I am once again back in Austin, TX for my annual TV camp experience, for Season 12 of the ATX TV Festival. I have been coming to this festival since season 4! After arriving in Austin it was a bit too early to check into my hotel, so I headed over to the Driskill to check in to the con and pick up my badge. The annual tote bag is sponsored by Netflix’s Manifest this year. As press, I was given an empty bag, but I talked with some folks who purchased the Camp Badge this year, and their bags contained a lot of swag, including a Tubi water bottle, a hat, some sunglasses, a notepad, a glass jar for a make-your-own-juice event, and more.
With badge in hand, I first checked out the “Member Camp Kick Off” event at 800 Congress, a new venue that was added last season. This event was exclusive to those who pay for an annual ATX membership. It was a chance for the members to get together and play some icebreaker games to get to know one another and meet new folks. The venue offered a selection of wines and a chance to try out the new Coke Move drink.
At this venue they also offered a Manifest photo opp, where you could get your photo taken inside Montego Airlines flight 828, along with some friendly flight attendants. They had lots of Easter eggs laying about the plane, like a pocket watch in a seat pocket, a map, a bag with cash, and more. So I once again hopped in a plane seat for the second time today, and oddly, this trip felt like it took no time at all!
Later in the day, the Manifest cast would be visiting this activation, but I was covering the red carpet so couldn’t go to that.
Next, I headed over to the Stateside theater for the red carpet, which was fortunately indoors this year with air conditioning. Panelists and guests from many of the weekend’s panels were present. I got the chance to speak with Primo stars Ignacio Diaz-Silverio & Christina Vidal, ATX TV Festival Co-Founders Caitlin McFarland & Emily Gipson, Christy Carlson Romano (PodCo founder, star of Kim Possible), iHeartPodcasts Hosts David Lascher & Christine Taylor (Hey Dude…the 90’s Called! Podcast) and Kevin McHale (And That’s What You REALLY Missed Podcast), Manifest cast members J.R. Ramirez, Parveen Kaur, Holly Taylor & Daryl Edward, and Justified: City Primeval cast members Boyd Holbrook & Adelaide Clemens. I’ll be posting these videos ASAP, so be on the lookout.
Afterwards I headed into the Paramount Theater next door for the world premiere of the new FX series Justified: City Primeval, which airs in July. While the episode started off with an embargo for reviews, spoilers, etc. I can say that Justified fans will not be disappointed. The wise-cracking Raylan Givens is back in full form.
After the episode, there was a panel with stars Timothy Olyphant (EP), Boyd Holbrook, Adelaide Clemens & Vivian Olyphant and producer Sarah Timberman. It opened with Timothy Olyphant reading a statement from the writers, who were proud of the show and wished they could be there, but were currently embroiled in their own fight for justice. The conversation was so much fun, especially when moderator Daniel Fienberg (The Hollywood Reporter) asked Olyohant’s real-life daughter Vivian (who plays his daughter in the series) when she first watched the original Justified—to which she admitted that she hasn’t watched her father’s work…except Rango. Vivian’s light-hearted ribbing of her father continued through the rest of the panel. The panelists talked about how this series is based on an Elmore Leonard story, but one that wasn’t originally about Raylan. The actors playing the not-so-good characters talked about their experience with the original Justified series, and why they wanted to do this. Boyd Holbrook admitted that he watched “all 5 seasons” after he got the job, to which Timothy Olyphant was quick to point out that there had been six seasons, and suggested perhaps that’s why he enjoyed the series. At the end of the panel both Olyphants said they would return to these characters in an instant should there be another series/story in the future.
In all the years that I’ve been coming to this festival, I have never experienced the TV Trivia Night. Usually I end up getting some food with friends after the opening night. But since most of my usual crew took this season off, I decided to give the trivia a shot. I headed back to 800 Congress to get in line. I met some folks who were at the festival for the first time, and none of us really knew how the trivia worked. Once inside I sat down at a table with some folks I had recognized from previous seasons, and we selected our team name “Everyone on This Team is Doing Great” (since several of them were fans of the series Everyone is Doing Great, which is at the festival again this year). I was selected as the person to officially submit our answers since my phone was charged to 100%. While the event was going on, they offered free pizza and bags of Cornucopia popcorn—with some unique flavors like Cornfetti, Java Chip, Dill Pickle, Chili Lime, Salted Caramel, etc.
The game was split into 5 rounds of 10 questions, with each round having a different category, with a title related to some show that was coming to the festival this season. The Cheers category was about alcohol/bars in TV shows, the Gem Stones category had answers that included a gem or stone of some sort in the title, the Cruel Cruel Summer category was related to summertime in TV shows, the Justified category was about legal and true crime shows, etc. Some of the questions were a lot more difficult than others. However, we had an excellent mix of people on our team, and there were some questions I never would have gotten in a million years (things about Dance Moms, Love is Blind, etc), but someone on the team seemed to know the answer, while there were questions about Game of Thrones, Breaking Bad, Doctor Who and Emerald City that I was able to get. In the first round we missed 3 questions, but only missed 2 others across the other rounds, ultimately ending in second place out of 18 or 19 teams! The first place team received 6 projectors, Camp Badges for next season and some ATX swag, we won 6 Tubi-branded popcorn kits and some ATX swag, and the third place team won 6 Tubi-branded snuggies (which looked comfortable, just not in the Texas heat) as well as some ATX swag. Overall, not bad for my first time at the trvia&mdadh;we are already planning to reunite this team next season. As I was leaving, one of the first-timer guys I had met in line came up to me with a joking “You b*stard”, like I had pretended I didn’t know what I was doing.
Afterwards, I headed back to finally check into my hotel and get some sleep after a non-stop day.
