British Academy Of Film And Television Arts / Los Angeles (BAFTA/LA) Partners With Prestigious Cunard Line For Array Of Unique Entertainment Initiatives

Luxury ocean liner company will be title sponsor of the annual “BAFTA/LA Cunard Britannia Awards”

LOS ANGELES, CA, OCTOBER 27 , 2005— The British Academy of Film and Television Arts / Los Angeles (BAFTA/LA) has entered into a partnership with Cunard Line, the legendary ocean liner company, for a program of entertainment initiatives which celebrate the line’s illustrious history and salute British contributions to film and television.

The sponsorship includes, among other things, Cunard being named the title sponsor of the BAFTA/LA’s hallmark annual awards ceremony, which have been renamed the BAFTA/LA Cunard Britannia Awards. This year, the awards will honor Tom Cruise, Elizabeth Taylor, director Mike Newell and filmmaker Ronald Neame, and will take place on November 10, 2005 at the Beverly Hilton hotel.

The special award being presented this year to Ronald Neame (“The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie,” “The Odessa File”) will hereafter be named The Cunard Britannia Award for Lifetime Contributions to International Film.

In addition to its presentation of the Britannia Awards, Cunard will also participate as a sponsor in BAFTA/LA’s other unique entertainment events and programs presented in Los Angeles by BAFTA/LA throughout the year.
Cunard, operator of the luxury ocean liners Queen Mary 2 and Queen Elizabeth 2, has long been synonymous with the quest for new discoveries and the epitome of British finesse since the company’s first paddle-wheeled steamer, the Britannia, crossed the Atlantic in 1840.  The company has an illustrious history of hosting famed entertainers, royalty, and society luminaries aboard its fleet of liners.  Earlier Cunard “Queens” have welcomed such famous personalities as Elizabeth Taylor, Rita Hayworth, Marlene Dietrich, Cary Grant, Bing Crosby, and Clark Gable who enjoyed Cunard’s White Star ServiceSM  when crossing the Atlantic aboard a Cunard ship was considered the only way to travel.

Since Queen Mary 2’s launch in January 2004, she has continued to play host to many notable guests such as John Cleese, Katie Couric, Richard Dreyfuss, Carly Simon, Rod Stewart, Tina Brown and Harold Evans, Donald Trump, and Dame Shirley Bassey, while eminent visitors have included Her Majesty The Queen, His Royal Highness The Duke of Edinburgh, Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent, New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Senator Hillary Clinton.

The partnership aligns Cunard with the prestigious British Academy’s prolific Los Angeles organization, whose active board of directors under Chairman Gary Dartnall’s leadership has effectively intensified its community outreach and enhanced its national profile in recent years.

Affirmed Dartnall: “This new association with Cunard is very exciting as it will allow us to expand our ambitious programs, activities and our new community outreach plans.  To partner with such a prestigious company as Cunard, with its impressive history and worldwide reputation, is truly thrilling for our organization”.

For its part, Cunard will contribute funding for BAFTA/LA programs and events, as well as donate luxury crossings aboard the flagship of its fleet, the Queen Mary 2, for BAFTA/LA’s diverse fundraising efforts.

"Throughout the decades, Cunard has had connections to the world of filmmaking and theater, as film and stage personalities from both sides of the Atlantic have sailed aboard our company's liners," said Peter Ratcliffe, Cunard's chief executive officer. "We're therefore delighted to be taking this new voyage with BAFTA/LA as we carry on that storied Cunard tradition".

In addition to its annual Britannia Awards honoring the best and brightest in the entertainment community, BAFTA/LA presents and hosts a number of industry events that consistently draw Los Angeles and national media, industry leaders and celebrities. These include its annual Tea Parties honoring BAFTA and Golden Globe nominees on the eve of the Golden Globes and, in association with the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences, an event honoring Emmy nominees on the eve of that awards show.

BAFTA/LA's various other activities and programs include its popular series of pre-release screenings featuring talent Q&A's; its raising of funds for scholarships benefiting British students studying film and television in Los Angeles; and its ongoing effort to chronicle the wit and wisdom of filmdom's greatest practitioners by way of its Heritage Archive Video Interviews, among many others. Further, BAFTA/LA's community outreach includes hosting numerous educational events for various inner-city schoolchildren.

Entertainment MarketPlace, exclusive marketing and sponsorship consultants for BAFTA/LA, brokered the agreement with Cunard Line. President Nicholas Frankl states: "We are proud to welcome a partner with the distinguished history of Cunard into the BAFTA/LA family of partners. World class companies and industry leaders such as Cunard have embraced BAFTA/LA's unique entertainment platform of class, exclusive events and respect in the entertainment industry and positioned BAFTA/LA at the forefront of their entertainment marketing strategies."