The fifth day of the ATX Television Festival Season 10 kicked off with The Daily, where festival co-founders Caitlin McFarland & Emily Gipson gave their daily live update, this time from the Paramount Theatre. They got their daily weather report, briefly discussed yesterday’s programming, previewed today’s events, and then showed another installment of “Adventures in Austin! with Caitlin & Emily” featuring a backstage tour of the Paramount Theatre with director of operations Stefanie Crock. They learned about the theater’s rich history, and reminisced about the various ATX programming that has been on that stage. Finally, they sat down with actress Becca Tobin to discuss her upcoming Disney+ series Turner & Hooch, her recent move to Austin, and what she’s watching on TV.
Later in the day there was a live Happy Hour, where Caitlin & Emily showed off the contents of the fan boxes (which can still be ordered until midnight tomorrow night) and then they were joined by special Zoom guest Nick Wechsler, who talked about his time at the festival, working on the original The Republic of Sarah pilot, and more.
This was followed by a panel for new CW series The Republic of Sarah, a discussion about how various medical dramas approached the pandemic, and the official FYC Conversation for HBO’s In Treatment. The day closed out with a screening and Q&A for the unaired L.A. Confidential TV pilot.
The Republic of Sarah Q&A with Cast & Creatives
TV Guide Magazine‘s Emily Aslanian moderated this panel for the new CW series which premiered last night. The panelists included creator/showrunner/ executive producer Jeffrey Paul King, director Kat Candler, and stars Stella Baker (“Sarah Cooper”), Luke Mitchell (“Danny Cooper”), Hope Lauren (“Corinne Dearborn”), Nia Holloway (“AJ Johnson”) & Ian Duff (“Grover Sims”).
Series creator Jeffrey Paul King started off discussing the premise of the series, how the show came about, and how he got to utilize his degree in Cartography—he referred to the series as being Poly-Sci-Fi. Director Kat Candler talked about the challenges of taking on the series and assembling the large cast. The actors discussed their own characters and the relationships between them, as well as some of the other characters portrayed by actors not in the chat. They also teased some of the upcoming storylines for the season, blending the lighter moments with the dark, the music on the show, Luke’s on-set antics with snowballs, and more.
Essential Stories: Medical Series Approach a Real-Life Pandemic
Before the panel, Kate Langrall Folb, the director of Hollywood Health & Society, talked with Emily Gipson about her organization and how it helps TV producers ensure the medical information they depict is factually correct. Then she introduced her friend and panel moderator Neal Baer, M.D. (writer/EP, ER), who spoke with the showrunners/writers for five medical dramas to discuss how they decided to integrate the COVID pandemic and other recent events into their shows and storylines, how their shows and storylines changed due to the pandemic, and the challenges they faced with producing a medical drama during a pandemic. It was interesting to hear about the different and varied approaches these five shows took. The panelists included Joseph Kay (showrunner/EP, Transplant), David Schulner (showrunner/EP, New Amsterdam), Andrew Schneider & Diane Frolov (co-showrunners/EPs, Chicago Med), Amy Holden Jones (co-creator/EP, The Resident) & Zoanne Clack, M.D. (writer/EP, Grey’s Anatomy).
In Treatment: Official FYC Conversation
For the first time ATX hosted an official Emmy Awards “For Your Consideration” conversation. This discussion for the new season of HBO’s In Treatment was moderated by Dr. Siri Sat Nam, who spoke with stars Uzo Aduba (“Dr. Brooke Taylor”), Anthony Ramos (“Eladio”), Quintessa Swindell (“Laila”), John Benjamin Hickey (“Colin”) & Liza Colón Zayas (“Rita”), and co-showrunners/executive producers/writers Jennifer Schuur & Joshua Allen.
L.A. Confidential: Unaired Pilot Screening and Q&A
Originally produced produced by New Regency, Lionsgate and CBS TV Studios for CBS during the 2018 season, L.A. Confidential follows three homicide detectives, a female reporter, and a Hollywood actress as they cross paths in 1950s Los Angeles. Attendees got the chance to see this unaired pilot, based on the neo-noir novel by James Ellroy, followed by a live Q&A moderated by Jim Hemphill of Filmmaker Magazine. The panelists included creator/executive producer Jordan Harper, director/executive producer Michael Dinner, producer Kevin Plunkett, and star Brian J. Smith (“Ed Exley”).
The panelists talked about how the TV adaptation came about, the differences from the movie and the novel, what cases from the book they planned to adapt in the first season, casting the ensemble, the amazing cast they ended up with, how they planned to make the series work as a network TV show, and more. Michael Dinner talked about working in the film noir genre and the differences from his work on western Justified, and the challenges of shooting a period drama. Brian J. Smith talked about his audition process, and how he connected with his character. Jordan Harper talked about how the series could have been set in the 1980s and would have been easier to make and more accessible for the audience. Kevin Plunkett talked a bit about what happened with the pilot and how it was shopped around. During the audience Q&A, the panelists also discussed some of the iconic locations they would have liked to shoot, what films or TV shows made them want to get into the industry, how their show (if it was still running) wouldn’t have had changed based on current events since they were already exploring police corruption, and more. They also mentioned that Matt McCoy’s appearance in the pilot was a deliberate homage to the film, and that they had used the same costume designer from the film for the series.
Virtual Festival Badges and Day Passes for Season 10 are still available. To purchase a Badge, Pass, or learn more, visit atxfestival.com/attend.
Sales of the ATX TV Festival Boxes will end soon, so pick one up now if you want one.
