ITS normally only for telly people but Edinburgh International Television Festival is opening its doors to a number of public sessions and exclusive screenings.
Theshowbizlion.com has attended the TV Festival ever since our cub days and we often go wild at the bash which sees telly execs and celebs converge in Scotland's capital for August.
Now the festival is offering access to an exclusive preview screening and Q&A from celebrated TV series Red Dwarf and the first two episodes of The Tick, brand new to Amazon Prime Video, as well as sessions at the EICC including Fleabag: How to Create an International Hit Comedy with Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Black Mirror Masterclass with Charlie Brooker, and Jon Snow’s 2017 James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture.
Chairing the screening of Red Dwarf will be fan of the show, comedian Nick Helm, and Red Dwarf writer, director and co-creator Doug Naylor; and actors Craig Charles, and Robert Llewellyn, will be on hand to answer any questions.
As well as the screenings taking place, a number of sessions will be available to the public at the EICC, including: The James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture delivered by award-winning journalist and broadcaster, Jon Snow. In addition, in Satire! What is it Good For? the best minds in political comedy including Rory Bremner, Matt Forde and Nish Kumar will discuss the tension created by Brexit and Trump, The Steve Hewlett Debate: Fake News, will be hosted by Channel 4 News presenter Krishnan Guru-Murthy, and Russell Kane will be chairing this year’s EdTalks session on Failure.
YouTube stars Dan and Phil talk with Sue Perkins about how to engage young audiences and what it’s like being your own writers, editors and commissioners, and YouTuber Humza Arshad and global Head of Diversity at YouTube Oona King will share their experiences and hacks to staying relevant and inclusive in today’s media entertainment landscape.
In drama, Charlie Brooker and Annabel Jones will discuss their hit series in a Black Mirror Masterclass, Fleabag creators Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Vicky Jones are in conversation about How to Create an International Hit Comedy, and actor Vicky McClure and script-writer Jed Mercurio talk about the plot twists of unmissable series Line of Duty.
Russell T Davies will be in conversation with Scottish Conservative Leader Ruth Davidson as he collects his Outstanding Achievement Award, and Rio Ferdinand will discuss how we consume content in BT Sport’s Digital Masterclass.
Sir David Attenborough will join Head of The Natural History Unit Julian Hector in conversation looking at the past, present and future of natural history programme-making, and Award-winning comedian, writer, actor and broadcaster, Russell Brand, will address the Edinburgh International Television Festival in the prestigious Alternative MacTaggart.
Comedy Central President Kent Alterman talks to comedian Jimmy Carr about his phenomenal career to date and how he has helped emerging stars break through, and Senior Vice President of Original Programming at Marvel, Karim Zreik will talk about bringing the vast Marvel Cinematic Universe to television with ABC Studios.
To book tickets to the exclusive screenings and Q&A please visit: http://bit.ly/EITFFilmhouse
To book tickets to the sessions being held at the EICC, please visit: http://bit.ly/EITF17Events
