New film festival sponsorship sought in Chichester

A new headline sponsor is needed for this year's Chichester International Film Festival, an 18-day August extravaganza which makes Chichester the focus for film buffs in the south.
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Roger

After three years of sponsorship, the University of Chichester has decided to spend its money elsewhere – a decision which leaves the organisers at the Chichester Cinema at New Park needing to find around £7,000 from someone else or from a selection of new sponsors.

If they don’t, it could mean a reduction in the number of speakers at the festival and perhaps a reduction in the number of foreign films being screened.

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From small beginnings 27 years ago, the festival has become largest film festival on the south coast, screening more than 150 films from all over the world each year. Among them is a wealth of premieres, previews and new releases. The festival attracts 7,000 people a year; the cinema itself attracts more than 65,000 people a year.

Artistic director Roger Gibson, who founded the cinema nearly 40 years ago, confirmed he will start planning the festival and that the festival will certainly go ahead. But he said he hoped to have new sponsorship in place by the start of March.

He said box office income couldn’t possibly cover the cost of the festival, and it was sponsorship which allowed the festival to break even – a major achievement itself at a time when many film festivals make a loss.

Additional costs at a festival include bringing in speakers which often include directors and/or actors from the films being screened – and at the very least, it is expected that the festival meets their travel costs.

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For Roger, having sponsorship strengthens his hand when it comes to negotiating appearances.

Chichester Cinema at New Park PR and marketing manager Carol Godsmark added: “It would be good to have a headline sponsor in place by March so that we can start promoting the headline sponsor in tandem with the festival itself. We value community very, very highly. We are very much reaching out to the community to fill our seats. We would dearly love to have a sponsor that equally values the community and also shares our love of film. Having that love of film is vital.”

Carol confirmed a range of benefits to the festival’s new headline sponsor including your brand identified throughout the festival (media, brochure, banner, Sight and Sound BFI publication amongst other media); your logo in the brochure and on the cinema’s website; a one-page advertisement in the glossy brochure (15,000 print run widely distributed including mailings to 1,500); two tickets to the opening gala and the closing film gala; and possible addition of back-of-ticket advertising (65,000 sold per annum) at extra cost.

“With a dedicated audience and fan-based attendances, the festival offers a great opportunity for companies to target our large catchment area from Hampshire, Surrey, East Sussex to West Sussex and to associate themselves with one of the most eagerly-awaited cultural highlights of the year in the south-east.”

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For further details and to meet the team to discuss opportunities, contact Carol on [email protected].

“I am sure there is someone out that will feel that this opportunity is too good to miss for altruistic reasons, for community reasons and for reasons of promoting their own business. We are extremely happy to talk to all kinds of businesses.”