NBC, Fandango Partner on Olympics Promotion

NBC Olympics and fellow Comcast-owned company Fandango are launching a digital video series, dubbed I Love Movies: Rio Olympic Edition, featuring Olympic athletes talking about movies that most inspire them.

Fandango will run the videos on Fandango Movieclips on YouTube and Fandango.com continuously leading up to the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August.

“The biggest stars this summer will be the Olympians going for the gold in Rio, and the special edition of our I Love Movies series will reveal the movies that have inspired them on their Olympic journey,” said Sandro Corsaro, Fandango chief creative officer. “We are very excited to partner for the first time with our sister company NBC Olympics to help celebrate their upcoming expansive coverage from Rio.”

The first three episodes of the series, available now, feature Olympic swimmers Ryan Lochte, Missy Franklin and Matt Grevers, with each sharing the movies and movie moments that had an impact on their lives as athletes. Dozens more, featuring athletes from diving, gymnastics, track and field, rugby, basketball and Paralympic events, will appear in the next few months. Cal Fussman, writer-at-large for Esquire Magazine, will conduct every athlete interview in the series.

The promotion is a spin-off of Fandango’s I Love Movies series, which have featured Grammy Award winner Reba McEntire, boxing champ Evander Holyfield, NBA all-star Dwight Howard, Olympic figure skater Tara Lipinski, skateboarding icon Tony Hawk, rapper-producer Soulja Boy and more.