ATX TV Festival: ‘The Bold Type’ Added To First Wave Of Programming

ATX Television Festival’s virtual edition appropriately titled “ATX TV…From The Couch!” has unveiled its full first wave of programming which includes recent additions The Bold Type, New Amsterdam and P-Valley. The fest will also include timely conversations about COVID-19, election year issues, Latinx representation as well as physical and mental health. The virtual event will take place June 5-7.

“ATX TV… from the Couch!” marks the first virtual event for the fest and will include industry-forward panels with showrunners and executives, sneak previews of upcoming series, and virtual events such as TV trivia and a music showcase. The event will be free to access via ATX’s official YouTube channel, with the option for viewers to donate to select organizations providing COVID-19 relief regionally and nationally.

The festival’s virtual line-up will include panel conversations with cast and creatives from Freeform’s “The Bold Type,” which returns for season five in June; NBC’s hit drama “New Amsterdam,” which was recently renewed for three additional seasons at the network; and The CW’s mystery-drama “Nancy Drew.”

Freeform will present a special sneak peek of the continuation of the fourth season of The Bold Type, which will be available to the masses on June 11. This will be followed by a conversation with showrunner/executive producer Wendy Straker-Hauser, and cast members Katie Stevens, Aisha Dee, and Meghann Fahy.

NBC’s New Amsterdam will host a conversation about using fiction to navigate important conversations about health and healthcare access in underserved communities, and how recent storylines around heart health and rural & urban hospital care are particularly relevant in the time of COVID-19. The conversation will feature director/executive producer Peter Horton, writer/executive producer David Foster, writer/consulting producer Erika Green Swafford, cast members Ryan Eggold and Jocko Sims, and a representative from the American Heart Association.

The fest will also give an exclusive first look at Starz’s freshman drama P-Valley from creator/showrunner Katori Hall. Adapted from Hall’s play Pussy Valley, the series is set in and around a strip club in the Mississippi Delta. The extended preview will be followed by a conversation with creatives & cast.

Latinx content creators will get shine with “Celebrating Authentic Stories,” a conversation about celebrating and continuing the push for positive Latinx representation and how decision-makers within the industry can amplify Latinx voices. Panelists include Gloria Calderón Kellett (One Day at a Time), Tanya Saracho (Vida), Steven Canals (Pose) and Ilana Peña (Diary of a Future President).

The ATX Television Festival will also include a Scrubs with creator Bill Lawrence as well as cast members Zach Braff, Donald Faison, Sarah Chalke, John C. McGinley, and Judy Reyes reuniting for a conversation. Cougar Town will also have a reunion with Busy Philipps and Christa Miller. The casts for both series were previously confirmed for ATX Season 9 in Austin, and have rescheduled their in-person reunions for the 2021 festival.

The CW’s Nancy Drew, which has been renewed for a second season, will host a panel celebrating the 90th anniversary of the titular sleuth and feature show creator/executive producer Noga Landau, showrunner/executive producer Melinda Hsu Taylor, and stars Kennedy McCann and Scott Wolf.

Other panels for the fest include “Channel Changers: A Conversation with TV’s Presidents” with Sarah Aubrey (Head of Original Content, HBO Max), Lisa Katz & Tracey Pakosta (Co-Presidents, Scripted Programming, NBC Entertainment), and Tina Perry (President, OWN). The Television Academy will present “The Pivot” a conversation with HBO Max EVP of Original Drama, Joey Chavez and other execs about the innovative ways that series continue to create in the current COVID-19 landscape.

Dale Ho, director of ACLU’s Voting Rights Project, will participate in a panel on TV’s approach to covering voter suppression and critical election-year issues. In addition, USC Annenberg Norman Lear Center’s Hollywood, Health & Society will present a panel on mental health and addiction narratives.