Tina Fey, Charlie Brooker and national treasure Graham Norton to feature in Edinburgh TV Festival
Hollywood A-lister Tina Fey and Black Mirror creator Charlie Brooker are the latest big names to join the lineup of speakers at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival.
Running from August 19 to 22 at the EICC, the annual festival is the UK’s foremost television eventthat brings together leading industry figures to debate issues facing the television industry.
Other leading industry figures taking part include Michael Sheen, Ros Atkins, Shonda Rhimes, Stephen Lambert and Sir Lenny Henry. The four-day event will include masterclasses, in conversation events, the ever-popular Spotlight Controller sessions, and keynote speeches including the prestigious James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture.
The final day of the festival (August 22), which celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, will feature in-depth discussions with Tina Fey, Charlie Brooker and TV producer behind The Traitors, Stephen Lambert.
Multi-award-winning screenwriter, actor, producer Tina Fey has created some of the most unforgettable moments in comedy and pop culture. She began her career as head writer and performer on the legendary Saturday Night Live before going on to create, produce and star in Mean Girls, 30 Rock, The Four Seasons, and co-create and produce Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt.
One of the sharpest, funniest, and most fearless comedic voices of our time, Fey brings her distinct charm,wit and insight to this lively conversation with beloved broadcaster Graham Norton.
Innovative writer Charlie Brooker has also confirmed for Friday where he will reflect on his career and discuss a range of subjects from comedy, AI, evil product design and the TV shows that made him. Brooker is the creator of the award-winning Black Mirror series, zombie horror show Dead Set, his groundbreaking series Nathan Barley and know for his popular Wipe shows for the BBC.
Stephen Lambert, chief executive of the production company behind some of the UK’s biggestentertainment shows including The Traitors, Gogglebox and Squid game: The Challenge will record a specialedition of the podcast The Town, hosted by US entertainment journalist Matt Belloni.
Lambert is one of Britain’s best-known creative executives and will discuss his career and work – and how that work has shaped the UK and US TV industry.
“Challenging landscape”
Other highlights in this year’s festival include a range of industry conversations including: TV’s place in the new world order, Truth under attack, and Youtube: the future or the end of TV as we know it.
Creative director of the festival, Rowan Woods, and advisory chair, Jane Tranter said: “This year’s programme contains all the attributes and tonal variations of great TV: it’s inspiring, thought-provoking, entertaining, attitudinal, glamorous, inclusive and actively relevant to our current challenging landscape.
“The 50th anniversary is a moment to look back and celebrate how far we’ve come, and the many people who’ve contributed to this remarkable legacy; but it’s also an opportunity to look forward and ask what the future of British television looks like, how we define it, protect it and evolve it to meet the challenges ahead. We can’t wait to see you in Edinburgh in August!”
A full programme for the event will be published at the end of the month. For more information and to book tickets you can visit the Edinburgh TV Festival website.