The inaugural Newport Beach TV Festival begins Thursday evening with actress Kate Hudson conducting a live podcast Thursday evening, discussing her Netflix comedy, “Running Point.”
The organizers of the Newport Beach Film Festival had plans to begin a version of their annual event focusing on television five years ago, but the COVID-19 pandemic got in the way.
“Originally we had planned to launch a TV festival as part of the film festival when we used to have it in April 2020,” Newport Beach TV Festival co-founder and CEO Gregg Schwenk told City News Service.
“Obviously the world and life conspired against us and we had to pivot,” Schwenk said. “We moved the film festival to the fall in 2021, and during all of this we kept the idea of having a TV component in the back of our minds. And last year for the festival we were able to incorporate three main (TV) shows into the film festival.”
Schwenk said “that experience was so positive we definitely wanted to move forward with our TV festival in early summer.”
The inaugural TV festival, which organizers aim to make an annual event, came together well with awards ceremonies and panel discussions featuring such prominent actors as Billy Bob Thornton and Andy Garcia of the Paramount+ drama “Landman.”
“I don’t know how we could have made it better,” Schwenk said. “We just came off our 25th anniversary (with the film festival) and we’re now the largest film festival in coastal California. This was a natural evolution for us.”
The festival will be at the recently remodeled Lido Theater and run through Sunday.
“The Lido is one of my favorite theaters in Southern California,” Schwenk said. “The ownership has spent millions of dollars in half a decade in the restoration process… To have our TV festival there is really special. It’s just a beautiful place.”
Schwenk said he recalled enjoying television as well as film as a youth.
“When I was growing up when you went to the movies it was a bigger event,” he said. “But you spent more time watching TV with mom and dad. And every once in a while I still do with my mom. My mom is much more of a TV expert than I am. She really knows her stuff, both domestic and international. It’s funny. People say they don’t have enough time for the movies but they’ll binge watch six hours of a show.”
Schwenk said it’s possible they’ll screen shows at the festival next year or pay tribute to legacy programs.
“We’ll regroup after this year and talk to our partners and stakeholders,” Schwenk said. “I don’t think we’ll get much bigger. We like the one location, but maybe we’ll go an extra day if anything and adding in more events.”