The state of the television industry is changing rapidly in the post-Netflix age and one place where this fact resonated strongly was the ATX Television Festival that was held in Texas earlier this month.
The panel discussion, ‘Television in a Trumped Up America’, saw TV experts such as Liz Tigelaar, Javier Grillo-Marxuach, Paul Garnes, Michael Rauch, Julie Plec and Beau Willimon.
CultureVulture
ATX Television Festival hosts industry experts as they discuss the state of the industry.
The state of the television industry is changing rapidly in the post-Netflix age and one place where this fact resonated strongly was the ATX Television Festival that was held in Texas earlier this month. Held annually, the sixth edition of the four-day festival not only saw dedicated panels to fan favourite TV shows such as Grey’s Anatomy, This Is Us, Pretty Little Liars and Suits but also played host to several reunions for shows like Alias and Battlestar Galactica.
In addition to TV stars and show-runners, the festival also saw several important conversations occur as TV executives from different platforms came together to talk about how industry dynamics are changing, particularly in the Trump era.
During the panel discussion ‘Television in a Trumped Up America’ Queen Sugar producer Paul Garnes joined Vampire Diaries EP Julie Plec, House of Cards creator and EP Beau Willimon, Casual EP Liz Tigelaar and Javier Grillo-Marxuach (The Dark Crystal prequel) spoke about the reaction in the writers room as Donald Trump became President-elect.
Beau Willimon, the creator of House of Cards, a political drama set in Washington D.C, recalled, “I come from Missouri, and I felt it was going to be a lot closer than a lot of my friends in New York and LA thought it was going to be. I still thought Hillary was going to win, but I was like, it’s going to be a real squeaker because I grew up in a part of the country that voted for this guy and you can feel it in that part of the country when I’m home for the holidays. I was still shocked when it started to dawn upon everyone what would happen…I knew that this was catastrophic. There was not a moment to waste.”
Willimon noted that responded to Trump‘s victory by organizing action sessions. “It was incredibly productive and I started to call friends from around the country…it was incredible, this wave of enthusiasm to try to correct this wrong.’”
Javier Grillo-Marxuach, currently making The Dark Crystal prequel, wrapped it up by saying: “We can catastrophize the coming of Donald Trump in any number of ways but if what we’re going through now can energize us to openly stand up for the right to live your best life on your own terms, there’s a strong possibility that great art can come out of this and politically we can be OK.”’
– With information from Deadline
