Rueben's Ramblings

Are you guys ready for another festival (ie. another convention dedicated to all things television)? If you are anything like me, you will be saying “hell yes” and then muttering under your breath “as long as I can afford it, of course.”

But all kidding aside, I learned about The ATX Festival yesterday courtesy of the folks over at TV Guide and just had to include a piece here at Rueben’s Ramblings about the event, which will take place in Austin, Texas from June 1 to 3. And, one of the really cool aspects about this festival is that you can get involved in helping fund it; but first, let’s take a look at what The ATX Festival is all about.

The goal of The ATX Festival is to focus on the celebration of the television medium: looking back at its history, where it is now, and where it is headed. The weekend will consist of events where attendees can interact with actors, writers, directors, creators, showrunners, music supervisors, casting directors and studio executives involved in all stages of bringing their favorite series to the small screen.

The ATX Festival is the first festival devoted to television’s history and future and will function like a traditional film festival with premieres of new series, current hits & cult favorites and spotlights of unaired pilots, series that were cancelled before their time and classic shows.

The festival will also offer access to the industry’s leading professionals with cast and creator Q&As and panels focusing on innovations in both production and content delivery. The goal of the festival is to serve both the community and industry professionals by giving them the opportunity to celebrate and discuss all aspects of TV’s past, present and future.

The ATX Festival is the brainchild of Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson who have over a decade of experience working in the film and television industry. Caitlin has experience on the production side, working for directors Betty Thomas, Nora Ephron, and Mira Nair as well as being involved on the festival and filmmaker sides of renowned festivals like Sundance, Tribeca, and Doha Tribeca. Whereas, Emily has spent her years in the industry working on the studio and network side for FOX, TLC, Discovery, and FOX TV Studios.

Now here is how you can get involved in funding this first ever TV festival. A Kickstarter campaign has been launched (as of yesterday, January 18 in fact) with the goal of raising $25,000. You can learn more about Kickstarter campaign by visiting here.

To find out more about The ATX Festival, including details on badges, the confirmed venues and programming, please visit the official website here.