Opening Night Announcements & Confirmations
****FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE****
DATE: April 20, 2012
CONTACT: Brandy Fons, Publicist
PHONE: (310) 809-8882
E-MAIL: brandy@fonspr.com
ATX TELEVISION FESTIVAL ANNOUNCES OPENING NIGHT PROGRAMMING FROM USA NETWORK’S HIT ORIGINAL SERIES SUITS AND ROYAL PAINS
Inaugural Television Festival Adds Additional Shows and Confirmed Special Guests
Austin, TX-Friday, April 4, 2012– ATX Television Festival is pleased to announce their partnership with the #1 network in all of basic cable, USA Network, for opening night programming at the festival. USA Network will screen episodes of the original series Suits and Royal Pains at the red carpet opening night screening event. ATX Television Festival has added a screening of Once Upon A Time to the festival programming as well as additional confirmed special guests.
ATX Television Festival, co-founded by Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson, will bring the festival experience generally reserved for movies and music to television lovers. The lineup for the inaugural year includes some of the most celebrated shows of the past and present as well as an amazing list of television actors, directors, writers and industry professionals. In addition the festival will offer live music from bands featured in television shows or fronted by television stars as well as happy hour social events to bring everyone attending together to celebrate the medium of television. The first annual festival is this June 1-3 in Austin, TX.
Opening night of ATX Television Festival on June 1 will feature two popular original series from USA Network, which is kicking off its most powerful summer of original series in June. The red carpet premiere event at the State Theater (713 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX) will feature the Suits season 1 finale episode along with an episode from season 3 of Royal Pains. In addition, viewers will be treated to exclusive footage from the upcoming season premieres. Both shows return to USA with all new seasons on June 14 and June 6, respectively. Members of the USA shows’ cast and crew will be in attendance at this red carpet screening event, including Suits Executive Producer David Bartis and Royal Pains Executive Producer Michael Rauch. More details and attending cast members from the network will be confirmed soon.
Following the red carpet premiere at the State Theater attendees will be invited to join the cast and crew from USA Network and Festival panelists at the Stephen F. Austin Intercontinental Hotel (701 Congress Avenue, Austin, TX) for the opening night reception. The reception will feature live music and will be sponsored by Tito’s Vodka and the Austin Film Commission.
“When we started programming the festival, we had USA as our number one choice for Opening Night. No one does summer series like USA Network; what better fit to kick off a Television festival in June than Suits and Royal Pains,” said festival Co-Founder Caitlin McFarland.
Commenting on opening night Co-Founder Emily Gipson said “we love USA’s slogan ‘Characters Welcome.’ It fits perfectly, not only for Opening Night, but with our overall Festival goals — from panelists to fans, all characters are welcome at ATX.”
ATX Television Festival has also confirmed a screening of the hit ABC original series Once Upon A Time. At the Once Upon A Time screening viewers will be treated to the pilot episode and the second episode of the first season titled, “The Thing You Love Most.” Consulting Producer Jane Espenson will join attendees on this journey to the Enchanted Forest and answer questions about the show in a Q&A.
Additional special guests have confirmed their attendance at the first year of ATX Television Festival including Jason Ritter from the NBC series Parenthood, James Lafferty from CW Network’s One Tree Hill, and Children’s Hospital & The League star Nick Kroll.
Scott Porter, who played the role of Jason Street in Friday Night Lights, has confirmed attendance to round out the long list of cast and crew members attending the free outdoor screening of the show. ATX Television Festival has also confirmed that Explosions In The Sky will be playing the music video for their new single “Postcard From 1952” at the Friday Night Lights Alamo Drafthouse Rolling Roadshow screening/concert. ATX Television Festival is thrilled to be hosting the first public viewing of the stunning music video.
Download a preliminary schedule of events via the link below. Each of the events on this schedule have been confirmed, but the dates and times may be subject to change.
https://www.yousendit.com/download/M3BuUWVpZ2d6RS9IRHRVag
Tickets to ATX Television Festival are available for purchase here. Weekend Badges are $180 and Screening Badges are $120. ATX Televison Festival is still accepting volunteer applications. Interested volunteers can apply here: http://atxfestival.com/volunteer
For the latest developments visit the ATX: A Television Festival Facebook & Twitter.
About ATX Television Festival
Our focus is on the celebration of the television medium: looking back at its history, where it is now, and where it is headed. Our 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.
We have all the functionality of a traditional film festival — spotlighting classic shows, never aired pilots, cancelled too soon series, cult favorites, current hits, and premieres of new series. In addition, we will focus on episode screenings with Q&A’s from the cast and creators; panels focused on industry related topics like streaming and innovative outlets to continue production outside of the network/studio system; and will include parties, live music, meet-ups, social media events, and “super secret happy hours.” Ultimately, ATX has the goal of serving both the community and industry professionals equally by giving them the opportunity to discuss and celebrate all aspects of TV.
About USA Network
The #1 network in all of basic cable, USA Network is seen in 115 million U.S. homes. USA is a leader in scripted programming with a powerful stable of originals including POLITICAL ANIMALS, SUITS, NECESSARY ROUGHNESS, WHITE COLLAR, ROYAL PAINS, BURN NOTICE, PSYCH, COVERT AFFAIRS, COMMON LAW, FAIRLY LEGAL and IN PLAIN SIGHT. The network offers 52 weeks of spectacular live television with WWE MONDAY NIGHT RAW and is home to the best in blockbuster theatrical films, a broad portfolio of acquired series and entertainment events. A trailblazer in digital innovation and storytelling, USA is defining, driving and setting the industry standard for Social TV. USA is a program service of NBCUniversal Cable Entertainment, a division of NBCUniversal. The award-winning website is located at www.usanetwork.com. Characters Welcome.