Presented in partnership with Disney, IndieWire’s “Pass the Remote” FYC series dissected the work of artists and craftspeople throughout the industry with screenings of their work at the Vidiots Foundation in Los Angeles’s Eagle Rock neighborhood. This is IndieWire’s first TV screening and panel series, and each event featured in-person discussions with TV’s behind-the-scenes players moderated by IndieWire editors and others.
“We’re excited to offer evenings of great TV and the first-person experiences of its creators,” said IndieWire senior VP and editor in chief Dana Harris-Bridson in a statement launching the series. “Partnering with Vidiots, one of our favorite screening locations, makes this a true IndieWire event.”
“We’re thrilled to launch this new series with FX, Disney, Hulu, Marvel Studios, Lucasfilm, Nat Geo, and ABC and celebrate such a wide range of excellence in TV,” said IndieWire Senior VP & Publisher James Israel.
“Pass the Remote” kicked off with a casting directors panel that featured Tiffany Little Canfield (“Only Murders in the Building”), Wendy O’Brien (“Abbott Elementary”), Kim Williams (“Genius: MLK/X”), and Sarah Halley Finn (“Echo,” “Loki,” and “Ahsoka”).
The next panel featured Disney Storytellers who specialize in drama, including Michael Dinner (“Justified: City Primeval”), Erica Lipez (“We Were the Lucky Ones”), Jeff Stetson (“Genius: MLK/X”) and Samir Mehta (“Under the Bridge.”). This was followed by another panel comprised of Disney Storytellers who work in comedy, including Ben Smith (“Only Murders in the Building”), Ron Weiner (“Life & Beth”), Zach Dunn (“What We Do in the Shadows”), Tazbah Chavez (“Reservation Dogs”) and Jenn D’Angelo (writer of the Hulu original film “Quiz Lady”).
Singling out the work of “Abbott Elementary” creator and star Quinta Brunson, as well as executive producers Patrick Schumacker, Justin Halpern, and Brian Rubenstein, IndieWire screened an episode from Season 3 followed by a talkback with the creative forces behind the show.
The bio-doc “Jim Henson Idea Man” also received the IndieWire spotlight, with a screening of the film and a panel afterwards featuring director Ron Howard, producer Margaret Bodde, composer David Fleming, and editor and executive producer Paul Crowder.
IndieWire’s “Pass the Remote” series wrapped up with a screening from the last season of “Reservation Dogs” and a panel that included creator Sterlin Harjo and stars Devery Jacobs, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, and Kaniehtiio Horn.
Here’s where all the programs covered are streaming:
- “Only Murders in the Building,” “Justified: City Primeval,” “Life & Beth,” “Under the Bridge,” “We Were the Lucky Ones,” “Reservation Dogs,” “What We Do in the Shadows,” “Quiz Lady” — Hulu
- “Abbott Elementary” — Hulu, ABC, and Max
- “Genius: MLK/X,” “Echo,” “Loki,” “Ashoka,” “Jim Henson Idea Man” — Disney+
While the “Pass the TV” series is now finished, let’s continue to celebrate these artists and keep an eye out for their names once the Emmys race heats up. Keep reading for photos from the six events.
The Vidiots Foundation
All the Pass the Remote events took place at the Vidiots Foundation in Los Angeles’s Eagle Rock neighborhood.
IndieWire’s ‘Pass the Remote’ Series Opens with a Disney Casting Panel
Patrons line up outside Vidiots Foundation for the first ‘Pass the Remote’ FYC event.
Introducing the Event
IndieWire SVP and editor-in-chief Dana Harris-Bridson andSVP and publisher James Israel introduce IndieWire’s “Pass the Remote” series.
Disney Casting Panel
A sold-out crowd for IndieWire’s first ‘Pass the Remote’ series event, which featured a panel of casting directors from shows like ‘Only Murders in the Building’ and ‘We Were the Lucky Ones.’
Disney Casting Panel
Casting directors Kim Williams (‘Genius: MLK/X’), Wendy O’Brien (‘Abbott Elementary’), Tiffany Little Canfield (‘Only Murders in the Building’) and Sarah Halley Finn (‘Echo,’ ‘Loki,’ and ‘Ahsoka’) attend IndieWire’s ‘Pass the Remote’ event for Disney Casting.
Disney Storyteller Panel (Drama)
Michael Dinner (‘Justified: City Primeval’), Erica Lipez (‘We Were the Lucky Ones’), Jeff Stetson (‘Genius: MLK/X’) and Samir Mehta (‘Under the Bridge’) join IndieWire’s ‘Pass the Remote’ event series to discuss TV drama.
Disney Storyteller Panel (Drama)
The foursome discussed their process of adapting the books that inspired their series, and the compromises and challenges that the translation between mediums forced them to overcome with IndieWire’s Features Writer Jim Hemphill.
Disney Storyteller Panel (Comedy)
Writers Ben Smith (“Only Murders in the Building”), Jenn D’Angelo (writer of the Hulu original film “Quiz Lady”), Ron Weiner (“Life & Beth”), Tazbah Chavez (“Reservation Dogs”), and Zach Dunn (“What We Do in the Shadows”) join IndieWire’s “Pass the Remote” series for their Disney Storyteller panel on comedy.
Reception
The crowd gathers for a drink at Vidiots while attending IndieWire’s ‘Pass the Remote’ series.
‘Abbott Elementary’
Patrick Schumacker, Quinta Brunson, Brian Rubenstein, and Justin Halpern joins IndieWire’s ‘Pass the Remote’ series for a screening of a Season 3 episode of ‘Abbott Elementary,’ followed by a talkback.
