IFC’s Evan Shapiro and Debbie DeMontreux Among Featured Panelists
Premium Screening Room To Be Hosted by Rainbow Media For All Festival Attendees
New York, NY, September 27, 2005 – Rainbow Media will be an official network sponsor of the first annual New York Television Festival (NYTVF) and will have a significant presence throughout the six-day event. The festival will take place Wednesday, September 28 – Monday, October 3 at the Phillips, de Pury and Company gallery in New York City.
The New York Television Festival is the first creative festival of its kind in the industry, pioneering a new artistic movement called “Independent Television.” For the first time, aspiring writers, directors and producers have the opportunity to showcase their originally produced Pilot Programs directly to network and cable executives. In addition to providing a showcase for emerging artists, the NYTVF is a celebration of Television from its distinguished heritage to its role in contemporary society.
Listed below is an outline of Rainbow Media’s participation at the festival:
Rainbow Executives on Panels:
“Advertising Through Branded Entertainment” (Thursday, Sept 29 @ 2:15pm)
IFC’s Executive Vice President and General Manager, Evan Shapiro will be a featured panelist to discuss “Advertising Through Branded Entertainment.” With new technology allowing viewers to forward through commercial breaks, advertisers are searching for innovative ways to market and promote their products through branded entertainment. This industry panel will explore the business and creative relationships among advertisers, networks and producers, and discuss how success is measured for all of the respective parties in this arena. Other panelists include: Bill Cella, Chairman, MAGNA Global; Marc Chamlin, Partner, Media and Entertainment, Loeb & Loeb, LLP; and Doug Ross, Founder, Evolution Film & Tape, Inc.
“Making Your Pilot” (Sunday, October 2 @ 3:45 pm)
Debbie DeMontreux, Vice President of Development and Production for IFC, will be a featured panelist for a discussion on “Making Your Pilot.” This panel is part of the festival’s “Breaking into the Business” panel series and is open to the general public. The panel will focus on what it takes to produce a successful show, what network execs look for when screening possible new series and new television equipment that is available to directors/producers. Joining DeMontreux on the panel will be: Gill Holland, producer of IFC’s “Greg the Bunny”, and Brent Bernett, NYTVF Program Director.
*All panels are located in the Milk Studios – 1st floor of the Phillips de Pury Gallery.
Screening Room (Ongoing):
As an official network sponsor of the festival, Rainbow Media will host a premium screening room at Milk Studios on the 3rd floor of the Phillips, de Pury and Company gallery which will be available to festival attendees throughout the entire festival. Complete with flat-panel TV’s and plush sofas, the premium screening room is part of a series of screening rooms where festival attendees can view a variety of pilot screenings. Rainbow’s national cable networks, AMC, IFC and WE: Women’s Entertainment will be represented.
WE: Women’s Entertainment/McLeod’s Daughters Event (Thursday, Sept 29 @ 5pm) Kim Martin, Executive Vice President and General Manager of WE: Women’s Entertainment will join Posie Evans, creator of McLeod’s Daughters to present a 30-minute screening of the show’s season finale as part of an event hosted by the festival and the Australian Embassy. The Australian-based series was introduced to U.S. viewers through WE: Women’s Entertainment. WE continues to provide opportunities for producers like Posie Evans to reach the network’s desirable audience. Following the screening will be a cocktail reception in the VIP lounge.
About Rainbow Media Holdings LLC
A leader in sports, news and entertainment programming, Rainbow Media Holdings LLC is a subsidiary of Cablevision Systems Corporation. Rainbow owns and manages national networks: AMC, Fuse, IFC (The Independent Film Channel) and WE: Women’s Entertainment, as well as on-demand services including Mag Rack and sportskool. Rainbow’s other businesses include its regional programming services – Rainbow Sports Networks, News 12 Networks and Metro Traffic & Weather – in addition to the Rainbow Advertising Sales Corporation and Rainbow Network Communications.