Thursday, June 6, 2014:
My fellow Austin FYA book club member, Kristin, and I pack up and travel to the ATX Television Festival. We’re both locals, so this is a relatively easy journey. Pros: No plane delays. Cons: We’ve packed EVERYTHING, including absurd quantities of wine and lawn chairs.
We go to check into our motel, a kitschy, retro place on South Congress, which is a little over a mile from the festival. We’re staying in the Desert Bloom room, complete with a cactus-filled mural on the wall, and orange chenille bedspreads. We sip wine at the hotel, like the classy ladies we are, before heading to the Stephen F. Austin (SFA) Hotel pick up our festival badges and meet some friends.
You thought I was kidding about the cactus mural, didn’t you?
We don’t see any cabs, so we walk back downtown. This is when we come to the realization that on a Texas summer day, a mile feels much longer than that. We rehydrate with wine when we arrive downtown. In the Netflix Lounge, I spot Wilson Cruz from My So-Called Life, who is a festival panelist. I avoid going over for fear that I’ll blubber all over him about my love for Rickie Vasquez. That show was cancelled 20 years ago, and I’m still not over it.
Later that night, we head to the Legends screening after-party at a 6th Street bar. I check to see if we’re on the list to get into the VIP room. Somehow, we are not on the list. (Apparently, they didn’t get the memo about us being classy ladies.) Later, we find out that Taylor Kitsch was in the party VIP room, and we never saw him. Bleary eyes, broken hearts, y’all. We’re now exhausted, and possibly drunk, so we take a pedicab back to our hotel.
Not pictured: when the pedicab driver decided our hotel was too far, and dropped us halfway.
Saturday, June 7, 2014:
I wake up at 7am to Kristin yelling about how the clock in our room is 30 minutes fast. She swears this is her normal volume. It’s possible that one, or the both of us, has a hangover. We get some coffee, and yet again, cannot find a cab, so we head downtown on foot. Our flip-flop tan lines are starting to look really defined. Kristin attends a screening of Franklin & Bash (because Mark-Paul Gosselaar) while I head to Orange is the New Black. We get to screen the first episode of season two and then have a Q&A with the actresses Uzo Aduba (Crazy Eyes), Lea Delaria (Big Boo), and Danielle Brooks (Taystee). The ladies are gracious, gorgeous and hilarious. I can’t wait to watch the rest of the season.
In between panels and screenings, there’s no better place to hang out than the SFA lobby, for people-watching. We spot actor Cam Gigandet arriving and pass judgement on his sweatpants attire. We watch as he has to open his suitcase on the sidewalk in front of the hotel to search for his wallet so that he can pay the driver. The woman with him ends up paying the driver instead, while Cam poses for photos with fans. He does all of this while smoking a cigarette. I wonder if he ever did find his wallet.
At the Ratings, Recaps and Reviews panel, moderated by TV writer/creator/producer, Kyle Killen, I learn how ratings are tabulated, and then promptly forget. My takeaway is that even though The CW and ABC Family shows don’t pull in the big Nielsen ratings, they do attract the coveted demographic with buying power: women, aged 18-34. Killen’s advice for anyone who wants to save a TV show is not to write to the network, but to write to the show’s advertisers. Basically, networks never listen to viewers like they listen to the advertisers who pay the pills. I geek out a little when Killen brings out long-time TV reviewers Alan Sepinwall and Mark Zoller Seitz (the only two people ever to be more obsessed with Deadwood than I was), and Tara Ariano (one of the co-founders of Television Without Pity, the website responsible for how little work I got done at my first desk job).
Finally, it’s time for the Justified screening. I haven’t eaten since a protein bar in the hotel lobby, while critiquing Cam Gigandet’s life choices. The screening is at the Alamo Drafthouse, so I get to order chips and queso and wine, and we screen the last season finale. The episode is super intense, even on second viewing. Then, there’s a Q&A with series writer/producer Graham Yost, and one of the show’s stars, Joelle Carter. As with all of the actors and actresses we see over the weekend, she’s even more gorgeous and tiny in person. I never get up the nerve to ask her if Walton Goggins’ hair is as impressive up close.
