Around the world in television

SeriesFest marks region’s rich history in cable business

BY PETER JONES
NEWS EDITOR

With the southeast I-25 corridor dotted by the history of cable and satellite television, it does not take rabbit ears to tune in to the sense in why one of the few festivals dedicated to series TV takes place in Denver.

With a cast of characters like Bill Daniels, John Sie, John Malone and Glen Jones, the story of post-broadcast television is a tale about Starz, Liberty Media, Hallmark, Jones Intercable and other companies that have been based on the borders of Arapahoe and Douglas counties.

“When we talked about where we were going to do the festival, we really wanted it to be a destination everyone could immerse themselves in. It’s also the birthplace of cable television, so for us it felt like it was meant to be,” said Kaily Smith Westbrook, the official “chief content officer” for SeriesFest, the third installment, or “season,” of which happens this week.

Oddly enough, the made-for-TV programs will be shown on movie screens.

Based largely at the Sie Film Center, named for the Starz founder John Sie, the six-day festival is a world tour through the evolving state of series television—one that is evolving so much that even the term “television” may be imprecise, as Internet platforms become the new normal and millennials eschew TV sets for mobile devices.

Even more revolutionary has been the structure of narrative programming itself. Such programs as Breaking Bad, House of Cards and Orange is the New Black have helped reinvent the series as not so much an episodic experience, but a continuous story arc told in chapters.

Who would have thought that a format once reserved for soap operas and action serials would be the future of award-winning 21^st century television?

“Robert Redford said it two years ago at the Sundance Film Festival—TV is more interesting right now than film,” Westbrook relayed. “Even HBO, when we sat down with them, they said, ‘We don’t make TV shows. We make 10-hour movies.’”

The 34-year-old who co-founded SeriesFest and oversees its big picture, has watched the changing channels of television from all angles. Since graduating from Cherry Creek High School, she has worked as a writer, producer, director and actress, appearing in The Office, The Gilmore Girls and Forgetting Sarah Marshall, among other series.

“I was one of the first people to do a web series. I would have to explain what a web series was when I went into meetings,” she said. “It’s really exciting because I feel like the boundaries have been broken. You can tell a story in whatever way you feel and in whatever platform.”

And with delivery systems like Amazon and Netflix bypassing the restrictions that come with commercials, the storytelling process in what was once considered a lesser medium has in some ways surpassed film in its ability to develop characters, tell a story and even create the visual art more associated with the big screen.

“The director has more of an opportunity to get the shot they want and do what they want creatively because the audience is with them,” Westbrook said. “You’re also able to tell the story in whatever number of episodes the story needs. That’s very exciting.”

This week’s SeriesFest is an overview of the best and lesser-known additions to the media, including some that may never be seen on traditional platforms. Series will come from as far away as Israel and as close as Colorado.

The festival’s third annual Independent Pilot Competition showcases selections from emerging and established directors, featuring comedies, dramas and even unscripted shows.

In Dad Friends, three buddies re-evaluate their lives after their wives are sent to prison. Con Man sees a washed-up science-fiction actor learn to love the fans he actually still has. Automata imagines a detective in an alternative United States still under Prohibition.

Bizarre late-night offerings include Colorado’s Cubicle Zombies, a new take on a popular genre. This time, the undead invaders are staffing the dreadful office jobs formerly worked by their once-living victims. The boredom may just kill them for good in this offbeat comedy.

In addition to the series of series, there are panels and guests, including documentary maker Morgan Spurlock and the entire cast of NBC’s The Brave, including star Anne Heche, on closing night, July 1, at the Cable Center at the University of Denver.

Although Westbrook is a millennial, she is decidedly old school when it comes to the often-overwhelming range of platforms available for modern series binging.

“I still like my TV. I’m not going to lie,” she said with a laugh. “I really don’t watch anything on my computer.”

For more information on SeriesFest, visit seriesfest.com.