SCAD Announces Lineup For 2018 aTVfest In Atlanta

Staff Report From Georgia CEO

Tuesday, January 23rd, 2018

The Savannah College of Art and Design announced its lineup for the sixth annual SCAD aTVfest, Atlanta's only TV festival attracting industry-leading producers, directors, writers and actors to SCAD's award-winning buildings in Midtown Atlanta.

Known as the premiere destination for TV shows, the festival will be held Thursday, Feb. 1 through Saturday, Feb. 3 at several SCAD Atlanta locations, including the SCADshow theater and the main SCAD Atlanta campus at 1600 Peachtree St.

Top television names to be honored include Zach Braff from ABC's "Alex, Inc.," who will receive the Spotlight Award, and Alan Cumming from CBS's "Instinct," who will receive the Icon Award. Honorees are scheduled to attend screenings of their respective episodes.

Shows and representatives attending this year's festival include:

  • "Alex Inc." (ABC) with Zach Braff (actor/director/executive producer) and Matt Tarses (writer/executive producer)

  • "A.P. Bio" (NBC) with Glenn Howerton (actor), Mike O'Brien (writer) and Patton Oswalt (actor)

  • "Archer" (FX) with Matt Thompson (executive producer), Casey Willis (producer), Amber Nash (actor) and Lucky Yates (actor)

  • "Ash vs Evil Dead" (Starz) with Bruce Campbell (actor/executive producer), Ray Santiago (actor), Dana DeLorenzo (actor), Arielle Carver-O'Neill (actor) and Lindsay Farris (actor)

  • "Black Lightning" (CW) with Cress Williams (actor), Christine Adams (actor), Nafessa Adams (actor), China Anne McClain (actor), Marvin "Krondon" Jones III (actor), Damon Gupton (actor) and James Remar (actor)

  • "The Chi" (Showtime) with Jacob Latimore (actor), Ntare Guma Mbaho Mwine (actor), Yolonda Ross (actor), Armando Riesco (actor) and Tiffany Boone (actor)

  • "Crashing" (HBO) with Pete Holmes (creator/star), Jamie Lee (comic/actor), Jermaine Fowler (comic/actor) and Oren Brimer (supervising producer)

  • "Dynasty" (CW) with Sallie Patrick (showrunner/executive producer), Meredith Markworth-Pollack (costume designer), Grant Show (actor), Elizabeth Gillies (actor) and Sam Adegoke (actor)

  • "Final Space" (TBS) with Olan Rogers (creator/executive producer/actor), Coty Galloway (actor), Rosa Tran (supervising producer) and Devin "DVO" Roth (art director)

  • "Instinct" (CBS) with Alan Cumming (actor/executive producer), Bojana Novakovic (actor), Naveen Andrews (actor), Sharon Leal (actor) and Michael Rauch (executive producer)

  • "Mozart in the Jungle" (Amazon) with Will Graham (executive producer/director), Caroline Baron (executive producer) and Susan Coyne (writer/supervising producer)

  • "No Activity" (CBS All Access) with Patrick Brammall (actor/executive producer), Tim Meadows (actor) and Trent O'Donnell (director/executive producer)

  • "The Tick" (Amazon) with Griffin Newman (actor) and Barry Josephson (executive producer)

  • "UnREAL" (Lifetime) with Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (actor), Genevieve Buechner (actor), Stacy Rukeyser (showrunner/executive producer) and Sarah Gertrude Shapiro (co-creator/executive producer)

  • "Unsolved: The Murders Of Tupac And The Notorious B.I.G." (USA) with Marcc Rose (actor) and Wavyy Jonez (actor)

Panels
The SCAD aTVfest panel series welcomes industry experts from a wide range of professions to engage in meaningful conversations about their work. This year's panels and workshops with industry experts include The Art of Voice, Blue Ribbon Content, Defining Design at HGTV, The Evolution of Content Development, From the Director's Chair, From the Front: Branded Content and Storytelling, In Conversation: Marta Kauffman, Inside the Writer's Room, The Masters of Marketing, Meet the Executives,  Meet the Runway: Miss J Panel, Navigating the World of TV Writing, SCAD Alumni Panel, SCAD Student Showcase, Short and Sweet (a look at the growth of short form digital media), The State of New Media,  Trends in Branded Entertainment and Wonder Women: Acting in TV.  There will also be several Below the Line panels focused on "American Horror Story," Casting in Atlanta, National Casting, Costume Design and Post-Production.

SCAD is the preeminent authority in film and television education and career preparation, enrolling more than 5,000 students in 32 degree programs across 14 entertainment arts disciplines, including dramatic writing, film and television, performing arts, production design, and sound design, among others. SCAD also offers the nation's only university-run casting office, and is the only university with three original, student-run TV shows currently in production. SCAD's original TV sitcom, The Buzz, won for Best Scripted Series at the 2017 College Television Awards.  SCAD students, alumni and faculty have won Oscars, Grammys, Emmys, Golden Reels, Tonys, Annies, and more. Of the nearly 12,000 SCAD alumni from entertainment and digital media disciplines, more than 2,800 work in the Georgia entertainment industry, now a multi-billion-dollar driver for the Atlanta economy. 

For SCAD students, aTVfest offers valuable insight into the world of agents, managers, casting, comedy, integration, pitches, production partnership, programming placement, reality television, postproduction, visual effects and the convergence of digital media and television. An integral part of aTVfest is premiering SCAD student work alongside their professional counterparts. A juried showcase will include dramas, comedies, web productions and more from SCAD's School of Digital Media.

Honorees
Zach Braff's career began with his success as an actor, but he has since found equal recognition for his distinctive writing, producing and directing of successful feature films, television series and stage productions.  He currently plays Alex Schuman on ABC's "Alex, Inc."  One of his most notable characters is that of Dr. John "J.D." Dorian on the beloved television series "Scrubs." During the half-hour comedy's nine-year run, Braff earned a Primetime Emmy® nomination and three consecutive Golden Globe nominations (2005-07) for his starring role. "Scrubs" also received numerous Emmy nominations for Best Comedy Series and Best Comedy Writing.

Alan Cumming is an accomplished performer of film, television and theatre.  His seven seasons of work as Eli Gold on "The Good Wife," on CBS, earned numerous accolades, including Emmy Award, Screen Actors Guild Award, Satellite Award and Critics Circle Award nominations. His additional television credits include "Sex and the City," "Frasier," "The L Word," "Web Therapy" and "Tin Man." Also, he is the host of PBS' "Masterpiece Mystery," he wrote and starred in the British sitcom "The High Life," and he appeared in several films for the BBC.

Additional programs and honorees to be announced.