TV Festival SeriesFest to Showcase a “Year of Impact”
Photo by Jason Bahr/GettyThe fourth “season” of the SeriesFest festival in Denver, Colo. will highlight its Year of Impact-themed programming to examine authenticity and change in the television business, both onscreen and off.
The festival was co-founded by Kaily Smith Westbrook and Randi Kleiner (pictured above). This year, the co-founders are achieving their mission “to embrace and elevate diverse and emerging voices, opinions and perspectives” through platforms like “Who Runs the Show? Women,” “Inclusion Impact: Disability Representation On-Screen and Behind-the-Scenes” and “Virtual Reality: Igniting Global Impact.”
Each year, SeriesFest features network premieres, competitive screenings and pilot-writing contests and panels with television stars and executives, as well as musical performances to celebrate all aspects of the golden age of television. The six-day festival is hosted at Red Rocks Amphitheatre.
This year’s programming will showcase “artists that are leveraging content as a catalyst for action,” per a press release. Highlights from the lineup include an advanced screening of NBC’s new drama New Amsterdam, AMC’s Lodge 49 (the panel for which Paste TV Editor Matt Brennan will moderate) and the new Facebook Watch series Sacred Lies.
Country trio Lady Antebellum will perform at the Centerpiece event this year. Previously, the festival featured performances by En Vogue, Common and Ms. Lauryn Hill last year, and Sia in 2016. Prior to Lady Antebellum’s performance, there will be a special screening of Paramount Network’s new series Yellowstone, starring Kevin Costner.
SeriesFest will be held from June 22-27. Read Paste’s coverage of last year’s SeriesFest here and find a full lineup schedule for the upcoming festival here.