Will.i.am, The Handmaid’s Tale producer Warren Littlefield and Clarkson’s Farm EP Andy Wilman will speak at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival.
Grammy-winning music artist and The Voice coach Will.i.am will be a headline speaker in a new Frontiers strand that will bring together the traditional TV sector with leaders from others, such as podcasting, tech and digital.
He will be in conversation with Dr Alex Connock, the TV-producer, Oxford University lecturer and AI expert. Will.i.am is the founder and CEO of FYI, a Web 3.0 AI platform aimed at harnessing the technology for creative production. The pair will discuss the future of creativity and what role AI will play in content creation, distribution and audience engagement.
Littlefield, the former network chief who oversaw the creation of NBC’s ‘Must See TV’ era, will discuss his career on both sides of the commissioning line. After overseeing the development of shows such as Friends, Seinfeld, ER and Cheers, he became an indie producer on shows such as The Handmaid’s Tale, Fargo and Dopesick, and is making the upcoming Hulu drama about Amanda Knox, which counts Knox and Monica Lewinsky as co-producers.
Littlefield will talk about how his career has mirrored many shifts in the industry, the current state of scripted drama, talent relationships and where the next big shows will come from.
Wilmna, executive producer of The Grand Tour and Clarkson’s Farm, will be in conversation with Nutopia CEO Jane Root, who greenlit his reboot of Top Gear while Controller of BBC Two back in the early 2000s. With The Grand Tour coming to an end, Jeremy Clarkson’s right-hand man will discuss creativity, talent wrangling and the secrets of success.
The announcements are the first made for this year’s festival, which is the first since Rowan Woods became Creative Director.
“It’s such an exciting moment for me to be able to unveil our first session announcements for the 2024 Festival,” said Woods. “They hint at three of our key priorities this year: expanding our international programming, reflecting the increasingly porous boundaries between TV and other sectors and the creative opportunities this brings, and celebrating the success and impact of UK talent and programme making. We have lots more news to share in the coming weeks and look forward to convening the industry in Edinburgh in August to reflect on a challenging year and chart a way forward.”
Two advisory committees have been set up to steer the Frontiers strand, which is part of Woods’ plan to further internationalize the TV fest, which has traditionally been heavily UK-focused but has been focusing more globally over the past decade.
The Edinburgh TV Festival runs from Tuesday August 20-Friday 23 August.