ATX TV Festival Announces Selections for Inaugural Indie TV Pilot Competition & Showcase

2026 Festival Line-up Adds to Indie TV Track with Everyone Is Doing Great, PBS Conversations

April 17, 2026 – ATX TV Festival has announced the selections for its inaugural Indie TV Pilot Competition & Showcase, as well as additional programming joining the festival’s Indie TV track.

Scripted selections advancing to the final round will be featured as part of an Indie TV Showcase, with the winner of “Best Indie TV Pilot – Scripted” announced during the 2026 Festival, taking place May 28-31 in Austin, Texas.

The selected pilots advancing to the final round include:

• THE LADIES
  Written & Directed by Juliana Piscina
  Produced by Cailin Lobb-Rabe, Gillian Mahar
  Cast: Jessica Toltzis, Caroline Hedrick, Gia Blakey

  Tracy, an ex-high school basketball star, returns to coach at her alma mater, but the program isn’t what it used to be and Tracy, alongside her quirky remaining players, Emma and Rita, will have to restore the program to its former glory… or just win one game.

• SAVAGE
  Written by Connor Paolo
  Directed by Josh Bowman
  Produced by Nicholas Logan, Brittany Fallow, Bridget Regan
  Cast: Bridget Regan, Connor Paolo, Barbara Crampton, JR Bourne, Zach Roerig, Nicholas Logan, Dylan Sprayberry

  Savage, a mother and private investigator desperate to fund her daughter’s cancer treatment, is offered a missing persons case near a swamp where something terrifyingly ancient lurks beneath every lie.

• FREELANCE
  Written by Julien Turner
  Directed by Julien Turner & Justen Turner
  Produced by Cynthia Turner, Stephen “Dr” Love
  Cast: Spence Moore II, Bernard Clark, Lou Young, René Vaca, Lou Ratchett, Kevin Fredericks, Christiani Porter, Elijah Cooper, Mel Mitchell, Kyle Flood

  A group of broke zillenial post-grad “creatives” chasing their dreams—together, one disaster gig at a time.

The selections also include an unscripted series, which will be awarded “Best Indie TV Pilot – Unscripted” at the Festival:

• IT’S NOT YOU, IT’S ME: CHICAGO
  Created by Anthony L. Williams
  Directed by Anthony L. Williams
  Written by Anthony L. Williams, Taylor D. Adams, Brian Kowalski, Dr. Darnell Motley, Dr. Monica O’Neal, Spencer Paez
  Produced by Anthony L Williams, Dr. Darnell Motley, Dr. Monica O’Neal, Spencer Paez, Brian Kowalski
  Cast: Prem Pahwa

  Three bachelors re-embark into the dating scene — some for their first time, and others hopefully for their last! While receiving expert guidance on healthy relationships, sex, and vulnerability, the niches and experiences of modern queer dating will be tossed aside as our bachelors find themselves in the midst of personal growth while attending individual and group mental health therapy sessions. Along their journeys of receiving clinical coaching and support, they’ll also receive tools to help unpack baggage and trauma from previous relationships so that they don’t take them into the new ones they’re starting to build.

In addition to the Showcase, the Festival’s Indie TV track will include a range of conversations featuring independent creators, executives, buyers, more, intended to build community and increase marketplace opportunities for independently created series.

Included in this will be the return of Everyone is Doing Great, with creators, writers, producers, directors, and stars Stephen Colletti and James Lafferty.

It was recently announced that the coming-of-age comedy, which previously screened the premiere episodes for Seasons 1 and 2 at ATX TV Festival, will make its Netflix debut on May 11 through a licensing deal with Sony Pictures Television.

Colletti, Lafferty, and their collaborators will join the festival for a conversation about the show’s journey from self-financing and crowdfunding, to acquisition and distribution on major streaming platforms, and their experience navigating the independent TV landscape over the last eight years.

Lafferty, who also served as a screener for the inaugural Indie TV Pilot Competition, added, “Our journey from a crowdfunded first season to our second season premiering on Netflix, all started at ATX TV Festival. Returning to Austin as they kick off their inaugural independent TV competition feels like a full circle moment. We can’t wait to celebrate the promise of indie episodic storytelling and the TV fans who continue to make it all possible.”

