MFF Announces Major Tie-In Book and Promotional Partners for "Mystery of the Nile"
NEW YORK-BASED PUBLISHER G.P. PUTNAM’S SONS TO RELEASE MAJOR TIE-IN BOOK TIMED WITH LAUNCH OF ORBITA MAX-MACGILLIVRAY FREEMAN’S NEW FILM “MYSTERY OF THE NILE”
MacGillivray Freeman Films Signs Series of International Promotional Partnerships Valued At Over One Million Dollars
Laguna Beach, California, September 15, 2004—MacGillivray
Freeman Films and Orbita Max announced at last week’s Giant Screen
Theater Association conference in Montreal that they will be partnering
with major New York-based publisher G.P. Putnam’s Sons, a division
of Penguin Group (USA), to release a tie-in book featuring a personal
account of the historic Blue Nile expedition authored by expedition leader
and film star Pasquale Scaturro and award-winning writer Richard Bangs.
The book, tentatively titled Mystery of the Nile: The Epic Story of the First Descent of the World’s Deadliest River, is scheduled for publication in North America in February 2005 to coincide with the release of the companies’ new giant screen release, Mystery of the Nile, due in IMAX theaters and other large format cinemas next February. MFF and Putnam will coordinate a major joint marketing and publicity campaign that will include national press appearances and a multiple-city promotional tour.
Additionally, MFF announced it has signed a series of promotional partnerships valued in excess of $1 million for the release of the film. Four international companies have signed on to support the launch of Mystery of the Nile with advertising, in-store retail promotions, regional cross-promotions with IMAX theatres, and media outreach initiatives: Teva, a global outdoor shoe manufacturer (www.teva.com); Ex Officio, an international outdoor clothing manufacturer (www.exofficio.com); Mountain Travel Sobek, an adventure travel company (www.mtsobek.com); and Eureka Tents, an international tent and equipment manufacturer and subsidiary of Johnson Outdoors Inc. (www.eurekatent.com). Specific details about each partnership will be announced soon.
“Our goal is to drive attendance in 2005 with creative marketing partnerships,” said Alice Casbara, MFF Director of Marketing. “The major launch of Putnam’s tie-in book coupled with these exciting promotional partnerships will raise the profile of our film, increase ticket sales, and help us attract a larger audience in a marketplace crowded with entertainment options for the consumer.”
Added MFF Sponsorship and Promotions Manager, Patty Collins, “This is a terrific group of companies with exciting new ideas for promoting the film to their customers. We’re especially pleased that each is eager to coordinate local cross-promotions with theatres showing the film. Their involvement will bring an important level of additional exposure, and we look forward to sharing further details in the coming months.”
Mystery of the Nile is the story of the first expedition to navigate the entire Blue Nile and Nile river from its source in the heart of Ethiopia to the Egyptian coast of the Mediterranean Sea. Through this emotional and historic adventure, Mystery of the Nile explores the cultural and environmental links between the Ethiopian, Sudanese and Egyptian civilizations and examines the importance of the world’s greatest river to their ongoing survival.
Mystery of the Nile is a joint production of Orbita Max (http://www.orbitamax.com) and MacGillivray Freeman Films (http://www.macfreefilms.com). It is directed by Spanish filmmaker Jordi Llompart and produced by Llompart and Greg MacGillivray. MacGillivray Freeman Films will distribute the film, which is the fifth of the company’s Great Adventure Films® following such box office hits as Everest, Dolphins, Journey Into Amazing Caves, and Coral Reef Adventure, each of which has been the highest grossing new documentary film in the year they were released.
About Penguin Group (USA)
Penguin Group (USA) is one of the leading U.S. adult and children's trade
book publishers, owning a wide range of imprints and trademarks, including
Berkley Books, Dutton, Frederick Warne, G.P. Putnam's Sons, Grosset &
Dunlap, New American Library, Penguin Books, The Penguin Press, Philomel,
Plume, Puffin, Riverhead Books and Viking, among others. The Penguin Group
(http://www.penguin.com) is part of Pearson plc, the international media
company.
About Orbita Max
Founded by award-winning Spanish journalist and filmmaker Jordi Llompart
and based in Barcelona, Spain, Orbita Max is an audiovisual production
company created in 2000 to produce documentary programs in different medium:
cinema, television, internet, publications, etc. One of the main activities
of Orbita Max is producing large format documentaries for IMAX theaters.
Orbita Max is playing a pioneering role in Spain by producing Mystery
of the Nile, the first Spanish large format production in history.
About MacGillivray Freeman Films
MacGillivray Freeman Films is the largest, most experienced independent
producer and distributor of giant screen 70mm films in the world. Throughout
the company’s 40-year history, MFF films have won numerous international
awards including an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject in
2000 for Dolphins, and a 1995 nomination in the same category for The
Living Sea. In 1998, the giant screen film Everest achieved unprecedented
acclaim and box office success for a large format film. More recently,
the company’s film Coral Reef Adventure was named Best Film of the
Year by the Giant Screen Theater Association. MacGillivray Freeman’s
films are known for their artistry and successful blend of education and
entertainment, as well as their celebration of science and the natural
world.
IMAX® is a registered trademark of IMAX Corporation.
Academy Award® is a registered trademark of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences.
