Tv lovers flocked to Austin for Season 8 of the grown-up camp festival. Tons of networks were there debuting their new seasons including: HBO, Showtime, NBC, Fox, and more. Despite a little bad weather the first night, the festival went off without a hitch. Every Austinite and tv lover needs to experience this cool annual event in town each summer.
Opening Night: Opening night had HBO’s Euphoria cast and crew on the red carpet plus a fun screening and party at Austin’s iconic Paramount Theater and Stephen F. Austin hotel.
(photos by ATX Festival)
There were tons of important peeps at opening night including:
Sam Levinson (Creator/EP)
· Zendaya (cast)
· Hunter Schafer (cast)
· Barbie Ferreira (cast)
· Eric Dane (cast)
Into the Dark (HULU)
· Gigi Saul Guerrero (Co-writer, Director)
· Shawn Ashmore (cast)
· Richard Cabral (cast)
· Martha Higareda (cast)
Prodigal Son (FOX)
· Lou Diamond Phillips (cast)
· Aurora Perrineau (cast)
· Frank Harts (cast)
· Halston Sage (cast)
PLUS…
· Caitlin McFarland (Founder)
· Emily Gipson (Founder)
· Nick Wechsler; ATX Advisory Board Member
· Arielle Kebbel; ATX Advisory Board Member
· Michelle Lang; “Everyone is Doing Great”
· Lincoln Younes “Grand Hotel”
Tv Under the Stars: This was a really fun annual Outdoor Screening & Music Showcase, at the Hotel San Jose on Friday, June 7! There were fans, live music, amazing snacks and drinks, community organizations, and a sun-down screening of a trio of NBC comedies BROOKLYN NINE-NINE, THE GOOD PLACE, and SUPERSTORE. More info here and our photos on Austin 101.
Closing Night
Closing night red carpet at tons of star power including KEVIN BACON for the new Showtime series called ‘City On a Hill’. The series is a drama set in Boston in the 1970’s rife with racism, masogony, corruption and more. The new series premiers June 16th. See our red-carpet photos on Austin 101. More info on the show at Showtime.com.
Closing Night with the Cast of “City on a Hill” Presented by SHOWTIME and The Hollywood Reporter:
· Kevin Bacon (co-EP/actor)
· Tom Fontana (showrunner/EP)
· Aldis Hodge (actor)
· Jill Hennessy (actor)
· Chuck MacLean (creator/EP)
· Jennifer Todd (EP)
(photo by ATX Fest)
Other Highlights of the festival included an interesting panel and chat with a tv icon who received the ATX award – “Award in Television eXcellence” -to legendary actress Phylicia Rashad (David Makes Man, The Cosby Show), followed by conversation that is both a one-of-a-kind look back and forward at her ongoing and remarkable career.
About Prodigal Son:
From Emmy Award-nominated executive producers Greg Berlanti and Sarah Schechter (“Riverdale,” “The Flash”) and writers Chris Fedak (“Deception,” “Chuck”) and Sam Sklaver (“Deception,” “Bored to Death”), PRODIGAL SON is a fresh take on a crime franchise with a provocative and outrageous lead character and a darkly comedic tone.
MALCOLM BRIGHT (Tom Payne, “The Walking Dead”) has a gift. He knows how killers think, how their minds work. Why? Back in the 1990s, his father was one of the best, a notorious serial killer called “The Surgeon.” That’s why Bright is the best criminal psychologist around; murder is the family business. He will use his twisted genius to help the NYPD solve crimes and stop killers, all while dealing with a manipulative mother, annoyingly normal sister, a homicidal father still looking to bond with his prodigal son and his own constantly evolving neuroses.
Meet the happy family. DR. MARTIN WHITLY (Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominee Michael Sheen, “Masters of Sex,” “Frost/Nixon”) is intelligent, wealthy, charismatic and also happens to be a predatory sociopath who killed at least 23 people. Bright’s mother, JESSICA WHITLY (Bellamy Young, “Scandal,” “Criminal Minds”), an elegant and WASPy New Yorker, wields sarcasm like a samurai sword and has an opinion on every aspect of Bright’s life. Perhaps Bright’s only ally is his sister, AINSLEY WHITLY (Halston Sage, THE ORVILLE), a TV journalist who wishes her brother would “take a break from murder” and have a normal life.
Unfortunately for his sister, the only way Bright feels normal is by solving cases with the help of his longtime mentor, NYPD Detective GIL ARROYO (Emmy Award and Golden Globe nominee Lou Diamond Phillips, “Longmire,” “Stand and Deliver”). Arroyo’s one of the best detectives around, and he expects no less from his team – Detective DANI POWELL (Aurora Perrineau, “The Carmichael Show,” “Jem and the Holograms”), a headstrong no-nonsense cop who quickly becomes impressed with Bright’s work; and Detective JT TARMEL (Frank Harts, “The Path,” “Billions”), a born-and-bred New Yorker who questions whether Bright is a psychopath himself.
So much for normal.
More about ATX Festival
ATX Television Festival is a four-day event that celebrates the television medium: looking back at its history, where it is now, and where it is headed. The festival consists of panels, screenings, and events where attendees and leaders in the TV industry talk, watch, and experience television together as one community. More details at ATXFestival.
