The second day of the ATX TV Festival was jam-packed with unique panels, screenings, and programming, making it an eventful day. From a Mystery Guest Q&A to the highly-anticipated Cheers reunion, Friday had something for everybody.
The day broke out bright and early with a screening of Freevee’s new Primo series from creator and executive producer Shea Serrano (The Rap Year Book, Movies (And Other Things). Serrano was absent due to the WGA strike, but fellow TV campers were joined by the two leads of the show Ignacio Diaz-Silverio (A Good Person) & Christina Vidal (Tiana, Freaky Friday). The series is loosely based on Serrano’s upbringing in San Antonio, with Diaz-Silverio depicting Rafa living with his single mother, Vidal’s Drea, and his five lovingly annoying uncles.
Moderated by Deadline’s Rosy Cordero, the conversation following the screening centered on how uniquely universal the coming-of-age story is and how Serrano’s goal was to craft a story about a family that just happens to be Mexican-American.
Next, campers a part of the ATX TV Members Club were treated to a Q&A with a specific mystery guest. ATX TV Festival co-founder Emily Gipson sat down with the accidental star of Freevee’s Jury Duty, Ronald Gladden. The solar panel constructor who replied to a Craigslist ad thought he was filming a documentary about the civil act of serving on a jury. Unbeknownst to him, the entire scenario was fake as he starred in his own reality show with fellow actors, and James Marsden (X-Men, Westworld) as a heightened James Marsden.
The audience was all smiles as the generously honest Gladden detailed his experience. He reflected on how he and many of the actors have become friends, including Marsden. And while he isn’t seeking any acting roles anytime soon, he has booked an agent for representation and hopes to seek more opportunities in the unscripted genre.
Two highlights of the day explored more serious topics concerning the TV industry. As much as the festival celebrates the joy of television, it makes sure to establish a safe space for more nuanced conversations about the difficulties surrounding the medium. The first was a panel discussion presented by USC’s Hollywood, Health & Society entitled “Artificial Intelligence & Us” which explored the very real hopes and dangers of the technology’s impact.
Moderated by Hollywood, Health & Society’s Armine Kourouyan, a packed room listened to varying opinions on the subject as it relates to actors and creators in the entertainment industry. Upload actor Kevin Bigley discussed how his series initially began depicting concepts of what AI could be capable of, uploading the deceased’s consciousness to a computed network for a second life. Now those futuristic acts of fiction are quickly becoming reality.
Dr. Emily Javorky with the Future of Life Institute emphasized how her organization penned an open letter and petition for a 6-month pause on the advancement of AI to implement policies and procedures. Javorky explained the rate at which its capabilities have advanced has left many questions unanswered. While she believes AI can improve our lives for the better, without proper safeguards and understanding of exactly what we want it to do can lead to potential weaponization and other harmful practices.
The other two panelists, TV creatives Alena Smith (Dickinson, The Affiar) and Javier Grillo-Marxuach (L&O: Special Victims Unit, Charmed), both feared the reality of TV studios seeking to replace human efforts with AI by compiling full scripts with a press of a button. Smith views them as “bullshit machines” citing the information provided by a ChatGPT as a version of the truth, but it isn’t real. Grillo-Marxuach had a more realistic approach, stating if the studios are going to interject this practice, the writers have to be the ones in control of the technology as an aide.
“Computers can’t hope,” Grillo-Marxuach stated to end the panel on a positive note.
Grillo-Marxuach was then part of a more intimate discussion regarding Maureen Ryan’s upcoming investigative novel, Burn It Down: Power, Complicity, and a Call for Change in Hollywood. The duo was joined by showrunner and creator Melinda Hsu Taylor (Tom Swift, Falling Skies).
In Burn It Down, Ryan compiled four years of reporting and research on the visceral and harmful toxicity inflicted on creatives behind some of TV’s biggest hits within the last 20 years. Ryan not only had former and current writers speak on the record regarding their experiences – including both Taylor and Grillo-Marxuach – but she explored her own actions as a TV reporter that helped form a system of safety for individuals to continue this pattern of abuse untouched.
Taylor stated since speaking publicly, she has received an outpouring of support and messages from other writers who had their own stories of mistreatment from a showrunner or other senior creative. They didn’t speak out for fear of retaliation. She has made it her mission to establish an environment of kindness and thanks in her writer’s room.
Grillo-Marxuach was also very open about his experiences over the past three decades. After Variety Fair released an excerpt of the novel’s chapter on ABC’s hit genre series, Lost, Grillo-Marxuach took to Twitter in defense of the book and the allegations of racism that were voiced against the show’s two creators. He believes to curb the mistreatment in his field, writers and creatives have to view and conduct themselves as professionals and learn how to properly lead and manage people.
The second day culminated on a high note with the reunion celebration of the Emmy-winning NBC sitcom, Cheers. Thirty years after its series finale, creators James Burrows (Partners, The Bob Newhart Show), Les Charles (Taxi, Pushing Tin), and Glen Charles (Fraiser, Phyllis) were joined by actors Ted Danson (The Good Place, Mr. Mayor), George Wendt (Forever Young, Fletch), and John Ratzenberger (Poker Face, Soul). Led by Variety’s Michael Schneider, the men reminisced about how the series came to fruition, its transition from ratings dud to Emmys darling, and the spectacular casting.
Campers filled the Austin City Limits Live venue as they opened the two-hour event with a table read of the pilot episode. Ashley Fink (Glee, Criminal Minds) led stage directions with a variety of actors depicting the now iconic roles. David Walton (Bad Mons, New Girl) was Sam, Cassidy Freeman (The Righteous Gemstones, Longmire) played Diane, and David Lascher (Hey Dude, Sabrina The Teenage Witch) portrayed the beloved Coach. They were joined by Primo’s Vidal as Carla, Chris Estrada (This Fool) as Cliff, and Harold Perrineau (From, The Best Man) as fan-favorite Norm. Jury Duty’s Gladden portrayed Ron, Diaz-Ignacio a young male teen, and James Lafferty (One Tree Hill, Everyone Is Doing Great) as Sumner Sloan.
Photo credit: Jack Plunkett, Maggie Boyd, Michelle Maurin, and Teodora Pogonat