The Edinburgh TV Festival has revealed the programme for the 2024 Festival.
The programme this year will take in three main themes – class and social mobility; holding power to account; and addressing the current state of the UK TV industry and trying to chart a way forward.
The festival opens with a state-of-the-nation debate Back From The Brink: Reimagining The Future Of Television led by BBC’s ‘Explainer in Chief’ Ros Atkins, which dives headfirst into the storm rocking the UK television industry and tries to chart a way forward. The panel tackles questions about survival, job security, and the fate of traditional revenue models.
Other sessions include TV’s Invisible Army: The Freelancer Crisis, a discussion of productions’ ever-increasing reliance on this ‘invisible army’ and what more needs to be done to ensure a more sustainable engagement model and a healthier, happier workforce. Mind The Gap: The New Scripted Financing Frontier is one of two sessions exploring new funding models; and with duty of care and compliance the watchwords of the moment Based On A True Story: Getting Factual Drama Right explores the right way to approach fictionalising true events on screen – and the consequences of getting it wrong.
Is This The Beginning Of The End For Diversity, Equality And Inclusion In Tv? unpicks the complexities of the debate around DE&I departments and explores the future of these valuable functions; How To Get Climate Content Commissioned is one of a number of sessions that underscores the Festival’s ongoing commitment to holding broadcasters to account on Climate Change; and Reporting Gaza digs into the unique journalistic challenges posed by this war, including access, language, impartiality, the impact of social media, duty of care to staff and wider political pressures.
As the BBC gears up for the second series of James Graham’s critically acclaimed hit drama Sherwood the dramatist looks to his working-class roots and the power of drama to affect social and cultural change, as he delivers the James Mactaggart Memorial Lecture.
Discussions around social class and holding power to account run across the programme including: Carol Vorderman’s Alternative Mactaggart address; Saving Mr Bates: The Future Of Factual Drama, and The ‘C’ Word: TV’s Last Taboo sees the Festival tackling head-on recent reports that only 8% of people working in TV and radio come from working class backgrounds. An additional session asks whether: Silent Prejudice: Can Investment In Training And Skills Help Break Tv’s Class Ceiling?
Sessions will include speakers and subject matter including Warren Littlefield In Conversation With Anne Mensah, in which the former NBC boss turned producer (The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo, Dopesick) will discuss the international drama landscape with Netflix UK’s VP of Content; From The Race Track To The Farm: Andy Wilman In Conversation With Jane Root will see the mastermind behind Top Gear, The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm discuss the secrets of his success with the former Controller of BBC2; masterclasses on Industry and Squid Game: The Challenge will see the Festival get under the hood of both scripted and unscripted shows; Jack Rooke And Sophie Willan In Conversation sees two of the leading comedy names in British TV – the creator and writer of Big Boys (Rooke) and creator and star of Alma’s Not Normal (Willan) – come together in conversation about their respective work.
Creative Director of the Festival, Rowan Woods, and Advisory Chair, Harjeet Chhokar said: “We’re so proud to reveal the line up for this year’s festival. Conversations had in Edinburgh reverberate internationally, setting the agenda and leading the conversation for the rest of the year. It’s a programme that revels in the full range of work being made for television, as well as lifting the lid on vital conversations around class in the industry, and the role of television in holding power to account. In the face of a difficult year, it’s also a celebration of creativity and storytelling and the vital cultural impact of TV.”
Jon Creamer
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