Press Releases

Sony Pictures Television (SPT) today announced that it has secured a brand partnership for its global football documentary, How to Win the FIFA World Cup™, with Castrol. The announcement was made by Mike Morley, chief creative officer and executive vice president, international production, SPT.

The programme, on sale to broadcasters at MIPTV, will include FIFA footage from World Cup tournaments over the past 20 years, exclusively commissioned research into the performances of national sides from a leading Dutch university, and is backed up by special in-depth data from Castrol Performance Analysts including the Castrol Index which uses objective analysis of over 2,000 players and games to give deeper insight into winning performances of some of the world's best footballers.

In addition to the integration of the Castrol Index into the programme and brand visibility through "bumpers" at the start and end of the documentary, the documentary will be available for viewing online on Castrol's dedicated football site: www.castrolfootball.com .

The brand partnership agreement was facilitated by branded entertainment sales agents, Krempelwood, working closely with Castrol's media agency, Mindshare, and SPT.

Commenting Morley said: "We are delighted to partner with Castrol, one of the world's leading brands, as we roll out this programming worldwide. With the Castrol Index, the scientific data and interviews and commentary from football experts, How to Win the FIFA World Cup™ is the perfect piece of signature programming for a broadcaster in the run up to the World Cup."

Commenting from Castrol, Des Johnson, Castrol Global Brand Director said: "Football is central to our sponsorship strategy alongside motorsport and our partnership with Sony Pictures Television is an exciting new development for our brand. We know that football fans everywhere will be fascinated by the information presented in How to Win the FIFA World Cup™. We are thrilled to be associated with a global programming opportunity that uniquely offers a credible insight into the little known facts to winning performances within the 'beautiful game'."

How To Win The FIFA World Cup™ examines the DMA - Defence, Midfield, Attack - of all 32 nations in the tournament and also produces quirky facts that could help their country win or lose the World Cup - fascinating data like how the colour of a keeper's jersey can influence his chance to save a penalty kick, why certain teams are more likely to score in extra time, which sides are most vulnerable at corners and who scores most from free kicks and open play. With some painful home truths emerging, viewers will learn more about how France intercepts play so successfully, why England misses so many penalties, why Germans can out dribble Brazilians and why Ghana gets so many yellow cards. The outcome of How to Win the FIFA World Cup™ will shock and surprise even the most seasoned football experts.

In addition to the documentary, SPT is also selling the format, How to Win the FIFA World Cup™ at the market. The format is strippable as a series of talk shows before or during the tournament. It's an entertaining series with a serious message at its heart. If they take the advice on offer from How To Win The FIFA World Cup™, national teams might just be able to make the changes needed to improve their chances of winning the coveted World Cup.

About Sony Pictures Television

Sony Pictures Television is one of the television industry's leading content providers. It produces and distributes programming in every genre, including series, telefilms, theatrical releases and family entertainment around the world and for every platform: broadcast and cable television, first-run and off-network syndication and digital distribution. In addition to one of the industry's largest libraries of feature films and television shows, SPT boasts a current program slate that includes the top-rated daytime dramas and game shows, landmark off-network series, original animated series and critically acclaimed primetime dramas, comedies and telefilms. Internationally, SPT is a leader in local language productions around the world, some of which are co-produced with local partners and sells SPE-owned formats in approximately 70 countries. To better serve its clients and partners worldwide, SPT maintains offices throughout the world, including Argentina, Australia, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Mexico, the Netherlands, the People's Republic of China, Russia, Singapore, Spain, Venezuela and the United Kingdom. SPT's worldwide television networks portfolio is a key strategy in SPE's long-range commitment to the global marketplace, with 114 channel feeds, which are available in more than 130 countries reaching almost 400 million households worldwide. SPT also creates original content for and manages SPE's premium video website, Crackle. Additionally, SPT is a part owner of cable channel GSN, FEARnet, the premier horror/thriller website and VOD service, and national media sales company ITN Networks, Inc. SPT advertiser sales is one of the premiere national advertising sales companies, handling the commercial inventory in SPT's syndicated series as well as in all of SPE's digital businesses in the United States, for Sony Music Entertainment and for the Tennis Channel. SPT www.sonypicturestelevision.com is a Sony Pictures Entertainment company.

About Castrol

Castrol is widely acknowledged as the world's leading specialist provider of lubricant solutions offering a diverse product range for many different uses. Best known for their expertise in developing lubricants for cars and bikes, Castrol also produce lubricants that directly affect daily lives in other, less noticeable ways... such as in gas and electricity production, transport industries, construction and earth moving vehicles, refrigeration, metalworking and plastics, not forgetting lubricants for the marine sector and for industry in general. Castrol use the same expertise they apply to the development of their oils to create the Castrol Index - using objective analysis and highly advanced technology to measure every pass, every tackle and every single move of over 2000 players and games to give fans around the world a deeper insight into winning performances of some of the world's best footballers. Castrol are an official FIFA World Cup Sponsor until 2014 awarding the global lubricants company worldwide rights for the 2010 FIFA World Cup™ in South Africa, the 2014 FIFA World Cup™ in Brazil.

ABOUT KREMPELWOOD

Krempelwood are leading sales agents for production companies, rights owners and broadcasters specialising in securing brand partners for advertiser funded programming. With over 15 production companies on its current client roster, How to Win The FIFA World Cup™ engineered by Castrol follows the recently brokered partnership with Sharwood's (the UK's leading brand in Asian sauces and accompaniments) to fund Blink Film's highly successful series for Five, Chinese Food in Minutes.

Contacts:

Johanna Cassells
Sony Pictures Television
johanna_cassells@spe.sony.com

Clare Allen
Krempelwood
clare@krempelwood.com