The Indie TV track will also include “The PBS Process,” a look through the lens of PBS as a powerful platform to tell stories in a variety of formats and showcase local and regional storytelling to audiences near and far. With a multitude of ways to “get your show made,” attendees will hear from the perspective of executives, creatives and brands who are passionate about showcasing culture through TV, and why Austin PBS not only matters, but stands at the forefront of PBS television.

Confirmed panelists include Luis Patiño (President & CEO, Austin PBS), Sara Robertson (Chief Operating Officer, Austin PBS), Bethiael Alemayoh (Director of Content & Distribution, Austin PBS), Tyler Coe (Creator/Director, How Are We Today?), Meghan Ross (Co-Creator/Director/Producer, How We Grieve), Emily Bolf (Producer, Austin City Limits), and Melissa Reese (Executive Producer, Texas Monthly Presents: The Story).
 

Previously announced Indie TV conversations include the following, with more to be announced soon:

• Inside Macaroni Art Productions with Steve Zahn & Rick Gomez – Steve Zahn & Rick Gomez discuss launching their Macaroni Art Productions banner; their creative goals as actors, directors, producers, and writers; and forging their own unique path to telling the stories they want to tell (and see).
• The Making of an Indie Series: You Belong Here – A one-of-a-kind look at the process of producing an independent TV series with Macaroni Art Productions co-founders Steve Zahn & Rick Gomez, from pre-production, to production, to post – and what comes after.

 

BADGES and TV PASSES for ATX TV Festival (May 28-31, 2026) are available now: atxfestival.com/attend

SINGLE TICKETS for Select Events at the Paramount and Stateside Theaters are on sale now:
https://www.austintheatre.org/atx-tv-festival/

 

All Programming and Panelists are subject to change.

Previously announced programming includes:

• Friday Night Lights 20th Anniversary Reunion Panel and “Texas Made Award” presented with Media for Texas
• Everybody (Still) Loves Raymond: A Night of Comedy with Phil Rosenthal, Ray Romano, and Writers
• Homicide: Life on the Street Retrospective with Tom Fontana, David Simon, and Kyle Secor
• Sweet/Vicious 10 Year Anniversary with Cast & Producers
• The Other Bennet Sister Screening and Q&A presented by BritBox
• Inside Job: TV’s Non-Writing Producers
• A Late Night Show with Greg Iwinski Returns for Another Live Episode
• Inaugural “Indie TV Pilot Competition & Showcase”
• A Conversation on Medical Accuracy on TV presented by the John Ritter Foundation for Aortic Health
• A Nuclear Renaissance on TV: How Atomic Storylines Can Save Us from Armageddon presented by NTI
• Around the TV Set with the Television Critics Association
• “Lead with Kindness” Vodcast with Melinda Hsu
• The Paper
• A Conversation with Lisa Katz & Erin Underhill
• Universal Studio Group Presents: Funny AF
• NBC 100 Presents: Investigating the Legacy of Procedurals
• Apple TV presents Maximum Pleasure Guaranteed Screening and Q&A with Creator and Cast
• Collaborator Award: Sherry Thomas & Sharon Bialy
• “I Love Lucy” 75th Anniversary Script Reading
• How to Cast a Procedural (and Get Away with It) presented by CSA
• Macaroni Art Productions Co-Founders Steve Zahn and Rick Gomez Return to Talk Indie TV and You Belong Here

 

ABOUT ATX TV FESTIVAL

ATX TV Festival is an annual event produced by ATX TV, kicking off each summer in Austin, TX. As the leading television festival, it brings together fans and industry to celebrate the television medium by looking at its history, where it is now, and where it is headed. The festival consists of screenings followed by Q&As, panel conversations, and events (parties, live music, happy hours, hosted receptions, etc) and is known for reunions of classic series and cult hits. Screenings include never-aired pilots, canceled-too-soon series, current favorites, and world premieres. Panels conversations range from industry deep-dives to fan-focused conversations, along with discussions on representation (in front of and behind the camera) and responsibility in storytelling. The ATX TV audience is comprised equally of consumers and industry professionals, and ATX TV Festival is the only place they come together as one community to discuss and celebrate all aspects of #TVTogether.

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