NBC PROMOTES MID-SEASON SHOW ‘KINGPIN’ ON IFILM.COM TO GENERATE ADDITIONAL AUDIENCE SHARE

NBC PROMOTES MID-SEASON SHOW ‘KINGPIN’ ON IFILM.COM TO GENERATE ADDITIONAL AUDIENCE SHARE
Published: January 15, 2003

photo preview / download Internet Marketing Tools Commonly Used by Movie Industry Now Attracts Television Networks

BURBANK, Calif. — January 15, 2003 — NBC and IFILM Corp., a leading entertainment marketing company providing services in online advertising, market research and publishing, announced it has entered into a marketing relationship to support the promotion of NBC’s highly anticipated new drama series, “Kingpin” on the IFILM Network. Beginning today, visitors to the IFILM site (www.ifilm.com/kingpin) will have an extended eight-minute sneak-peek of the premiere episode of “Kingpin,” which will debut on the NBC Network, Sunday, February 2 at 10 p.m. (EST).

“Kingpin” is a gritty new drama series about the struggles of a powerful Mexican family — from two-time Emmy Award winner David Mills (“The Corner,” “ER”). In “Kingpin,” the machinations of an ambitious Mexican family are displayed in realistic detail as the family faces challenges from both the United States Drug Enforcement Agency and from the dangerous underworld in which they work.

“’Kingpin’ is one of the most daring and cutting-edge dramas to air on broadcast television,” said John Miller, Co-President of The NBC Agency. “We want to take advantage of new and different marketing opportunities in order to get the widest possible tune-in for this edgy new series,” added Vince Manze, Co-President of The NBC Agency.

Commonly used by the movie industry to support marketing programs for blockbuster films in conjunction with traditional campaign means, the Internet has not readily been utilized by networks to heavily promote television shows. NBC is the first network on IFILM’s clientele list of major movie studios to take advantage of its growing online audience.

“IFILM is the leading site for watching video on the Web and our relationship with NBC provides our viewers with some of the most entertaining programming on the Internet,” said Andrew Shotland, Vice President of Programming for IFILM Networks. “We are already working with NBC to showcase the ‘Late Night With Conan O’ Brien’ show along with other NBC content, giving online viewers a sneak-peek at exciting new and current shows before the rest of the world gets to watch it on TV.”

IFILM’s First 8 Minutes section features the first eight minutes of feature films and TV shows to allow viewers to preview content before it is available in theaters and on television. Previous films that have been featured in the First 8 Minutes include ‘My Big Fat Greek Wedding”, “The Good Girl”, “Y Tu Mama Tambien”, “Sexy Beast” and “Memento.”

In “Kingpin” Yancey Arias (“The Time Machine”) stars as Stanford-educated Miguel Cadena, a savvy businessman who has risen to the threshold of supremacy in his family’s illegal drug cartel as power begins to pass from one generation to the next. Behind the opulent façade of the Cadenas’ lifestyle of private jets, yachts and villas stands a massive drug-dealing operation that produces immense quantities of illegal narcotics despite the ongoing family infighting.

Also starring in “Kingpin” are Sheryl Lee (“L.A. Doctors,” “Twin Peaks”) as Marlene, Miguel’s beautiful American wife, who as a lawyer works to protect the family business from government intervention and who shares her husband’s proclivity for ruthless cunning; Ruben Carbajel as Joey, the couple’s 8-year-old son whom they attempt to shelter from their dangerous lifestyle; Bobby Cannavale (NBC’s “Third Watch”) as Chato, Miguel’s ambitious and brutal yet loyal brother; Angela Alvarado Rosa (“Boss of Bosses”) as Delia Flores, a DEA agent ardently fighting to thwart drug dealers wherever she finds them; Brian Benben (“Dream On”) as Dr. Heywood Klein, a successful plastic surgeon who is conflicted over his role in the Cadenas’ North American operations; and Shay Roundtree (“Drumline”) as Junie Gatling, one of Klein’s go-to men in the trenches of the drug trade.

“Kingpin” is produced by NBC Studios and Spelling Television, Inc. Aaron Spelling and E. Duke Vincent are executive producers along with David Mills. Dan Sackheim is co-executive producer. Allen Coulter (“The Sopranos”) directed the pilot episode from a script by Mills.

IFILM (www.IFILM.com) is the leading broadband entertainment content network for consumers and marketers. With the world’s largest collection of short films and movie clips available to watch online, IFILM is now one of the top ten streaming video sites on the web and attracts a monthly audience of over 4 million coveted “buzz-building” entertainment consumers. The IFILM network includes online distribution partners including Windows Media, and Real Networks as well as offline distribution partners including the Independent Film Channel, Lifetime Television and AMC Theaters. IFILM offers marketers a unique menu of marketing solutions including rich media messaging like the ISTREAMTM—a broadband “commercial”. IFILM is a privately-held company based in Hollywood, California with investors that include Axiom Ventures, Inc., Eastman Kodak Company, Liberty Digital, Rainbow Media, Sony Pictures Entertainment, Yahoo! and Vulcan Ventures, Inc.

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Press Contacts:

Kim Reed, NBC Entertainment Publicity, (818) 840-3637

kim.reed@nbc.com

Christine Suarez, Rogers & Cowan, for IFILM Corp., (310) 201-8892 csuarez@rogersandcowan.com

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