Listen to this articleThey came to the North Fork TV Festival for a love of storytelling.
They were actors, producers, directors, writers, showrunners, attorneys, talent agents and more, and all of them had gathered in Greenport. They were there to recognize the awardees and support the promising TV pilots whose backers hoped would make it to the screens of the viewing public.
In between, they were making connections, talking about future opportunities and building relationships at a time they hoped holds a bright spot for indie TV. And there was talk of Duplass Brothers Productions, an independent film and television production company that had signed a deal with Netflix for its indie-financed TV series, “Penelope.”
All of this took place across the backdrop of a late-August North Fork, whose business community is important to the festival, said Noah Doyle, one of the festival’s founders.
“We sat down with the hotel and lodging community, and we said to them as a group, ‘When are the only days in the summer that you are not sold out,’” Doyle said.
“This festival happens because the celebrities and talent that come from out of town are hosted by our hotels, so we could not afford to bring talent if we didn’t have the partnerships,” Doyle said.
Hotel partners included Sound View Greenport, The American Beech Hotel, Greenporter, Airbnb and Aqua Beach Hotel. Festival attendees, in turn, also book the hotels, bringing dollars and foot traffic at a time that otherwise “would have been very quiet on the North Fork,” Doyle said.
“We want everyone who presents content here to feel like they’re part of a family from which they can draw the resources and the contact network of everyone in the festival,” said Jonathan Shafter, the festival’s cofounder.
Among the star power at the festival was Marcia Gay Harden, this year’s Canopy Award winner. Kelsy Grammer was back, congratulating the winners, and sharing samples of his Faith American Beer. Bridget Moynahan served as a panelist, and was among the festival’s talent sitting in on various sessions. Suffolk County Executive Ed Romaine was there to show support for the arts.
“It’s really nice to get out of the city, and come to this lovely part of town,” said Stephen Moyer, an actor and director whom U.S. audiences got to know as Bill, the vampire on HBO’s hit, True Blood. “We were in down in Southampton and like up here better.”
Erik Warner, the owner of Sound View, also served as a moderator along with Elisa DiStefano for “A Journey Through The Evolution of TV” with actor John Turturro.
Turturro knew about the festival because his cousin, actress Aida Turturro, had been honored in the past.
It’s a challenging time, given studio mergers, industry insiders said.
“Everything is in flux,” Turturro told LIBN. “I don’t know if it’s going to help business or not. Maybe it’s better when there’s more separation.”
And viewers habits have changed, with binge-watching and viewing on hand-held devices at random times, insiders said.
“Sometimes it’s hard to know what to watch on TV,” Turturro said. “There’s so much, and I too get very confused as a viewer” unless it’s a project done by a friend.
Moyer discovered the festival last year when it honored his “dear friend” Carrie Preston, and got to see what the festival was about. This year, he shared insights about the industry as a panelist. His daughter attended the fesitval as well.
This year’s Ambassador for the Arts honoree was Richard Schiff (The Good Doctor, The West Wing and more). Schiff liked that the festival “promotes independent film and promotes young people getting into storytelling.”
Schiff played a role in one of this year’s Indie Pilot Series winners, Swipe NYC.
“I always supported independent storytelling and in this day and age, I think it’s becoming more and more important,” he said.
The two pilot winners, Swipe NYC and The Ladies, drew rounds of applause at the screening.
“We’re thrilled to be here,” Sue Kramer, the writer, director and producer behind Swipe NYC said. “Because we have such a star-started cast [including Schiff, Moynahan, Lisa Edelstein and more], we’d like to make this into a show ourselves.”
She was aligning with the festival’s goal.
“The ultimate vision is the pilot gets seen, it gets picked up and made into a series,” Shafter said.