If all goes well when debuts Thursday through Sunday in Denver, a pilot project by an aspiring producer will be picked up by a TV network or streaming service. The festival has the potential to become an annual international gathering of writers, producers, directors, actors eager for exposure and industry executives hungry for content. Organizers hope it will become a Sundance for television.
With help from Gov. John Hickenlooper, who is expected to welcome the opening-night crowd at Red Rocks Amphitheatre, and in conjunction with the Denver Film Society, has attracted top talent and respected panelists and chosen 26 pilots from hundreds of submissions in its inaugural year.
“The goal is to showcase new and creative work, and ultimately to be a marketplace for that work,” said Randi Kleiner, founder and CEO of SeriesFest. Kleiner, a director and event producer in New York, previously worked with the Film Society of Lincoln Center.
Over the four-day festival, screenings will be held at the Sie FilmCenter bracketed by an opening-night screening at Red Rocks and a closing-night screening at the Ellie Caulkins Opera House. Oscar and Grammy winner John Legend will perform at the opening festivities; Malcolm McDowell, John Glover, Alan Thicke, Rachel Dratch and Mary Lynn Rajskub will be represented in pilots.
“This is a first-time festival but not my first rodeo,” Kleiner said. She has organized multiple New York Film Festival events and is pleasantly surprised by the number of networks jumping on board the SeriesFest launch.
“If you say to somebody, ‘television fest,’ they don’t know what you’re talking about.”
What she’s talking about is connecting emerging artists with established outlets and digital platforms, plus agents, managers and network executives. Traditional broadcasters like ABC will be represented, along with cable networks HBO, FX, Starz, USA and AMC, plus digital outlets including Conde Nast Entertainment and Vimeo.
“There is such a hunger for content, and where are people going to find it?” Kleiner said. She and co-creator , an actress and Denver native, latched on to Colorado at a moment when there is a political push for greater tax incentives to lure film and TV production here.
“One of the things (Colorado film commissioner) said in our first meeting was, ‘We want more people here creating work. You can help be a platform to help make tax incentives happen.’ We hope to have a production arm so SeriesFest could pick up pilots and help develop work in the future and create a year-round platform.”
Zuckerman embraced the idea when first approached by Kleiner and Smith. “I thought the idea was sensational. Today, there is more great stuff happening on television than in the movies, so why not a television festival curating pilots? And my first thought was that this could be the Sundance of television. By that, I mean this festival has the opportunity to become a market, like Sundance or Toronto is for film. Denver is the perfect location: easy access from both coasts, virtually the birthplace of cable television, great venues, and we have the Denver Film Society to provide expertise and infrastructure.”
Beyond presenting a forum for hopeful artists, SeriesFest is also a branding opportunity for networks previewing upcoming fare. Screenings of USA’s “Mr. Robot,” ABC’s “Quantico,” AMC’s “Humans” and FX’s “Sex&Drugs&Rock&Roll” are scheduled. Additionally, panels on TV guild contracts, musical scores and TV in the digital age will bring experts together with creators.
Some 12,000 attendees are expected, including the audience for musician-actor-producer and actor-writer-producer , who kick off opening night at Red Rocks.
While most of the hundreds of pilot entries came from out of state, one official selection is from the U.K. and one is from a group with Colorado roots. “Neither and Both,” with actress Hannah Marie Hines from the University of Northern Colorado and writer-director Scott Leger, a graduate of the University of Colorado’s film school, will be screened June 19.
Part of the appeal of SeriesFest, Leger said, is “instead of a single pitch meeting, you’re able to show (the film) to a bunch of independent professionals at once.”
Hines and Leger launched a Kickstarter in 2013 in order to produce their film and raised just under $16,000. Since then, “we’ve been using our credit cards,” Leger said.
“I might be naive,” he said, “but I truly believe good work will rise out of the muck.”
Joanne Ostrow: 303-954-1830, jostrow@denverpost.com or twitter.com/ostrowdp
