ATX TV Festival Sets Lineup for Inaugural Indie TV Pilot Competition, Adds Indie-Focused Programming

The ATX Television Festival, which has hosted premieres, screenings, reunions, and countless panels celebrating television for the past 14 years, has announced the premiere slate of programming for its Indie TV Pilot Competition and Showcase.

First announced in December, the Austin-based TV festival will screen independently produced pilots without worldwide distribution, with the final round of scripted selections featured as part of an Indie TV Showcase. The winner of the “Best Indie TV Pilot – Scripted” will be chosen by a judging panel of industry creatives and executives and announced during this year’s festival, taking place from May 28 – 31.

In addition, the festival has confirmed further programming “intended to build community and increase marketplace opportunities for independently created series.”

Featured conversations include a panel for “Everyone Is Doing Great,” a coming-of-age comedy series — set to debut on Netflix May 11 — that screened at the first two editions of the ATX TV Festival. Now, creators, writers, producers, directors, and stars Stephen Colletti and James Lafferty will return to Austin for a conversation about the show’s journey from self-financing and crowdfunding, to acquisition and distribution on major streaming platforms, and their experience navigating the independent TV landscape over the last eight years. 

“Our journey from a crowdfunded first season to our second season premiering on Netflix, all started at ATX TV Festival,” Lafferty said in a statement. “Returning to Austin as they kick off their inaugural independent TV competition feels like a full circle moment. We can’t wait to celebrate the promise of indie episodic storytelling and the TV fans who continue to make it all possible.”

The 2026 ATX TV Festival will also host “The PBS Process,” a look through the lens of PBS as a powerful platform to tell stories in a variety of formats and showcase local and regional storytelling to audiences near and far. With a multitude of ways to “get your show made,” attendees will hear from the perspective of executives, creatives, and brands who are passionate about showcasing culture through TV.

Confirmed panelists include Luis Patino (President & CEO, Austin PBS), Sara Robertson (Chief Operating Office, Austin PBS), Bethiael Alemayoh (Director of Content & Distribution, Austin PBS), Tyler Coe (Creator/Director, “How Are We Today?”), Meghan Ross (Co-Creator/Director/Producer, “How We Grieve”), Emily Bolf (Producer, “Austin City Limits”), and Melissa Reese (Executive Producer, “Texas Monthly Presents: The Story”). 

Previously announced Indie TV conversations include: “Inside Macaroni art Productions with Steve Zahn & Rick Gomez,” in which the actors and produceres discuss launching their Macaroni Art Productions banner, and “The Making of an Indie Series: ‘You Belong Here,'” a one-of-a-kind look at the process of producing an independent TV series from pre-production, to production, to post — and what comes after. 

Mark Duplass, who attended the ATX TV Festival in 2025 with his independent series, “The Long Long Night,” is on board as a Strategic Advisor, along with Duplass Brothers Productions. Seed&Spark, the creative crowdfunding platform founded by Emily Best — which helped release “The Long Long Night” — is also supporting the program.

“For the last few years, indie TV has been a hot topic both on and off our panels within the industry attendance at ATV TV Festival, and we’ve made intentional moves to highlight these shows, conversations, and creators alongside amazing traditionally-produced network and streaming TV, ” said ATX TV Festival co-founders Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson in a statement provided to IndieWire. “With the launch of our Indie TV Pilot Competition & Showcase, we’re firmly planting a flag as the place to be for indie TV creators to get their pilots seen and move their work forward. We’re thrilled to launch the new Indie TV Pilot Competition & Showcase timed to our 15th anniversary alongside longtime ATX TV friends and TV mastermind Mark Duplass, whose support and vision is of immense value to us and our community. Our intention is for ATX TV Festival to become a robust marketplace for independent TV series in the coming years, and we can’t wait to kick it off in 2026.”

