
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.
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