ATX TV Festival Adds ‘UnREAL’ Reunion, Panels With Mike Flanagan, Bill Lawrence and More to 2025 Lineup

ATX TV Festival has announced the first round of events for the 2025 event, set to take place in Austin from May 29-June 1, including reunions of “The Leftovers” and “UnREAL” and a peek inside the world of Bill Lawrence.

On Monday, the festival announced “The Leftovers” will reunite during Season 14 with co-creators Damon Lindelof and Tom Perrotta, director and executive producer Mimi Leder, and cast members Justin Theroux, Carrie Coon, Amy Brenneman, Christopher Eccleston, Ann Dowd and Kevin Carroll. Head of Max Original Programming Sarah Aubrey will moderate.

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A+E Studios will present a retrospective for Lifetime hit “UnREAL,” featuring co-creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro and cast members Shiri Appleby, Constance Zimmer, Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman and Craig Bierko.

This year’s festival will also include Bill Lawrence returning for “Bill Lawrence & Friends,” a panel with collaborators from some of his current and past projects such as “Bad Monkey,” “Shrinking,” “Ted Lasso,” “Scrubs,” “Cougar Town” and more.

Mike Flanagan (“The Haunting of Hill House”) will also be featured at the festival, joined by a special guest cast for a live table read of an unproduced script.

For the first time, casting directors Sherry Thomas (“Breaking Bad”), Jeanie Bacharach (“The Bear”), Bonnie Zane (“Suits”) and Felicia Fasano (“Better Things”) will take part in a “Casting a Spotlight: Unsung Actors” panel.

Plus, Henry Winkler will host for a live acting class and take part in a Q&A.

Co-founders Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson are excited to share programming as early as possible for both industry attendees and fans alike.

“Our mighty team worked extremely hard to have it represent who we are as a festival – reunions, retrospectives, craft and industry conversations, beloved cast and creators discussing current and upcoming projects,” the pair said in a statement. “In addition, we recognize that we are a microcosm of the TV industry; therefore, we, too, have felt the difficulties of the last few years from strikes, mergers, acquisitions and overall contractions. While it remains difficult and constantly evolving, we are excited for what is to come and stand with our creative partners in collaboration to continue telling entertaining stories through thought-provoking conversations.”

Additionally, submissions for the annual Pitch Competition are now open; regular submission deadline will close on Jan. 10, with finalists announced on April 14. Festival badges and passes are available for purchase here.

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