North Fork TV Festival Comes to Cutchogue & Greenport Nov. 18

Emmy Award-winning actress Carrie Preston and the executive producer of the Frasier reboot starring Kelsey Grammer will be featured guests at this year’s North Fork TV Festival, set for Saturday, November 18 at Borghese Vineyard in Cutchogue and the Sound View Hotel in Greenport.

Founded in 2016 to celebrate independent scripted television and to provide a platform for emerging creators, the festival returns to an in-person format for the first time since the pandemic.

Next month’s event includes pilot screenings, Q&A and panel discussions, the annual Canopy Award presentation, an after-party and more.

The festival kicks off with a special brunch event featuring a Q&A with Tom Russo, the executive producer of the latest Frasier iteration. Russo will discuss the Emmy Award-winning series’ return to television in a Q&A scheduled for 11 a.m.–1 p.m. at the Sound View Hotel.

The brunch event will also include an episode screening of the show, which began airing its 10-episode first season on Paramount+ October 12. Russo is an Emmy-nominated producer and the head of film and television for Grammer’s Grammnet NH Productions.

During its successful run from 1993 to 2004, Frasier won 37 Emmy awards — the most of any comedy series. Grammer, who won four Emmys for his portrayal of psychiatrist and radio personality Dr. Frasier Crane, is reprising a role that he played for 20 years in total, first on the hit sitcom Cheers beginning in 1984 and then on the Frasier spinoff.

The new show follows Dr. Crane as he returns to Boston to face new challenges and forge new relationships.

Each year the North Fork TV Festival presents the Canopy Award to a member of the New York television community who champions the creative ambitions of diverse storytelling through their persistence, integrity and inclusive nature.

This year’s winner is Carrie Preston, who won an Emmy for Outstanding Guest Actress in a Drama for her recurring role of quirky lawyer Elsbeth Tascioni on The Good Wife.

She, too, will reprise this popular role when she stars in the upcoming CBS spinoff series Elsbeth.

Preston, whose other TV credits include Claws, True Blood, Person of Interest, Crowded, When We Rise, Brockmire, Dr. Death, Lost, Desperate Housewives and The Good Fight, is also a sought-after director.

She will be introduced at the festival by her husband, Emmy-winning actor Michael Emerson, and interviewed in a Q&A format by her friend, actress Jenn Lyon.

“The North Fork TV Festival is thrilled to honor Carrie Preston with the 2023 Canopy Award for her incredible contributions to storytelling as both an actor and director,” says Rebecca Kaplan, who chairs the advisory board for the festival.

“Ms. Preston has been a longtime fan favorite for her roles as smart, interesting and layered women.

In alignment with the festival’s mission to support and elevate emerging creatives, Ms. Preston is also an honorary board member for the new play development organization, the New Harmony Project, which aims to nurture writers in the development of scripts and new works.”

Past Canopy Award honorees include Grammer, Chris Noth, J. Smith-Cameron, Jeremy Sisto and Aida Turturro.

“Special surprise guests that you may recognize from your favorite shows have come to the festival in the past and we anticipate a few friendly faces this year as well,” Kaplan says.

The festival will also include in-person screenings and panel discussions with the winners of the 2023 Independent Script & TV Pilot Competition, which received hundreds of submissions — the most in the festival’s history.

Winners include “Mt. Mystic Rangers” (Best Pilot: Comedy); “Awesome” (Best Pilot: Drama); “Who’s Annie?” (Honorable Mention for Best Pilot); “Unstrung” (Best Pilot Script: Drama); and “Gringos” (Honorable Mention for Best Pilot Script).

The bulk of the festivities will take place at Borghese Vineyard, where screenings and panel discussions will be divided between two sessions, from 3–5 p.m. and then 6:30–8:30 p.m.

The Canopy Award presentation will take place during the second session. Then comes the after-party, also at Borghese, from 8:30–11 p.m.

Festival passes cost $200 and include all events. Separate tickets are available for Session One for $50; Session Two for $75; or Session One and Two combined for $100. All tickets include access to the after-party, but only festival pass holders will have access to the brunch/Q&A with Tom Russo.

Visit northfork.tv for tickets and more info.