Sierra Teller Ornelas is ready to talk shop…
The ATX Televison Festival has added several additional titles and seminars to the lineup for its 2021 event, including the Navajo and Mexican-American showrunner and screenwriter’s “Indigenize the Narrative” session.
It’s described as a conversation with Native American and Indigenous actors, writers, directors, and producers who are re-centering Indigenous storytelling and producing dynamic television in the process.
In addition to Teller Onelas, co-creator of the series Rutherford Falls, the panel will also include director Sydney Freeland, actor Michael Greyeyes, actor Kimberly Guerrero, and writer Migizi Pensoneau, alongside moderator Vincent Schilling.
Sofiya Cheyenne will take part in the special talk “The Messy Middle,” presented with DREDF’s Disability Media Alliance Project.
It’s a conversation that will examine representation of visible disabilities onscreen with writers and actors who are exploring the uncharted territory of the “messy middle,” where characters with disabilities are just as flawed, funny, and despicable as anyone else. Panelists will also discuss how creatives can push beyond the fear of getting it “wrong” when it comes to disability representation, and what getting it “right” actually means.
In addition to Cheyenne, who is part Dominican, other confirmed participants include actor Steve Way (“Ramy”), actor Ryan J. Haddad (“The Politician”), writer/producer Katherine Beattie (“NCIS: New Orleans”), and actor Kayla Cromer (“Everything’s Gonna Be Okay”), and moderator Kristen Lopez (IndieWire).
The 2021 edition will run from June 11 to 20 and will take on a virtual format amid the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. Like its in-person iteration, this year’s ATX Television Festival will feature industry-focused panels with a number of showrunners, executives, teasing what’s the to come in the television scene.
Prospective attendees can book their festival badges, day passes, single tickets and find more information here.
The annual event will also feature panels for Netflix’s Sex/Life, Gloria Calderón Kellett’s History of Them, Starz’s Blindspotting, Showtime’s Work In Progress and UFO, Fox’s The Big Leap and Syfy’s SurrealEstate. More information about the panel slate can be found here.
