Turner Classic\'s Film Festival Gains a Sponsor

The Turner Classic Movies cable channel has added a fourth sponsor to the ranks of the marketers that will serve as partners for the channel's fourth annual film festival.

The Citi credit and debit cards offered by Citibank have been signed as the “official card” for the 2013 TCM Classic Film Festival, to be held in Hollywood from April 25 through 28.

Citibank joins three returning sponsors: Vanity Fair magazine, Verizon and Bonhams, the auction house. Terms of the agreements are not being disclosed.

The Citi sponsorship is part of what Citi calls its Private Pass program, which offers cardholders advance access to events. In this case, Citi cardholders will be able to order passes two day s ahead of the official on-sale day of Thursday.

Private Pass is about “diversity of access” as well as access, said Ralph Andretta, head of co-brands and loyalty for the Citi cards unit of Citibank in Long Island City. “It's not just about music, sports and food” events, he said, “it's also about classic movies.”

Mr. Andretta described himself as a fan of classic films and TCM, adding that he watched “From Here to Eternity” on the channel on Monday night.

In addition to the pre-sale offer, attendees who use Citi cards to buy their passes will receive “a collectible gift” upon arriving there, Mr. Andretta said.

Citibank and TCM are discussing the possibility of hosting, before the festival begins, a preview party for about 100 Citi cardholders, Mr. Andretta said, which would feature Ben Mankiewicz, who shares with Robert Osborne the duties of introducing the movies shown by TCM. (Mr. Mankiewicz wi ll also introduce films and events during the festival; Mr. Osborne will be the host of the festival.)

Citi and Verizon are also sponsors of some movie screening events around the country that are part of the annual TCM Road to Hollywood series, which precedes the festival.

Sponsorships of events put on by TCM enable marketers to affiliate themselves with the channel, which does not run conventional paid commercials during its programming. TCM is the only major basic cable channel devoted to movies that is commercial-free; channels like IFC and Sundance, which were once commercial-free, now run commercials.

For 2013, there will be a “huge digital push” for the festival, said Dennis Adamovich, senior vice president for digital, affiliate, lifestyle and enterprise commerce for TCM and two other cable channels, TBS and TNT, that like TCM are part of the Turner Broadcasting System unit of Time Warner.

In addition to content that will be available on tcm.com, the TCM Web site, Mr. Adamovich said, there will also be an app for film fans who “can't be there” at the festival.

Among the events at the festival with sponsor participation, Vanity Fair will help present an after-party that will follow the opening night screening of a restored version of “Funny Girl.” Bonhams will take part in several ways, including an evaluation of memorabilia and other items for select pass holders.

TCM plans to announce around Jan. 1 the names of the film stars who will take part in the festival. The theme of the 2013 festival is “Cinematic Journeys: Travel in the Movies.”

Stuart Elliott has been the advertising columnist at The New York Times since 1991. Follow @stuartenyt on Twitter and sign up for In Advertising, his weekly e-mail newsletter.