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Weird
We’re here in Austin, Texas at Season Four of the biggest (and really, only) television festival: ATX. Founded by Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson, ATX Television Festival has taken over downtown Austin for one epic weekend every year to celebrate TV showrunners, talent, and fandom. Though it’s only their fourth year up and running, ATX is having its biggest season yet. Why? Well, a Gilmore Girls reunion might have something to do with it.
That’s right, McFarland and Gipson managed to roundup series creator Amy Sherman-Palladino and reunite her and the Stars Hollow gang — including Lauren Graham, Alexis Bledel, Kelly Bishop, Scott Patterson, and more — for a formal reminiscence about her beloved drama this Saturday evening. But as if getting the cast together for a panel wasn’t enough, McFarland and Gipson also invited a slew of other tube talent, from series old and new, to take part in their festival that they so modestly call “as close to heaven as a fan can get.”
And we certainly don’t disagree. Showrunners and talent came out in droves for ATX last night and chatted with us about what we have to look forward to this upcoming season. Here are five of our favorite moments from ATX Season Four’s opening night ceremonies and stay tuned to see where you can stream the Gilmore Girls reunion on Saturday night, 7 PM CT.
'Younger' is Sutton Foster's second chance at being "cool."
We talked to the Tony-winning actress about her hit series Younger, in which she plays a 40-year-old divorcée who decides to start life over as a 26-year-old. The actress, who just turned the big 4-0 herself, enlightened us that the challenges she’s faced on Younger have actually been beneficial to her character: “Hilary and Nico who are in the show have been very helpful because they’re in their twenties and they’re actually very cool and hip,” she says, “I am not a cool and hip person, I never have been, even when I was in my twenties, I wasn’t cool and hip. But the good thing is I feel like, luckily, my character is still figuring it out and so am I.” The Younger season finale will premiere here at ATX, but the rest of us will have to wait until June 9. [Stream Younger on Hulu]
Robert Rodriguez is like a god here in Austin.
Austin native Robert Rodriguez came out to promote the new season of From Dusk Till Dawn and brought his cast along with him. Showcased on Rodriguez’s own Austin-based network, El Rey, From Dusk Till Dawn is the high octane series adaptation of the 1996 film he made in part with Quentin Tarantino. Season Two of the vampire tale premieres on El Rey August 25, but you can catch up on Netflix. [Stream From Dusk Till Dawn on Netflix]
Wilmer Valderrama has put Fez far in the past for now.
The star of That ’70s Show is taking on far more dramatic roles these days and he’s excited about it. This year alone, Valderrama has starred in Pamela Romanowsky’s The Adderall Diaries opposite James Franco and Ed Harris as well as high octane drug tale, The Girl Is in Trouble. Valderrama admits 2015 has been exciting thus far and working on From Dusk Till Dawn has been a dream come true. “A couple of years ago I decided I was going to take a break from the camera and start producing and directing a couple of things. I had a blast doing that. And then, you know, once a performer, always a performer… Robert Rodriguez is one of my mentors, he’s a friend of mine now. But before he became a friend and a mentor, he was an idol of mine and an icon and continues to be, so I always wanted to be part of that universe.” [Stream From Dusk Till Dawn on Netflix]
'Power' sounds like it might be our new favorite show.
Series creator Courtney Kemp Agboh and her cast owned the red carpet last night, teasing that Season Two of Power on Starz is going to be nothing short of mind blowing. “A major character gets killed off,” she hints. If this is the first time you’re hearing about the show, it follows a New York night club owner (played by Omari Hardwick) who moonlights as one of the city’s biggest drug kingpins. It also stars Curtis “50 Cent” Jackson, Naturi Naughton, and Joseph Sikora. [Catch up on Power on Starz Play and Amazon Instant Video]
Co-founders Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson's secret weapon is early planning (Oh, and giving the fans what they want).
When asked about the rapid success they’ve seen surround their festival, McFarland and Gipson talked about inevitable growth: “We’ll see how this year plays out and figure out how and where we want to grow from here. It’s the first time we’ve had a sold out crowd so really seeing what that feels like and what that looks like and then figuring out from here what really worked and what really didn’t. So we can still grow from here but we want to grow in the best way.” And both agree that the Gilmore Girls reunion gave ATX Season Four an incredible boost, “We started planning it a year and a half ago and this is by far the largest with nineteen panelists. It also proves to us that we picked a show that’s really right for our festival because it’s a mixture of a cast that liked each other and they all wanted to come.”
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