TORONTO – After 30 years of corporate, organizational, monetary and media support of the Toronto International Flim Festival, Rogers Communications has been basically bumped from future sponsorship participation.
Bell Canada signed a $35 million deal last week for naming rights on the new theatre which will be built for the festival, sources told www.cartt.ca. The 12-year deal stipulates that Bell be the lone telecom sponsor at the festival, so Rogers is out.
As well, Jan Innes (RCI’s vice-president of communications) will lose her spots on the board of directors, where she has sat for nine years.
Bell has also been a long-time sponsor of the festival but the deal rankles the Rogers folks because they were involved with TIFF for 30 years – well before it gained an international reputation and Rogers Cable has for year provided end-to-end, 24-hour coverage of the 14-day event on Rogers 10.
Both companies were involved in negotiations for sponsorship but TIFF organizers knew that Rogers (because of the price tag) wasn’t interested in the deal Bell purchased.
It’s not been decided yet whether the cable channel will continue with its exemplary coverage next year.