‘Abbott Elementary’
Brunson and ‘Abbott Elementary’ executive producers Patrick Schumacker, Justin Halpern, and Brian Rubenstein joined IndieWire’s Awards Editor Marcus Jones for a discussion about the show’s collaborative ethos as part of IndieWire’s ‘Pass the Remote’ FYC series.
‘Abbott Elementary’
From the writers’ room to the sets, Halpern, Schumacker, and Rubenstein all credited the collaboration and professional growth that the show facilitates to the inclusive environment that Brunson creates every day.
‘It’s just the best. It’s the most fun to see people grow into the writers you know they can become,’ Halpern said. ‘And I think that is a testament to a couple things. It’s their talent, but it’s also Quinta creating a space where that can happen. And that’s not an easy thing to do. Because in a lot of environments, a lot of the shows that [Schumacker] and I worked on before we were running shows, that space isn’t there. You just feel like ‘I’m a line cook for this chef that’s yelling at me.’ And to be able to figure out, ‘Hey, what is my voice?’ means that the person in charge has allowed that space to happen.’
‘Abbott Elementary’
The show’s commitment to developing new talent develops beyond the writers room. Brunson credited the show’s director Randall Einhorn — a sitcom legend who helped perfect the mockumentary format through his work on shows such as ‘The Office,’ ‘Modern Family,’ and ‘Parks and Recreation’ — with helping new directors from diverse backgrounds break into television each season. She explained that his devotion to elevating new voices extends beyond the abstract support for diversity that you often see in the industry because he takes tangible steps to help people secure their first jobs in Hollywood.
‘The main thing that Randall has been doing that I think is so special is that he’s been ushering in new directors. Not just new directors, but new directors of color every single season,’ she said. ‘It is incredible to have a director who is willing to let people shadow him, and then usher them into getting their first directing credit on network TV, which is not easy to do.’
‘Jim Henson Idea Man’
Composer David Fleming, producer Margaret Bodde, producer and director Ron Howard and editor and executive producer Paul Crowder at IndieWire’s ‘Pass the Remote’ Screens ‘Jim Henson Idea Man’ at Vidiots on May 24, 2024 in Los Angeles, California.
‘Jim Henson Idea Man’
Ahead of the film’s May 31 streaming release on Disney+, IndieWire’s Jim Hemphill interviewed Howard and his team as part of IndieWire’s ‘Pass the Remote’ FYC series. The panel was preceded by a screening of the film.
‘Jim Henson Idea Man’
The ethos of celebrating Henson’s playful spirit impacted every aspect of the film, including Fleming’s score. Speaking on how he carried Henson’s spirit into the music, he said, ‘So with the music, it was always focusing on what part of Jim is coming out right now. Is this the spiritual side of him or is this the driven side, and driven by playfulness and joy? Which is also the interesting thing about him, I think, you know, so so many of these types of stories of, of these types of guys are, are, are driven aggressively and he is driven by playfulness. So that was something I always wanted to tap into.’
‘Jim Henson Idea Man’
Though his team seemed to give him a lot of credit, Howard said the film is a result of collaboration — and that he really didn’t know how he’d approach the story until he started doing the work.
‘I had no idea really,’ Howard told IndieWire and the rapturous crowd. ‘What would the feature story be? You know, I just knew he was incredible. I knew my friend George Lucas characterized him as a bona fide creative genius. And so I had a lot of admiration. But as soon as we started seeing the archives and I was talking to the family, I recognized there were like three levels on which this film could work. We could celebrate the stuff that we knew, we could discover all this stuff that was sort of the foundation of it and more and the ups and downs, sort of in terms of what succeeded and what didn’t, and what that meant to him.’
‘Reservation Dogs’
IndieWire’s ‘Pass the Remote’ series wrapped up with ‘Reservation Dogs’ panel that included creator Sterlin Harjo and stars Devery Jacobs, Lane Factor, Paulina Alexis, and Kaniehtiio Horn.
‘Reservation Dogs’
In a conversation moderated by TV writer and podcast host Andy Greenwald, Harjo and the cast discussed their journeys across three seasons of the show and how they said goodbye to the characters in the final episode, ‘Dig.’
‘Reservation Dogs’
‘Reservation Dogs’ broke ground as the first American TV show to feature a writing and directing team that is entirely indigenous. Jacobs, who plays the Rez Dogs unofficial leader, Elora, grew more involved with the creative process as the series went on, beginning as a cast member before joining the writing team on the second season and eventually directing the series’ penultimate episode. Talking about her experiences on the show, Jacobs thanked Harjo for giving her the opportunities to show Elora’s journey, and for providing a platform for the indigenous creatives who contributed to the series.
‘I don’t even know how to talk about the show without getting emotional. I think it’s been something that we’ve all wanted to see growing up in the fact that we got to create it for three seasons, it means everything,’ Jacobs said. ‘I am so full of gratitude for Sterlin forever. For all of this. He really put his money where his mouth is when it came to hiring Indigenous creatives in front and behind the camera in a way that’s never been done before, giving so many people their first opportunities that will blossom until entire careers for people who never would have been given a chance to otherwise.’
‘Reservation Dogs’
‘The show is just too important to me to let anyone, critic or fan say, ‘man that last season dragged on, I wish they would have ended it,” Harjo said. ‘No one will ever not love that show that loved it. And you can always go back to that show, and watch it on Hulu, and it’ll never feel like it failed. And it continues.’
