regional sports networks managed by Rainbow Sports Networks. The company also manages Mag Rack and sportskool, two original on-demand networks; VOOM HD Networks, the largest and most diverse suite of high definition channels available anywhere; IFC Entertainment, its film distribution, production and exhibition division; Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation, its advertising sales division; and Rainbow Network Communications, its full service network programming origination and distribution company.
ABOUT FILM INDEPENDENT
Film Independent is a non-profit membership organization that champions independent film and supports a community of artists who embody diversity, innovation, and uniqueness of vision. Film Independent helps filmmakers make their movies, builds the audience for their projects, and works to diversify the film industry. Anyone passionate about film can become a member, whether you are a filmmaker, film industry leader, or a film lover.
With over 250 annual screenings and events, Film Independent provides access to a network of like-minded artists who are driving creativity in the film industry. Film Independent also offers free Filmmaker Labs for selected writers, directors, and producers; provides cut-rate services for filmmakers; and presents year-round networking opportunities. Film Independent's mentorship and job placement program, Project:Involve, pairs emerging culturally-diverse filmmakers with film industry professionals.
Film Independent produces the Los Angeles Film Festival, celebrating the best of American and international cinema, and the Spirit Awards, a celebration honoring films and filmmakers that embody independence and dare to challenge the status quo.
For more information or to become a member, visit FilmIndependent.org