We are delighted to host an exclusive masterclass for Amazon Prime’s critically acclaimed 2020 behind-the-scenes documentary series, All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur, which spans one of the Spurs’ most defining seasons to date. The masterclass will include the programme makers and contribution f...

Internationally renowned climate activist Greta Thunberg and acclaimed writer Jo Nesbo will be taking the Worldview Address slot. Thunberg and Nesbo will discuss the creative industry’s responsibility towards sustainability and a greener future; whether there should be emphasis on a storyteller’s...

UKTV’s Original output continues to garner acclaim and the team responsible for commissioning those shows will offer a window into how they work with production companies to create stories and programmes for audiences across the UK and around the world. They’ll also explain how they work with nam...

Participants on our TV PhD programme have been working with Nutopia to develop ideas based on their research areas with the six best selected to turn those ideas into fully fledged pitches. In this session, they’ll pitch those ideas for commissioners Carolyn Payne and Abigail Priddle and get live...

Travelogue on television has a long and varied history from Alan Whicker via Wish You Were Here through to today with chefs, explorers, petrol heads and a whole host of celebrities who journey the world for our entertainment and solid ratings.

This session will examine the craft and essential ...

A session which lifts the lid on just how, in a challenging and fragmented financing landscape, 4 hit shows came to fruition – and who the hell actually paid for them! Featuring Key Indie Executives, Distribution Chiefs, Channel Production Heads and 3rd Party financiers the session will provide i...

The last 12 months have brought into sharp focus many working practices for freelancers in the industry, resulting in the formation of pan-industry working group Coalition for Change at last year's Edinburgh TV Festival. Now, a year after its inception, the Coalition unveils its historic Freelanc...

As another busy Festival draws to a close it’s time to take stock. Join host Channel 4 News’ Krishnan Guru-Murthy, political and industry figures, and other names from TV to debate the issues of the day. This is also a chance for the audience to get involved, to react to the conversation as it un...

TV is dead, long live the streamers and social media platforms - it’s a mantra that’s repeated time and again when talking about 16-34-year-old content consumers. But, with ITV2’s Love Island making headlines as it banked £12m in revenues before the show went out, this session examines if this im...

UKTV CEO Marcus Arthur joins the Festival line-up and will talk about the vision for the channels and content group. Arthur, also president of BBC Studios UK and Ireland, will set out the strategic direction for UKTV and its efforts to connect with viewers with original programming, on linear cha...

Zai Bennett oversees programming across Sky’s entertainment, cinema, and kids’ channels and services. As the Comcast-owned pay- and free-TV giant rejigs its channel line-up – Sky One is being replaced with Sky Max and Sky Showcase – Bennett will look ahead to what that means for subscribers, and ...

Anne Mensah and Fiona Lamptey discuss Netflix’s place in the UK TV and film landscape, its approach to working with UK-based producers and creatives, and what’s next for the streaming platform.

Mensah, VP, Original Series, at Netflix will unpack the projects on her new slate and how she plan...

The TV world has changed and so has the way ITV organises its team. Kevin Lygo comes to the 2021 Festival in his new role atop of the media and entertainment division at the UK’s largest commercial broadcaster. Lygo, a seasoned TV exec and stalwart of the British TV scene, will discuss how the IT...

Having heard Liam Keelan give a big-picture view, it’s time to get into the detail with the team responsible for commissioning Europe-originated Originals for Disney+ and Star. Johanne Devereaux is already overseeing Sally Wainwright’s ‘The Ballad of Renegade Nell’ for Disney+ and will discuss th...

Hear from Liam Keelan, VP, Original Production, EMEA, at Disney as he sets out the story so far and what’s to come in terms of Europe-originated Originals at Disney+ and Star. Having entered the streaming fray, Disney+ came to market with a roster of big-ticket original shows. Now it is going dee...

Edinburgh TV Festival delegates always make a beeline for Ben Frow’s session as the charismatic Channel 5 chief content officer updates the crowd in his inimitable style. As Channel 5 continues to make strides, move more deeply into original drama, and standout factual, Frow will be live in the F...

Ian Katz comes to the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival in his new role as chief content officer. Katz stepped into the position as the ad-funded public service broadcaster unveiled a reorganisation of its top team as part of wider plans to future-proof Chanel 4 and lean in to digital, streaming and on-...

Charlotte Moore is a regular speaker at the Edinburgh TV Festival, but this year will be speaking in her capacity as chief content officer, a role she stepped into in late 2020. With a remit to oversee all BBC network TV output, Moore will talk about the year just gone, the present, and the creat...

Georgia Brown has been at Amazon since 2017 and oversees development and production of Amazon’s original drama and unscripted projects in Europe. As Amazon continues to go deeper into local markets throughout Europe, Brown will discuss the story so far and where next in terms of original programm...

As Sky ramps up production and its overall programming budget, the bosses of the key genres spell out their plans. The directors of drama, comedy, docs and factual, arts and entertainment, and kids – Gabriel Silver, Jon Mountague, Poppy Dixon, Phil Edgar Jones, and Lucy Murphy respectively – brea...

An Ofcom ruling has put duty of care and contributor welfare at the heart of everything we now do in unscripted and it is a much- discussed topic. We rarely hear, however, from those at the frontline – the psyches that we lean on to help us through, the producers, and those who are in front of th...

When Covid 19 struck, few could have foreseen the seismic shift it would bring to the UK television industry. Overnight we adapted to development, commissioning and sometimes even production via Zoom. 18 months on from the start of the first legal lockdown, we examine how the pandemic has specifi...

Delegates from 2021’s Ones to Watch, the TV Festival’s career development programme for up-and-coming TV talent, are some of the brightest minds working in the industry. Come and watch the future of television in action, pitching live for funding for a Random Acts film. Eight 90-second pitches wi...

Writer-director Raisah Ahmed hosts a conversation between frequent collaborators Neil Gaiman and Douglas Mackinnon about their work together and individually – from Good Omens, Doctor Who and Sherlock, to American Gods and Anansi Boys - covering creativity, culture, living and working in Scotland...