Will.I.Am, Andy Wilman ready for Edinburgh TV Festival

Will.I.Am and “Clarkson’s Farm” executive producer Andy Wilman are among the line-up at this year’s Edinburgh TV Festival, it was confirmed today.

During the 49th edition of the festival they will be joined by producer Warren Littlefield of The Handmaid’s Tale.

The line-up, which will be further announced in due course, has been curated by the festival’s new creative director, Rowan Woods.

“It is such an exciting moment for me to be able to unveil our first session announcements for the 2024 festival,” said Woods. “They highlight three of our key priorities this year: expanding our international programming, reflecting the increasingly porous boundaries between TV and other sectors and the creative opportunities this brings, and celebrating the success and impact of British talent and program making. We have much more news to share in the coming weeks and look forward to convening the industry in Edinburgh in August to reflect on a challenging year and chart a way forward.”

The festival, which will include the usual range of spotlight sessions, panel discussions and masterclasses, will also introduce a new strand this year called Frontiers, which aims to delve into some of the industry’s most pressing issues. It will be overseen by two new advisory committees made up of relevant industry professionals and aims to celebrate creativity and new forms of storytelling, including other sectors such as digital and podcasting.

As part of the Frontiers strand, Will.I.Am, the multi-platinum music artist, TV producer and technology entrepreneur, will be in conversation with a professor of media and AI, Dr Alex Connock.

Former network chief Littlefield will also be in conversation, discussing his time as commissioner and producer, while Wilman, who also produced ‘The Grand Tour’ and ‘Top Gear’, will be interviewed by Nutopia CEO and founder Jane Root. discussing topics such as talent feud and creativity.

The Edinburgh TV Festival takes place from August 20 to 23 in Scotland.