‘RuPaul’s Drag Race’ Producers to Be Honored With Impact in Television Award at SeriesFest (EXCLUSIVE)
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SeriesFest has announced the official lineup for SeriesFest: Season 9, which will be held from May 5 to 10 in Denver. “RuPaul’s Drag Race” producers will be presented with the SeriesFest Impact in Television Award at the annual festival, Variety can exclusively reveal.
SeriesFest: Season 9 has slated a wide variety of screenings, panels, workshops and sneak peeks/television premieres at this year’s festival. The non-profit organization is committed to showcasing and uplifting rising talent and underserved communities through episodic storytelling.
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This year’s Impact in Television Award will be presented to “RuPaul’s Drag Race” producers Randy Barbato, Fenton Bailey and Tom Campbell, for their pioneering and creative developments in the world of television production. Barbato, Bailey and Campbell will also participate in a panel on Monday, May 8, where audiences can ask the creatives questions.
“We’re excited to celebrate this amazing content and embrace conversations about the ever-changing industry,” Randi Kleiner, co-founder and CEO of SeriesFest, said in a statement. “This year’s festival is an important opportunity for the creative community to come together, to reflect and look forward.”
The event’s screening lineup includes the U.S. premiere of Netflix’s “Mulligan” with creators Robert Carlock and Sam Means; the world premiere of Amazon Freevee’s “Primo” with creator, writer and executive producer Shea Serrano and series stars Ignacio Diaz-Silverio and Christina Vidal; and a Season 2 screening of NBC’s “Grand Crew” with creator, executive producer and showrunner Phil Augusta Jackson. A special screening of Fox’s “Animal Control” will be shown at Red Rocks Amphitheatre during the festival’s closing night on May 10.
Also on tap: Screenings of Nat Geo’s “A Small Light” with writers, showrunners and executive producers Tony Phelan and Joan Rater; a screening of the season two pilot of “Everyone is Doing Great” with creators and stars, James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti; and the world premiere screening of CNN’s “The 2010’s” followed by a panel with executive produce Mark Herzog.
A variety of original pilots will also be making their debut at SeriesFest, including “Hit Man: Secrets of Lies,” “Full Bleed” and “Grown.”
Partnering up with Liberty Global, SeriesFest will honor creatives from across the globe with an international spotlight. An array of eight original works will make their U.S. or world debut at SeriesFest. Many of the series’ stars and showrunners will be present at the festival, including “Elle’s Kitchen” (France) showrunner Lucie Moreau and lead Annabelle Lengronne and Grace Dove from “Bones of Crows” (Canada). Additional projects and countries represented include “Traitor” (Israel), “The Aerobics Project” (France), “Dark Angel” (Singapore), “The Architect” (Norway), “Detective No. 24” (Sweden) and “Snow”(Germany).
Panels will include “‘Make Em’ Laugh!’ A Spotlight on Comedy Showrunners” with Gloria Calderón Kellett, Meredith Scardino, Shea Serrano, Phil Augusta Jackson and Sam Means. “Changing the Hollywood Landscape for Persons with Disabilities” panel will include Sue Ann Pien (“As We See It”), Lauren “LoLo” Spencer (“Sex Lives of College Girls”) and Madison Tevlin (“Champions”).
SeriesFest will also feature a live recording of Paul Giamatti’s “Chinwag” podcast with Stephen Asma; the Storytellers Initiative Live Read in partnership with Janelle Monáe’s Wondaland Pictures (with this year’s winner of SeriesFest’s Storytellers Script Writing Competition, “Soul City” written by Lori Webster Foréand directed by Denzel Whitaker); and the closing night event, “A Night of Comedy” at Red Rocks Amphitheatre with guests Jay Pharoah, Adam Ray, Joel McHale and Chelsea Handler.
The full lineup can be found at seriesfest.com.
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