Jameela Jamil will be the 2020 Alternative MacTaggart keynote speaker.

Leading television industry event, the Edinburgh TV Festival (ETF), brought to you by YouTube and Freeview, has today announced that actor, podcast host, writer and advocate, Jameela Jamil will be the 2020 Alternative MacTaggart speaker.

The British star of award-winning comedy The Good Place and founder of I Weigh, is also well known as a powerful voice on feminism, body positivity and inclusivity, and will deliver the Alternative MacTaggart Lecture, sharing her experiences of working in television in UK and US, dealing with online trolling and using her platform to campaign for ‘radical inclusivity’.

Jamil will be joined by journalist and documentary maker, Afua Hirsch in conversation.

Jamil said: “I really bloody love the Alternative MacTaggart talks, and to be asked to participate this year is a massive and frankly ridiculous, honour.”

Jamil joins an impressive rollcall of Alternative MacTaggart speakers that include Al Gore, Armando Iannucci, Charlie Brooker, Sharon Horgan, Russell Brand, and Jeremy Corbyn in a unique platform that helps shape debate in the global television industry from an alternative perspective.

This year’s Edinburgh TV Festival will take place 24-27 August in a digital format. Festival passes can be purchased through www.thetvfestival.com/passes and will include access to all events at the Festival and the pre-festival digital weeklies programme. As previously announced, all events and activities for this year’s Festival will be free to freelancers who are being particularly affected by the Covid-19 crisis.  

-----

The Edinburgh TV Festival brought to you by YouTube and Freeview, is the UK’s foremost television event, bringing together leading industry figures and a broad, diverse range of delegates to celebrate and dissect the world of global television production. This year’s speakers include David Olosuga who will be delivering the MacTaggart Lecture, Emilia Clarke, John Landgraf, Russell T Davies, Noel Clarke, Big Zuu, Grayson Perry, Jeniffer Kim, Howard Lee and the teams behind Gangs of London and Normal People.

This year’s Festival will be a digital event as a result of the ongoing Covid-19 Pandemic. The 2020 Festival offering is designed to support and connect the television community in light of what has become a very challenging year, and will still deliver the key, flagship moments that have become integral to the industry’s calendar, including The MacTaggart Lecture, Controller Sessions and TV Awards.

As a Festival and a charity, the Edinburgh TV Festival is committed to helping people from all backgrounds gain access to, and develop their careers further in, the TV industry.

Last year the Festival launched a new division – The TV Foundation; the charity umbrella that further expands its remit as the foremost charity dedicated to supporting the television industry. The TV Foundation runs two talent schemes; Ones to Watch and The Network which have helped over 4000 individuals since 1991, as well as supporting new initiatives such as TV PhD, the annual New Voice Awards, partnerships with industry initiatives and a year-round programme of events and support.