The 26th Banff World Television Festival will take place June 12 to 15, 2005, at The Fairmont Banff Springs amid the breathtaking Canadian Rockies.

The Banff Television Festival Foundation announced today a new name for its annual event: The Banff World Television Festival, accompanied by a new theme line: Where great television is born. This revitalization complements new Festival initiatives designed to increase opportunities for broadcasters and producers alike, including a comprehensive forum on international collaboration and co-production, and the facilitation of extensive one-on-one meetings between and amongst producers and broadcasters.

“The fresh look and theme reflects the evolution of our mandate and we’re just delighted with the result,” said Loren Mawhinney, chair of the Banff Television Festival Foundation.

“This wonderfully updated brand says simply and precisely what Banff is all about. It’s truly global and it’s dedicated to making great television,” commented Robert Montgomery, CEO of the Festival. “The rebranding work was completed by GJP Advertising of Toronto, and led by executive vice-president and creative director John Farquhar. John and his team at GJP have done an absolutely superb job, providing Banff with a strong, evocative look and feel that also pays homage to the storied reputation this Festival has built over the past 25 years.”

“The Banff Television Festival Foundation set a clear vision for our rebranding task. We were to be true to the Festival's roots while also making it clear that the Festival is evolving,” said John Farquhar. “Our task was to create a new logo and a concise positioning statement. We did an extensive logo exploration to get to where we are. Our final design captures a little of the past and lots of the future while our theme line Where great television is born really speaks to how the Festival is the place where business is done. Where people with great ideas can get together with those who can turn ideas into a reality - that's what makes Banff such a unique event.”

Augmenting the influential group of North American, European and Asian industry executives who regularly attend, the 2005 Festival will welcome a broader range of producers, broadcasters, financiers, buyers and government officials from around the world. The Banff World Television Festival will present a full slate of critical and topical conference sessions, one-on-one sessions and pre-scheduled meetings that will comprise Banff’s international co-production and collaboration forum.

The Festival will expand its celebrated pitching opportunities with competitions including the much anticipated CTV Documart, iPitch for interactive new media, New Players Pitches, and the renowned Market Simulation which will be genre specific for the first time. Applications for the pitching competition will be available at www.banff2005.com by mid-February.