Edinburgh International Television Festival Launches Programme 2006
MediaGuardian Edinburgh International TV Festival, which has today announced the 2006 Festival events programme. Just some of the top names confirmed for this year's event include, David Abraham, Charles Allen CBE, Sir David Attenborough, James Baker, Jeremy Beadle,
Russell Brand, Paul Burrell, Michael Collins, Michael Carroll, Nick Elliott, Peter Fincham, Michael Foster, Paul Gibbs, Al Gore, Alan Hansen, Armando Iannucci, Luke Johnson, Roly Keating, David Liddiment, Kevin Lygo, Roger Lynch, Sir Trevor MacDonald, Kelvin Mackenzie, Jimmy McGovern, Marissa Mayer, Andrew Neil, Peter Oborne, Rageh Omaar, Trey Parker, Jon Plowman, Simon Schama, Simon Shaps, Matt Stone, Mark Thompson, Jane Tranter, Jon Thoday and Richard Woolfe.
Alison Sharman, 2006 Advisory Chair and ITV Director of Factual and Daytime, comments, "We are delighted to unveil this impressive line-up for the 2006 Edinburgh TV Festival. With headlining names including Al Gore, Matt Stone and Trey Parker as well as home grown heavyweights Mark Thompson, Luke Johnson and our 2006 MacTaggart speaker Charles Allen, the Festival will be an exciting and unmissable event. At the heart of proceedings will be the debate about the growth of digital technologies and how this is already impacting on television. The Festival will be essential viewing for all those interested in the future of broadcasting."
FESTIVAL HIGHLIGHTS
The Apprentice: To open this year's event, senior TV executives have lined up to take part in an Edinburgh Television Festival special version of The Apprentice. Girls against boys, the execs going into battle to avoid getting sacked by Sir Alan Sugar include: Simon Shaps (Director of Television, ITV), Andrew Newman (Channel 4 Head of Entertainment), Andrew Zein (Managing Director, Tiger Aspect), Peter Salmon (Former TV Corporation Chief), Sophie Turner-Laing (Sky Networks Deputy MD), Jana Bennett (BBC Director of Television), Camilla Lewis (Talkback Thames Head of Factual Features) and Emily Bell (Editor in Chief, Guardian Unlimited).
BBC Question Time: Andrew Neil (Broadcaster and journalist) chairs this Edinburgh Question Time special on the future direction and funding options for the BBC. Panellists include Caroline Thomson (Director of Policy, BBC) John Whittingdale (MP for Maldon & East Chelmsford, and Chairman of the Common's Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee) and Les Hinton (Executive Chairman, News International).
Digital Homes: On Demand or Over Hyped?: Three sessions will form a morning of digital analysis, debate and opinions from broadcasters, independents and new media representatives. Including:
Digital Homes (New Media Rights): Three independents will discuss the innovative services they will be providing in order to exploit the terms of the recent rights agreement between PACT and the broadcasters. The panel includes Alex Mahon (Chief Operating Officer, TalkbackThames), Charles Wace (Chief Executive, Twofour Group) and Anthony Lilley (Managing Director, Magic Lantern Productions).
Digital Homes (New Media): Chair Ellis Watson (General Manager at Mirror Group Newspapers) is joined by Patrick Walker (Head of Content Partnership at Google Video), Roger Lynch (Chairman & CEO at Video Networks Ltd), Griff Parry (Strategic Planning Manager at BSkyB), Gidon Katz (Director of Content Acquisitions at ntl Telewest) who discuss their business models, users and audiences.
Digital Homes (Broadcasters): Ashley Highfield (Director of New Media & Technology at BBC), Jeff Henry (Director of ITV Consumer), Elizabeth Carpenter (Brightcove) and James Baker (Managing Director at BSkyB) will respond to the strategies outlined by the new media organizations and will examine their plans for the fully on-demand and interactive future. Chaired by GuardianUnlimited's Emily Bell.
Don't you know who I am?: What defines celebrity? Our stars are no longer required to have a certain skill or talent to become household names, while others with established talents can struggle to get on our screens. Chair Boyd Hilton (TV Editor, heat Magazine) is joined by Jeremy Beadle, Paul Burrell and Michael Carroll to discuss the cult of the celebrity through the experiences of celebrities on both sides of the talent divide.
Simon Schama Interview: Director General of the BBC Mark Thompson will talk to Simon Schama about his past and current projects and his vision for the future of broadcasting. The session will be followed by the premiere of Schama's latest BBC2 series, Power of Art. This recounts the remarkable story of eight moments of high drama in the making of eight masterpieces, from Caravaggio's David with the Head of Goliath to Picasso's Guernica and Mark Rothko's suite of paintings for the Seagram Building restaurant, the Four Seasons, in New York. Schama, formerly Art Critic of The New Yorker, will take viewers back to the birthplace of these masterpieces, to the murderous, messianic world of baroque Rome, the madhouses and brothels of Provence, and the carnage of civil war Spain.
Too Right? On!: Kelvin Mackenzie (Journalist), Dorothy Byrne (Head of News, Current Affairs and Business at Channel 4) and Peter Oborne (Journalist) are confirmed to take part in Too Right? On!, a debate led session asking whether it is easier to get on TV if you are right wing. Are right of centre voices more widely heard on British television because more controversial opinions make for better viewing?
Masterclasses:
South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone will be flying in to deliver a special Edinburgh Masterclass on the cult sitcom, now in its tenth season. Parker and Stone will talk to Edgar Wright (Actor/Writer at Big Talk Productions) about how the series has evolved since its 1997 launch, their approach to the worlds of celebrity and politics, plus what's next for the show.
Armando Iannucci is also confirmed to deliver a 2006 Edinburgh Masterclass. The comic writer, performer, satirist, director and producer will talk to Alan Yentob about his television work, including the award winning sitcom The Thick of It.
Sir Trevor MacDonald delivers an insight into his 35 year career year in broadcasting, chaired by Nick Ferrari. BAFTA-Award winning documentary producer Laurence Rees takes to the stage to discuss the future of history on television. Google's Marissa Mayer will be flying in to deliver a Masterclass on working at one of the world's most innovative companies.
Channel of the Year Awards: Russell Brand hosts the Saturday evening Edinburgh ceremony where gongs are handed out for Terrestrial and non-Terrestrial Channel of the Year, as well as additional accolades presented for Industry Player and on-Screen Personality of the Year.
Controller sessions: Terrestrial, non-terrestrial and international channel controllers are interviewed about their successes and challenges, highs and lows over the past twelve months, and their plans for the future. Dan Chambers (Director of Programmes at Five), Peter Fincham (Controller BBC One), Janice Hadlow (Controller BBC Four) and Peter Dale (More4), Kevin Lygo (Director of Television at Channel 4), David Abraham (Executive Vice President and General Manager, TLC), and Jill Offman (Discovery UK), Roly Keating (Controller BBC Two), Richard Woolfe (Director of Programmes at BSkyB), Simon Shaps (Director of Television, ITV), Paul Gibbs (Director of Programmes at Al-Jazeera International) and Jonathan Webb (Flextech) and Charlotte Ashton (UKTV) will all face questions.
Screenings: For the first time, TV Festival screenings will be simultaneously screened outdoors on a giant billboard style screen in Conference Square, next to the EICC. Brand new preview screenings confirmed so far include Planet Earth (BBC One), Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (Channel 4), Shark (Five) and The Power of Art (BBC Two). Will & Grace star Eric McCormack will also fly in to introduce the new series Love Spring International (Sky One), which he Executive Produces and also stars in.
The Festival runs from 25 - 27 August 2006