Must-See TV ... Festival
Cast of beloved NBC drama heading to Austin for very special family reunion
ATX Television Festival has a penchant for pulling off epic reunions of bygone TV shows such as Gilmore Girls (before the Netflix special series!), Friday Night Lights, Felicity, and Veronica Mars. When it returns to downtown Austin June 4-7, 2020, however, the festival is going all in on everybody's favorite show to cry about — Parenthood.
The NBC drama ran from 2010-2015 and told the story of the Braverman clan, a Southern California family just trying to get through all of the many, many, many hurdles that life and the show's writing staff threw their way. It was also famous for sob-inducing moments long before Dan Fogelman decided to break hearts every week with This Is Us.
Scheduled to attend next year's ATX Television Festival is nearly the entire cast, including Peter Krause, Lauren Graham, Monica Potter, Erika Christensen, Mae Whitman, and Craig T. Nelson. Noticeably absent is Dax Shepherd, but the release did tease that additional participants will be announced at a later date.
The cast will join creator/executive producer Jason Katims and writer/executive producer David Hudgins for "a live script reading and panel conversation celebrating 10 years since the series premiere," says a release.
Along with the Parenthood cast reunion, ATX Television Festival will also reuinite the writers of Justified; feature a retrospective of HBO's groundbreaking Oz with series creator/executive producer Tom Fontana and cast members Lee Tergesen and Dean Winters; and screen the unaired pilot for L.A. Confidential, a show that was not picked up during the 2018 pilot season.
Other exciting additions include a panel on women in the television industry hosted by NBC. The panel will discuss, among other things, the network's Female Forward program, which helps women break into television directing.
The festival is also bringing back its popular The Pitch Competition, now in its eighth year. The competition gives undiscovered writers the opportunity to pitch ideas directly to network executives.
“The Pitch Competition is often the highlight of the festival for us,” said festival co-founders and co-directors Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson in a release. “Over the last seven years, our winners have received mentorship, gained representation, pitched to top networks, and even sold their pitch to a major studio." Writers interested in taking part must submit a 90-second video pitch and writing sample for an original scripted series by January 17.
For those just looking to revel in all things television, badges and day wristbands are on sale now. Badges begin at $295, and can be purchased here.