During the Tribeca TV Film Festival, we got a chance to cover an upcoming AMC Network show titled “Hip Hop: The Songs That Shook America.”
Tribeca TV Festival hosted a slew of different television shows, both old and new, across a host of networks and streaming platforms this past weekend. One of the shows included includes Dickinson from Apple’s new streaming service Apple TV+. Dickinson is a coming-of-age comedy that gives an inside look at the life of poet Emily Dickinson.
The story of Bumpy Johnson has been told through television, and film over the years in movies such as Hoodlum, and American Gangster, and now Johnson’s life in the 1960s will be retold in Epix’s upcoming series Godfather of Harlem which stars Academy Award-winning actor Forest Whitaker as Johnson, and produced by Chris Brancato and Paul Eckstein (who starred in Hoodlum). Whitaker, Brancato, and Eckstein along with actress Ilfenesh Hadera attended this year’s Tribeca TV Festival on September 12th to premiere the first episode of the season. The Knockturnal got the chance to chat with Whitaker and Brancato prior to the screening.
The highly-anticipated CW teen drama Katy Keene premiered its pilot at the Tribeca TV Festival on Saturday. Set roughly five years into the future from Riverdale, this new hit series features a truly ensemble cast of characters. Meet your new favorite cast of Katy Keene!
Inspired by the 1996 revenge comedy, “Girls Trip” writer, Tracy Oliver has put her own spin on the new installment of The First Wives Club.
New York City’s inaugural Tribeca TV
The Tribeca TV Festival presented by AT&T kicked off with many premieres and panels. The second season premiere of Blackpills’ web series, ‘Pillow Talk’ was one of them starring ‘Suits’ actor Patrick J. Adams.
On Saturday, September 23rd, the first – ever Tribeca TV Festival kicked off an exclusive American debut of the first episode in Sundance TV/ ITV’s new six-part dramatic thriller miniseries “LIAR.” In conjunction with the immensely popular Tribeca Film Festival, which typically occurs during the Spring season, the “TV” festival was held between September 22nd – September 24th this year and was designed to showcase some of the most highly anticipated episodic premieres of the fall. The Knockturnal was present to cover the premiere of the first episode, along with a poignant panel discussion starring main character Laura Nielson played by Golden Globe Award – Winning actress Joanne Froggatt, who’s most notable for her role as “lady’s maid” Anna Bates in all six seasons of the period drama Downton Abbey and the creators of the series brothers Jack and Harry Williams. Located at Cinepolis Cinema on 23rd St. and 8th Ave., the showing was directly followed by a panel discussion.
Primarily aired in the United Kingdom, episode one of LIAR revolves directly around Laura Nielson (Joanne Froggatt) and Andrew Earlham (Ioan Gruffudd), a teacher and surgeon respectively whose initial attraction leads to a date. Following the night, the actions and following consequences that transpire leave viewers puzzled, disconcerted and on an ever-shifting roller coaster to discover and decode whose truth is absolute versus whose truth is an utter lie. The first episode is intriguing because it establishes the overall mystery oriented for the entire six – part series and allows viewers to gain a thorough understanding of each character’s personality and pathology. The overall series of LIAR can be described as a “show that brings us complex difficult characters and uses the freedom of a six-hour run time to reveal them to us.”
Following the episodic premiere of LIAR, the panel discussion addressed many pertinent topics within the show including subject matter, the rationale behind the idea for the show and characters, and the dynamic between characters. In particular, Ms. Froggatt expounds on why she decided to take the role of Laura as she states, “she’s determined, she’s strong, she’s so strong minded, she will not be driven from her path … when I read the script, I thought it was so thought provoking and ultimately, a brilliant piece of entertainment but a brilliant piece with intelligence behind it. This is what stuck with me. In addition, I felt like the subject matter was sort of taboo, so I wanted to be apart of starting the conversation and breaking down that taboo.”
Also, when asked about the form of research taken towards the making of this series, brothers and creators Harry and Jack Williams provided a thorough response as they stated, “We did a fair amount, we were very aware that we are two men writing about this subject; we showed it to counselors, we showed it to women in the office, we wanted to make sure things sounded right and that we did our research properly. It was important that we be responsible. We started from there and then tried to construct a story that wasn’t based upon any one particular story but once you know the reality of the matter, you can then turn around and write a meaningful story about it.”
Ultimately, LIAR is a well thought-out, carefully crafted mini-series that is suspenseful, jaw – dropping at times and masterful in-depth of plot and written script. For all interested in entertaining thrill, this is definitely a show that will keep you suspended and yearning for more at the end of it all. The Tribeca TV Festival has truly garnered a true gem with this one. Stay tuned for the next five episodes.