Kristin and I get a ride back to our hotel (hallelujah) where we change into matching Texas Forever shirts and head off to the nearby Friday Night Lights outdoor screening. We have drinks and sit with friends, where the lawn chairs come in handy, keeping us from frying like bacon on hot asphalt. We opt out of waiting in the long line to meet FNL cast member Adrianne Palicki. Although, I do later kick myself for missing out on having my photo taken with the actors who played Billy and Mindy Riggins. As the sun goes down, the parking lot of the San Jose Hotel is transformed into Dillon, Texas.
TEXAS FOREVER.
Saturday, June 8, 2014:
We wake up at 7:30. I may be cursing the previous night’s choices that involved box wine and 11pm pizza. We make a friend come pick us up, because our feet hurt, and we do not have fast passes for the Orphan Black screening, but I’ll die if I miss it. Luckily, we, and everyone we know, make it in to the screening, and we’re asked to keep spoilers off social media, before getting to see that night’s episode, eight hours before the rest of the country. It was amazing, and SO fun to watch with a live audience full of fans. The Q&A with creators Graeme Manson and John Fawcett revealed that Tatiana Maslany and Jordan Gavaris were totally pumped to make out with each other, and that the character of Allison pretty much writes herself.
The line for the Everwood reunion panel wraps around the side of the State Theater, but gives me time to eat a protein bar for lunch. Once the panel starts, we’re crying within the first five minutes and it pretty much never stops. Everyone is so grateful for the opportunity they had to work on the show and the actors who played Irv and Edna just kill me. I shout silently into the void (twitter) upon discovering that I have neglected to bring kleenex, and a short time later, a friend in the row ahead passes me some tissues. The panel was wonderful with most of the cast in attendance, and the ones who couldn’t be there having sent in video messages. Chris Pratt attempts to FaceTime with the moderator during the panel, and we’re briefly treated to his swearing and general boisterous Chris Pratt-ness.
I head to the Witches of East End screening, while Kristin goes to Parenthood. While waiting in line, I see the surprise Parenthood panelists, Lauren Graham and Peter Krause walk into the theater, and realize that I have possibly chosen the wrong panel. You guys, LORELAI GILMORE.
I stole this photo of the Parenthood panel.
I drown my Lauren Graham sorrows with more Drafthouse queso and wine. Witches of East End (which is a totally fun show) screens the season one finale, and there’s a Q&A with the show’s executive producer: Maggie Friedman, writer: Richard Hatem, and star: Rachel Boston. Rachel has gorgeous hair and seems to be one of the sweetest people on earth. She’s even nice to the clueless guy in the audience who admits during the Q&A that he’s never actually seen the show before.
We finally have luck hailing a cab and head back to South Congress in search of dinner. A steady diet of alcohol and appetizers has finally driven us to eat vegetables and go to bed at a decent hour. Okay, so we had Amy’s Ice Cream, and THEN went to bed.
Sunday, June 9, 2014:
Waking up without a hangover is wonderful, isn’t it? We pack up to check out of the hotel before heading to the most anticipated panel of the weekend, the Roswell reunion. We arrive super early (as did everyone) in anticipation of the packed house, and get to spend time hanging out with friends in line.
Awesome Roswell shirts from CraftsbyCasaverde.
When we finally make it inside, I order chips and queso for the third time. We screen the pilot episode and get to relive the super questionable hair and sartorial choices of the time. For the Q&A, they bring out Shiri Appleby (Liz), Majandra Delfino (Maria), Brendan Fehr (Michael), Nick Wechsler (Kyle), and previously unannounced surprise panelist, Jason Behr (Max).
It’s a shame they’ve all aged so poorly, isn’t it?
The cast and series creator, Jason Katims, reminisced about what it was like to film the show, and teased each other about old times. Pretty sure Behr implied that Wechsler was a big ol’ pothead back in the day. When asked where they think their characters would be 15 years later, Delfino said she thinks Maria would have a couple of alien babies. But she thought they could just as easily be Max's as Michael's. It was completely delightful until some crazy lady from New Jersey asked them all if they believed in aliens.
Before we knew it, it was time to take our sore feet and make the arduous trip back across town. Thanks for the memories, ATX Festival! See you next year.