Starz Entertainment Expands Support for the Telluride Film Festival

Starz Entertainment Expands Support for the Telluride Film Festival

Starz Entertainment Jumps to Lead Sponsor at the 34th Annual Festival

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Aug. 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Starz Entertainment today announced the renewal of its support for the Telluride Film Festival at an increased level. The company will be the lead sponsor of the 34th annual Festival taking place Friday, Aug. 31 through Monday, Sept. 3.

"The Telluride Film Festival is one of the top few film festivals in the world which we have supported for more than a decade and are pleased to continue our sponsorship at a higher level for the next two years," said Stephan Shelanski, senior vice president of programming, Starz Entertainment. "Our increased sponsorship proves our commitment to the Festival and everything it represents -- the love of film and the art of filmmaking."

"We are delighted to have Starz back in a larger role this year," said Julie Huntsinger, managing director of the Telluride Film Festival. "We love working with a sponsor that understands our world and the importance of helping audiences discover great movies from around the world ... everything from cutting edge dramas to surprising comedies. Starz provides viewers with its own diverse film festival 24 hours a day, all year long, on their 16 different channels. "

Starz will sponsor the Palm Theater throughout the four-day Festival. The Palm Theater is the largest of the eight different Festival venues that will show a selection of more than 40 films that will be showcased in the Festival this year. The schedule is never announced until opening day, but last year's premieres included Babel, Volver, The Lives of Others and The Last King of Scotland. Films from the Festival's last two years of programming have gathered 35 Academy Award(R) nominations.

Shelanski said Starz will film Festival events, including interviews with top stars who plan to attend, and will air special reports from the Festival on the Starz channels.

Starz Entertainment also sponsors the Hollywood, Maui and Starz Denver Film Festivals.

About The Telluride Film Festival

Co-founded in 1974 by Tom Luddy, James Card and Bill and Stella Pence, the Telluride Film Festival is a four-day, international educational event celebrating the art of film, nestled in the tiny mountain village of Telluride, Colo. The Festival exists to provide the opportunity for lovers and creators of cinema to come together, see and discuss the most interesting film work of the past and present. Festival headquarters are in Berkeley, Calif.

About Starz Entertainment

Starz Entertainment, LLC, is a premium movie service provider operating in the United States. It offers 16 movie channels including the flagship Starz(R) and Encore(R) brands with approximately 15.8 million and 28.2 million subscribers respectively. Starz Entertainment airs more than 1,000 movies per month across its pay TV channels and offers advanced services including Starz HD, Starz On Demand and VongoSM. Starz Entertainment (http://www.starz.com/) is an operating unit of Starz, LLC, which is a wholly owned subsidiary of Liberty Media Corporation that is attributed to Liberty Capital Group.

   Contacts:  Michelle Ellis             Shannon Mitchell              Starz Entertainment        Telluride Film Festival              (720) 852-6269             (510) 530-1782              michelle.ellis@starz.com   shannon@telluridefilmfestival.org  

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FCMN Contact:

Source: Starz Entertainment, LLC

CONTACT: Michelle Ellis of Starz Entertainment, LLC, +1-720-852-6269,
michelle.ellis@starz.com; or Shannon Mitchell of Telluride Film Festival,
+1-510-530-1782, shannon@telluridefilmfestival.org

Web site: http://www.starz.com/

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Profile: International Entertainment