The ATX TV Festival founded the Indie TV Pilot Competition and Showcase “in direct response to the growing practice of independently-produced television series. … This program is designed for independently-produced pilots without worldwide distribution that need a boost of industry visibility, distribution, and guidance to get to the next level.”

In the last few years, a number of indie TV series hit the festival circuit aiming to land broader distribution. The Duplass-backed “Penelope” premiered at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival before getting picked up by Netflix. Cooper Raiff’s “Hal & Harper” followed a similar trajectory, debuting at Sundance in 2025 before streaming on MUBI later in the year. Showtime’s “Work in Progress,” FX’s “Mr. Inbetween,” Starz’s “America to Me,” and Netflix’s “The Night Logan Woke Up” all began as independent TV offerings.

ATX TV Festival has ramped up indie TV programming in recent years with screenings and conversations for “The Long Long Night,” “You Belong Here” (from Steve Zahn’s Macaroni Art), “Bollywood Dance U” (from Meralta Films and Amplify Pictures), and “Everyone Is Doing Great” (from James Lafferty and Stephen Colletti).

The Indie TV Pilot Competition and Showcase is the newest addition to ATX TV’s open submission opportunities, alongside the annual Pitch Competition & Mentorship Program which aims to give burgeoning TV writers the community, support, and tools needed to take the next steps in their careers.

The ATX TV Festival Season 15 will run from May 28 – 31, 2026, in Austin, TX. Below, you can find further information on the selected pilots advancing to the final round. 

“The Ladies” 
– Written & Directed by Juliana Piscina
– Produced by Cailin Lobb-Rabe, Gillian Mahar
– Cast: Jessica Toltzis, Caroline Hedrick, Gia Blakey
Synopsis: Tracy, an ex-high school basketball star, returns to coach at her alma mater, but the program isn’t what it used to be and Tracy, alongside her quirky remaining players, Emma and Rita, will have to restore the program to its former glory… or just win one game.

“Savage” 
– Written by Connor Paolo
– Directed by Josh Bowman
– Produced by Nicholas Logan, Brittany Fallow, Bridget Regan 
– Cast: Bridget Regan, Connor Paolo, Barbara Crampton, JR Bourne, Zach Roerig, Nicholas Logan, Dylan Sprayberry
Synopsis: Savage, a mother and private investigator desperate to fund her daughter’s cancer treatment, is offered a missing persons case near a swamp where something terrifyingly ancient lurks beneath every lie.

“Freelance”
– Written by Julien Turner
– Directed by Julien Turner & Justen Turner
– Produced by Cynthia Turner, Stephen “Dr” Love
– Cast: Spence Moore II, Bernard Clark, Lou Young, René Vaca, Lou Ratchett, Kevin Fredericks, Christiani Porter, Elijah Cooper, Mel Mitchell, Kyle Flood
Synopsis: A group of broke zillenial post-grad “creatives” chasing their dreams—together, one disaster gig at a time.

Also included is an unscripted series, which will be awarded “Best Indie TV Pilot – Unscripted” at the Festival: 

“It’s Not You, It’s Me: Chicago”
– Created by Anthony L. Williams 
– Directed by Anthony L. Williams 
– Written by Anthony L. Williams, Taylor D. Adams, Brian Kowalski, Dr. Darnell Motley, Dr. Monica O’Neal, Spencer Paez
– Produced by Anthony L Williams, Dr. Darnell Motley, Dr. Monica O’Neal, Spencer Paez, Brian Kowalski
– Cast: Prem Pahwa
Synopsis: Three bachelors re-embark into the dating scene — some for their first time, and others hopefully for their last! While receiving expert guidance on healthy relationships, sex, and vulnerability, the niches and experiences of modern queer dating will be tossed aside as our bachelors find themselves in the midst of personal growth while attending individual and group mental health therapy sessions. Along their journeys of receiving clinical coaching and support, they’ll also receive tools to help unpack baggage and trauma from previous relationships so that they don’t take them into the new ones they’re starting to build.