Last month saw the fruition of a dream long held by the Academy: our very first festival, a one-of-a-kind gathering of industry professionals and fans bonded by our shared passion for television. Televerse took over the JW Marriott at L.A. LIVE in downtown Los Angeles for three days of FYC presentations, workshops and special panels, which you can read all about in this issue.
I had the personal pleasure of closing out the first day with an evening of members-only programming, starting with a pair of candid, high-level fireside chats. Joining me first was the “mayor of television” himself, FX chair and Academy executive committee member John Landgraf, who treated us to an exclusive conversation about the state of the industry. I asked John for his forecasts in this era of consolidation and the post-streaming content boom. We also discussed the dangers that AI poses to jobs, especially at the entry level, and how an over-reliance on automation can cause skills and creativity to atrophy. As with other potential technology-enabled threats — such as the rise of non-unionized content on digital platforms — maintaining talent pipelines and upholding professional standards will be key to navigating these present and future challenges. It’s a responsibility that the Academy is ideally situated to take on, and engaging with these issues will not only ensure our ongoing commitment to excellence but also open our business to greater access and exposure.
Next, I welcomed two execs to speak about the unscripted side of the industry: CEO of Fox Entertainment Rob Wade and Brandon Riegg, also an Academy executive committee member, who leads nonfiction at Netflix. They spoke of the resilience and innovation in the genre, which ranges from ever-expanding established franchises to new collaborations with the creator economy. All three executives advocated for more support of tax incentives to help retain local production, even as the market continues to globalize.
In many ways, the television business is virtually unrecognizable from the days when we all looked forward to getting TV Guide’s fall preview in the mail every September. There are fewer collective cultural experiences than there used to be — for one, there’s four times more content than there was 20 years ago, and that’s not even including all the options on other platforms. This is just one reason we wanted to create Televerse: to celebrate our favorite shows both recent and classic, and to generate excitement for the season ahead. It’s our hope that the festival will become an anticipated annual tradition for TV lovers for years to come.
This chair letter originally appeared in emmy magazine, issue #11, 2025.
