We’re incredibly excited to be bringing together this award-winning panel who not only write, produce and appear on screen, but also run their own independent production companies. And they’re not alone. In the last five years, TV has seen an explosion of headlines about the rise of on-screen tal...

Having moved to the US from the UK, Tan France has become a household name as one of the Fab Five, the presenters on Netflix hit Queer Eye for the Straight Guy. Tan is International Editor of the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival, working with the team and Advisory Committee on this year’s programme. Wi...

In March 2021 new research, conducted in partnership with Telly Mums Network, Share My Telly Job and BECTU, saw more than 500 Mothers working in unscripted television respond to an online survey. The results were explosive and the data revealed some shocking results. The talent drain for mothers ...

As Chairman of Entertainment at NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, US-based director Susan Rovner spearheads original content strategy across their linear and streaming channels, including their streaming platform Peacock. In this International Insight session, Rovner will be talking to Deadl...

We are excited to bring some punk rock to this year’s festivities as the team behind the critically acclaimed anarchic and irreverent music comedy, We Are Lady Parts, take to the stage.

In conversation with our International Editor, Tan France, the cast and creative team behind the show will ...

This session looks at the dark arts of securing a second series and the multitude of factors broadcasters consider when assessing the relative success of a first run series.

We’ll explore the importance of overnights and catch up ratings of course – but what other factors are at play and how c...

As the Festival kicks off, so does the debate. Journalist and newsreader Reeta Chakrabarti is in the studio, joined by a video-wall featuring people drawn from across TV to chew over some of the key issues we face as an industry. Setting the tone for the following four days, the future of Channel...

Comedian, writer, actor and presenter, London Hughes, will be this year’s Alternative MacTaggart speaker. British comedian Hughes was the first British Black woman to be nominated for the Dave Edinburgh Comedy ‘Best Show’ Award for her 2019 show London Hughes: To Catch a D*ck which was later turn...

Channel 5 has the smallest commissioning team of the UK public service broadcasters, but it is a group of commissioners that continue to help the channel punch above its weight. The team prides itself on innovation and flexibility, and deputy director of programmes Sebastian Cardwell will join th...

As part of Channel 4’s attempt to simplify its commissioning structure with fewer genres and layers, the genre chiefs for drama, entertainment, factual, and features and daytime will take the Festival stage. Caroline Hollick, Phil Harris, Danny Horan, and Glasgow-based Jo Street, each of whom rep...

Comedians have traditionally been cautious of posting material online for fear of losing audiences at live shows. That’s all changing! Today, building an audience online is key to success. Not only does it allow you to engage with your existing audience regularly outside of live events, it also i...

The BBC has rejigged its key programming team to position it for a world that is as much about on-demand and streaming as it is specific TV channels. Having dispatched with channel ‘controllers’ it has installed portfolio chiefs for each of the key genres. Speaking together in a must-see Festival...

In his first public outing since being named head of UK Originals at Amazon Studio, Dan Grabiner will give Festival delegates the low-down on his vison and strategy. As Amazon commits more to original UK-originated content, Grabiner will discuss how the streamer will deepen ties with the creative...