Whoopi Goldberg to headline 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival

The Edinburgh TV Festival has set the first sessions for its 2021 event, with Oscar, Emmy, Tony and Grammy winner Whoopi Goldberg unveiled as its headline star.

As per Variety, the International Icon Interview with Goldberg will be one of the highlights of the 2021 Edinburgh TV Festival.

The Edinburgh TV Festival takes place from August 23 to August 26. Goldberg is expected to talk candidly about her life on and off-screen and her experiences as a multi-award-winning artist, producer, author, entrepreneur and humanitarian, and the future of the entertainment industry.

Led by 2021 advisory chair, Amazon Studios director of European originals, Georgia Brown, this year's festival theme is 'Accelerating Change'.

The 2020 edition took place online and the 2021 event will be hybrid, with several of the digital elements being refreshed, organisers said.

The festival's controller sessions are evolving to a series of spotlights where a galaxy of UK TV and streaming industry heavyweights will speak.

Confirmed speakers include Brown and Dan Grabiner, head of unscripted at Amazon. From the BBC, speakers include Charlotte Moore, chief content officer; Kate Phillips, director of entertainment; Patrick Holland, director of factual; and Piers Wenger, director of drama.

Speakers from ITV include Kevin Lygo, managing director, media and entertainment; Sue Murphy, head of factual entertainment; Polly Hill, head of drama; and Katie Rawcliffe, head of entertainment.

Meanwhile, after a coronavirus-induced cancellation in 2020, the Edinburgh International Film Festival is back as a hybrid version from August 18 to August 25.

Championing Scottish and UK filmmaking, the festival will include physical screenings and events indoors in Filmhouse Cinema and outdoors with the Film Fest in the City program at St Andrew Square.

The festival will also be available to audiences across the U.K. through its online platform, Filmhouse at Home, and in addition, the festival will present programs across Scotland.

The festival program is being brought together by a team of regular and guest programmers led by Nick Varley, founder and former co-CEO of distributor Park Circus.

This year, the EIFF Talent Lab 2021 adopts a virtual format running across two weekends in August (13-15 and 20-21).

( With inputs from ANI )

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