Mike Flanagan (left) on the set of Netflix’s The Fall of the House of Usher with star Graham Verchere. Flanagan has just been announced as one of the first guests at next year’s ATX TV Festival. Credit: Image Courtesy of Netflix

The reigning king of horror TV, a giant of big laughs on the small screen, and one of the most beloved TV icons of all time have just been announced as part of the 2025 ATX TV Festival.

Entering its 14th season, the ATX TV Festival (May 29-June 1, 2025) has grown from a small festival with big dreams to an essential event in annual programming, It’s a place for fans to gather with industry heavy hitters and celebrate the best of modern TV and take deep dives into the archives. Festival co-founders Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson wrote, “We are beyond proud to share our first programming for 2025 with our community of fans and industry. This is the first time since pre-pandemic that we have been able to share this much with you this early, and 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.”

Here’s today’s lineup announcement in full:

• Mike Flanagan has been a veritable fixture here since bringing Oculus to South by Southwest 2013. Now he’s one of the most consistent and important creative force in horror films, and since turning to TV in 2018 with The Haunting of Hill House, he’s dominated that medium with shows like Midnight Mass and The Fall of the House of Usher. Most recently in town to support his wife, Kate Siegel, as she made her directorial debut with horror anthology V/H/S/Beyond, the multihyphenate creative will be treating audiences to a live table reading of a unproduced script. Then, as co-founder of Red Room Pictures, he’ll host a conversation about the state of storytelling and filmmaking in horror, with guests to be announced.

Robert Maschio, Bill Lawrence, Ian Gomez and Neil Flynn at the inaugural ATX Television Festival. Credit: Photo by Richard Whittaker
• Speaking of Austin regulars, Bill Lawrence continues to make a case for being the festival’s patron saint. A regular since the very first ATX TV Festival (back when it was still called the ATX Television Festival) he returns for another installment of “Bill Lawrence & Friends,” a freewheeling conversation with the stars, writers, and crew from the shows he’s worked on including (deep breath) Bad Monkey, Shrinking, Ted Lasso, Cougar Town and, of course, Scrubs. Guests will be announced at a later date.

• And another veteran of the fest is coming to town: Henry Winkler. The winner of the first ever ATX Television Festival Achievement in Television Excellence Award, he’ll host one of his famous live acting classes, drawing on his decades of experience starring in, writing for, and directing shows and films such as Barry, Royal Pains, Happy Days, Scream, Arrested Development, Hank Zipzer, and more

• Were you an Adam fan, or was Darius your suitor? If you’re a fan of UnREAL, Lifetime’s satire set behind the scenes of a reality dating show, you know the real romance was between the audience and producer Rachel Goldberg (Shiri Appleby). Now A+E Studios presents a 10th anniversary retrospective with show co-creator Sarah Gertrude Shapiro, cast members Constance Zimmer (executive producer Quinn King), Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman (Rachel’s friend turned frenemy Jay Carter), and Craig Bierko (Chet Wilton, creator of the show-within-a-show Everlasting, and, of course, Appleby.

• And for those of you looking for a peek behind the scenes of the real TV industry, “Casting a Spotlight: Unsung Actors” will bring together some of the most important casting directors in the business, including Sherry Thomas (Breaking Bad), Jeanie Bacharach (The Bear), Bonnie Zane (Suits), and Felicia Fasano (Better Things), and give them a chance to talk about their must-watch actors.

• Plus, for those of you that missed it, ATX TV announced Monday that it will be hosting a reunion for The Leftovers, moderated by series executive producer (and now Head of Max Original Programming) Sarah Aubrey featuring co-creators Damon Lindelof (Watchmen) and Tom Perrotta (Mrs. Fletcher), director/executive producer Mimi Leder (The Morning Show), and cast members Justin Theroux (White House Plumbers), Carrie Coon (The Gilded Age), Amy Brenneman (The Old Man), Christopher Eccleston (True Detective: Night Country), Ann Dowd (The Handmaid’s Tale), and Kevin Carroll (Snowfall).

ATX TV Festival 2025 will run May 29-June 1, 2025. Passes are available at atxfestival.com.

This article appears in October 11 • 2024.

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The Chronicle's first Culture Desk editor, Richard has reported on Austin's growing film production and appreciation scene for over a decade. A graduate of the universities of York, Stirling, and UT-Austin, a Rotten Tomatoes certified critic, and eight-time Best of Austin winner, he's currently at work on two books and a play.