News
PR: Time Warner Cable Sponsors Film Fest
Note from author Robert Marich. The on-demand cable TV marketing of Indian films is the catalyst for this film festival sponsorship. Time Warner Cable of NY and NJ is a first-time backer for this fest, but has sponsored other South Asian film events in the past. In a similar vein, broadband provider RCN Corp. -- whose services compete directly with cable as an "overbuilder" -- announced Sept. 4 it is a sponsor of two local Washington D.C. fests--DC Meets Delhi Film and and Indian Visions. A full list of sponsors joining Time Warner Cable in today's announcement is at the bottom of this file.
New York, NY - Sept. 27, 2007 -- Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey and Saavn (formerly BODVOD Networks) are showing their support for Bollywood and South Asian cinema by sponsoring the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival (MIAAC) which is now in its seventh year of bringing the finest films of Indian independent and diaspora cinema to New York City. The cable company has teamed up again with Saavn, the company that powers the Bollywood category on Time Warner Cable International Movies On Demand Channel 500 with Bollywood movies from UTV, Adlabs and Yash Raj Films. With this new partnership with MIAAC, Saavn and Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey deliver even more of the South Asian movies of all genres that its customers love.
"We are excited to be working with Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey this year," states Indo-American Arts Council Executive Director Aroon Shivdasani. "The availability of International Movies On Demand is an important step towards highlighting Indian cinema. MIAAC's commitment to present quality Indian cinema creates a perfect partnership with Time Warner Cable's commitment to ensure availability of these genres," she adds.
2007 marks a groundbreaking year for the convergence of Hollywood and Bollywood. Eyes are turning towards the East, as
This collage treatment for the MIAAC fest logo lists at bottom Time Warner Cable, cable pay-per-view Bollywood On Demand and other fest sponsors. A full list of fest sponsors is below.
Hollywood studios are beginning to invest in Bollywood films. Warner Brothers, Viacom, Disney and Sony Pictures are now all part of the booming Indian movie-making industry. Bollywood hero Salman Khan has been attached to two upcoming pictures with Indian Film Company and Viacom. Not to be left out of the Bollywood game, Sony Pictures has its hands in "Saawariya," spearheaded by Sanjay Leela Bhansali of "Devdas" acclaim.
Leading up to the film festival, Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey and Saavn launched their Summer of Love campaign. The promotion celebrated premieres of the New York-set comedy "Jaan-E-Mann", and "Umrao Jaan" starring the newly-married Bollywood power couple Aishwarya Rai and Abhishek Bachchan. The epic Moghul-era romance "Umrao Jaan" made its North American premiere at IAAC's film festival last November.
"Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey is excited to sponsor the Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival. Through this partnership, we're proud to deliver even more Bollywood and South Asian movies to our customers through International Movies On Demand," stated David Goldberg, Vice President, Marketing Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey. "To help serve the diverse, multicultural communities in our service area, we're delighted to offer international films that can be enjoyed by South Asian and mainstream viewers alike," added Goldberg.
About Indo-American Arts Council (IAAC) (http://www.iaac.us): The Indo-American Arts Council was established in 1998 as a 501(c)3 not-for-profit organization charged with the mission of promoting and building the awareness, creation, production, exhibition, publication and performance of Indian and cross-cultural art forms in North America (in the performing, visual, literary & folk arts). The IAAC is committed to building an awareness of Indian artistic disciplines in North America, and does so through a wide, variety of activities and events, including their successful and acclaimed annual Film Festival.
The 7th Annual Mahindra Indo-American Arts Council Film Festival runs November 7-11, 2007 at prestigious venues across Manhattan, such as Loews Times Square, Madame Tussauds, Asia Society, and Loews Broadway. More information on ticket sales, film selections, and schedule can be found at www.iaac.us/seventh_film_festival2007.
About Saavn (http://www.saavn.com): Saavn is the largest digital distributor of South Asian content in the world with exclusive rights to movies, television shows and music videos from the premiere movie producers, television networks and record labels in India and other parts of the world. The company has relationships with leading South Asian content producers such as Yash Raj Films, Adlabs, UTV, and T-Series and key distribution relationships with companies such as Time Warner, Cox, Rogers, iTunes, Amazon Unbox, and Verizon Wireless. In addition to packaging programming for these cable, Internet and mobile carrier companies, Saavn also runs media and marketing programs to help them serve the passionate audience for Bollywood and other South Asian content. The Saavn team consists of media veterans with experience in content licensing, programming, retail products, marketing and multi-platform distribution. Saavn is headquartered in New York, NY and is a venture of 212MEDIA, LLC, Hungama Mobile Pvt Ltd., and Schramm Sports & Entertainment, Inc.
About Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey (http://timewarnercable.com/nynj): Time Warner Cable of New York and New Jersey serves over 1.4 million customers in four NYC boroughs (Manhattan, Queens, Staten Island and western Brooklyn), Mt. Vernon, Hudson Valley (Orange, Sullivan, Ulster Counties and parts of Dutchess, Greene and Delaware Counties) and Bergen and Hudson Counties, New Jersey.
Our parent company, Time Warner Cable owns and manages cable systems passing approximately 26 million homes in 33 states. The Company has 14.6 million customers for its various products, including video, high-speed data and residential telephone. This includes approximately 13.4 million basic video subscribers and more than 6 million customers who purchase more than one product. Time Warner Cable includes some of the most technologically advanced and best-clustered cable systems in the country, with nearly 85 percent of the Company's customers located in five geographic regions: New York, Texas, Ohio, the Carolinas and southern California. It is the largest cable provider in the nation's two largest cities, Los Angeles and New York. Leveraging its leadership in innovation and quality customer care, Time Warner Cable delivers advanced products and services such as video-on-demand, high-definition television, digital video recorders, high-speed data and Digital Phone.
From the author, here's a full list of sponsors: Analog Digital film editing equipment, Applecore Hotels, Asia Society, Bilimoria Wines, Duggal visual solutions, India Abroad newspaper, Krait Beer, multinational Mahindra & Mahindra, Nationwide insurance, New York City Department of Cultural Arts (DCA), New York State Council for the Arts (NYSCA), National Endowment for the Arts (NEA), Time Warner Cable, Saavn on demand Indian movies and telcom Verizon. Saavn provides Indian movies to Time Warner Cable's on demand service.