American Express to sponsor London Film Festival
American Express has signed a deal with the British Film Institute (BFI) to become the headline sponsors of the annual BFI Film Festival.
The move is part of the credit card company’s strategy to give cardmembers special access to cultural events.
As well as the headline sponsorship, American Express will also sponsor quarterly screenings at the BFI IMAX and the Screen Epiphanies series of events at BFI Southbank.
The BFI partnership is the latest addition to American Express’s ’Preferred Seating’ programme which rolled out in the UK last year and offers Cardmembers priority tickets, the best seats in the house and ’meet and greet’ opportunities at music and entertainment events.
American Express says the multi-year deal builds on its history of supporting the best in film and the BFI’s aim to make a wide choice of British and world cinema available in the UK.
Minister for culture, communication and creative industries, Ed Vaizey says: “This new partnership is an excellent example of how private business can support the arts. This multi-year commitment from American Express to the BFI shows that there is a genuine appetite among world leading businesses to support film in the UK and that collaborating with top cultural organisations has serious commercial benefits.”
The sponsorship deal coincides with the BFI’s 75th anniversary this year.
