New York, May 22, 2019 – IFC Center, home to DOC NYC — the largest documentary festival in the US — unveiled its final lineup for the third annual Split Screens TV Festival taking place Wednesday, May 29 through Monday, June 3, 2019, at NYC’s IFC Center. The 2019 program, celebrating the art and craft of storytelling, puts a spotlight on wide-ranging themes including identity, the mystery of existence itself, dystopian realities and alternate timelines, and invites fans to enjoy screenings and events that transport us into any number of time periods and places, be it a late-1800s South Dakota town or the tensions of New York City at the end of the 1980s.
Tickets to the public are on sale (www.splitscreensfestival.com) for exclusive screenings and compelling panel conversations featuring the biggest and boldest names in scripted content, both in front of and behind the camera. Follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at @SplitScreensTV.
For the third edition of the event, notable Salon TV critic Melanie McFarland was named Co-Creative Director, joining founding Co-Creative Director Matt Zoller Seitz, New York Magazine’s TV critic and best-selling author. The festival will once again be anchored by four signature pillars: PREMIERES, an opportunity for audiences to be among the first to screen anticipated season premieres and finales; CLOSE-UP, conversations with celebrated actors and creatives; TV TALK, an exploration of content’s cultural impact through the lens of superfans, pop culture writers and experts; and REWIND, a closer look at an iconic episode of TV; plus a number of SPECIAL EVENTS.
Festival highlights include: close-up conversations with Pamela Adlon, executive producer, writer, director and star of FX’s Better Things; William Jackson Harper, star of the philosophy-themed NBC comedy The Good Place; Christopher Abbott, star of Hulu’s critically acclaimed Catch-22; a deep dive into the art of the paranoid thriller with Sam Esmail, creator of USA’s Mr. Robot and director of Amazon’s Homecoming, with a screening of Stanley Kubrick’s Eyes Wide Shut; and Leslye Headland, co-creator and co-executive producer of Netflix’s hit series Russian Doll, who will anchor a panel of creative professionals who helped bring the world of Russian Doll to life.
Festival attendees will also enjoy Deadwood: The Movie, a chance to experience the epic conclusion of HBO’s legendary Western series on the big screen along with a half-hour Deadwood companion doc written by Matt Zoller Seitz, followed by a discussion with stars Robin Weigert (on stage) and Ian McShane (live via satellite); a closer look into a breakout episode from season one of The Twilight Zone, CBS All Access’ re-imagining of the classic anthology series (followed by a conversation with actress Sanaa Lathan and screenwriter Selwyn Seyfu Hinds); an advance screening of the season 3 premiere of Hulu’s The Handmaid’s Tale; a sneak preview of When They See Us, Ava DuVernay’s highly anticipated Central Park 5 Netflix miniseries; the season 1 finale of Cinemax’s Warrior; a live-watch of the fifth season premiere of AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead and panel featuring actors Jenna Elfman, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia and Austin Amelio, along with Exec Producer Scott M. Gimple, and Chief Content Officer of the Walking Dead Universe; an advance screening of the season 2 premiere of CBS’s Instinct with co-stars Alan Cumming & Bojana Novakovic; a conversation with key cast and creative talent of OWN’sQueen Sugar, following an advance screening of the season 4 premiere; (S)heroes: Women of Action!, a fan appreciation panel of influential female characters; and a conversation with noted TV critics about how the age of streaming has transformed the craft of storytelling.
Split Screens Festival is produced and presented by IFC Center, one of New York’s leading independent cinemas, and is organized by the core team of its successful DOC NYC documentary film festival, including Executive Director Raphaela Neihausen, Director of Development Deborah Rudolph and Operations Director Dana Krieger. Collaborating with broadcasters, cable networks and streaming services, the festival will highlight great content from a range of platforms to bring together the creative talent behind TV’s most acclaimed shows and sophisticated New York audiences.
Split Screens Festival is made possible by Event Sponsors FX and National Geographic; Friends of the Festival include Essentia, PTEX and Wheelhouse Creative.
Venue and Ticket information:
· All festival events take place at IFC Center, 323 Sixth Ave. (at West 3rd St), with the exception ofDeadwood: The Movie on May 31, which screens at the SVA Theatre, 333 West 23rd St.
· Tickets for all events are available online at splitscreensfestival.com or at the IFC Center box office, open daily 10:30am-10:00pm. Same-day tickets for Deadwood: The Movie will also be available at the SVA Theatre box office starting at 6:30pm on May 31.
· Tickets for the TV Talk events on June 1 are $12 general admission / $9 IFC Center members
· Tickets for all other festival events are $17 general admission / $14 IFC Center members
· A discounted 3-ticket pack is available for $40/$35 IFC Center members.
8:15 PM – Fear the Walking Dead Season 5 Premiere (AMC) – SPECIAL EVENT
In attendance: Actors Jenna Elfman, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia and Austin Amelio, and Scott M. Gimple, Executive Producer of Fear the Walking Dead and Chief Content Officer of the Walking Dead Universe
Join us for a live screening of the season 5 premiere, followed by a conversation with the cast and executive producer.
As AMC’s Fear the Walking Dead enters Season 5, with a powerful ensemble including Lennie James, Alycia Debnam-Carey, Colman Domingo, Danay Garcia, Garret Dillahunt, Maggie Grace, Jenna Elfman, Alexa Nisenson, Austin Amelio, Ruben Blades and Karen David, its core characters’ mission is clear: locate survivors and help make what’s left of the world a slightly better place. With dogged determination, Morgan Jones (James) leads the group with a philosophy rooted in benevolence, community and hope. Each character believes that helping others will allow them to make up for the wrongs of their pasts. But their mission of helping others will be put to the ultimate test when the group finds themselves in uncharted territory, one which will force them to face their fears and perhaps discover an entirely new way to live.
Fear the Walking Dead is produced by AMC Studios.