Honoring Marcia Gay Harden: North Fork TV Festival's Unique Contribution to Television

The North Fork TV Festival was founded by Lauren and Noah Doyle and co-founded by Jonathan Shafter. Both are residents of the North Fork and saw an opportunity to merge their passion for TV with a cherished community. With fond childhood memories of visiting North Fork during school holidays and now owning a home of his own there, Doyle's decision to establish the festival in the area was an obvious one. Drawing inspiration from his experiences as a participant in the Sundance Film Festival where he witnessed the transformative power of film, Doyle aimed to create a similar space for episodic storytelling. The North Fork TV Festival strives to enrich the thriving local community, as well as foster an appreciation for curated television content and cultivate a platform for emerging talent within the industry.

The festival’s exclusive focus on episodic film makes it unique in the festival circuit. Despite TV being historically undervalued as an art form compared to full-length feature films, Doyle has always favored its ability to deliver compelling narratives in shorter formats. At the dawn of the new golden age of television North Fork TV Festival anticipated a societal shift towards binge-watching and series formats. Television's influence and cultural significance is now rightfully recognized and proudly represented annually at NFTV.

This year we are thrilled to honor Tony and Oscar-winning actress Marcia Gay Harden with our annual Canopy Award. She's nominated again this year for an Emmy for her performance on The Morning Show. Over the years, North Fork has had the privilege of honoring many talented individuals who have made significant contributions to television. This has been a major highlight for the team behind the festival, as it fulfills the festival’s mission of providing a space to showcase, promote, and celebrate those shaping and entering the industry. A few notable names include but are not limited to: Carrie Preston (2023), J. Smith Cameron (2022), Patina Miller (2021), Chris Jackson (2021), Jeremy Sisto (2020), Kelsey Grammer (2019), Constance Wu (2019), and more. Please visit www.northfork.tv for a complete history of honorees.

An Ambassador is a diplomat and a representative. Richard is a veteran actor, director and political activist. He's most well-known for his performance as White House Communications Director Toby Ziegler on Aaron Sorkin's The West Wing. His work outside the industry for the Council for a Livable World advocating for bipartisan supported nuclear non-proliferation is demonstrative of the esteemed place television artists can play on the world stage. We are proud to honor him for his service to the industry and the world at large.

As a Greenport resident, Doyle can attest that the festival has brought a great number of people to the North Fork that may not have visited before. They’ve been exposed to our terrific wineries, restaurants, arts and culture. Greenport is the North Fork’s hidden gem, but thanks to the North Fork TV Festival it is thankfully a lot less hidden these days.

We are a proud member of the New York and Long Island arts community. We are consistently enthused with the quality of television talent that choose to embrace our festival and our inclusive artistic vision. 

We’re excited to bring on Mike Stern as our new Artistic Director. Mike is a TV writer, screenwriter, producer and actor based in Los Angeles. His last film (Mid-Century) was released by Lionsgate, and he has three feature films in pre-production and a development deal with AMC Networks. We’re excited for Mike to bring his years of industry experience in service of expanding our pilot and script competitions and helping to bridge the divide between Hollywood and Long Island. His years in script development will help us work with our winners to improve their material and create a festival to TV streaming pipeline.