The Women Who Built ATX TV
Caitlin McFarland & Emily Gipson · Co-Founders & Co-Presidents
There is no Friday Night Lights reunion at the Paramount without two women who, around 2011, were Hollywood assistants who wanted a television festival in their home state of Texas — and, finding none, built it themselves. Caitlin McFarland and Emily Gipson launched the ATX Television Festival in Austin, holding the first edition in June 2012 for roughly 700 people. Fifteen seasons later it is a year-round community — "TV for all, y'all," in the festival's own words — and the reason the cast of Dillon keeps coming home.
Caitlin McFarland
Co-Founder & Co-President, ATX TV Festival · Filmmaker
Before ATX, McFarland worked in New York — including for Nora Ephron — and made independent films. Leaving New York, she chose Texas over a return to Los Angeles, and with Gipson researched everything from South by Southwest to Comic-Con to the Austin Film Festival before launching a festival built to feel "smaller and intimate and accessible." Her shorthand for it has become the festival's identity.
"This is TV camp for grown-ups."Caitlin McFarland
Emily Gipson
Co-Founder & Co-President, ATX TV Festival
Gipson quit a corporate job to help start the festival, drawing on the communal feel of the music festivals she loved to shape ATX's atmosphere. She and McFarland funded the first edition partly through Kickstarter — the very campaign that brought Friday Night Lights writer-producer David Hudgins to them, and through him, showrunner Jason Katims and the show that has anchored the festival ever since.
"From the beginning they've established this energy, this vibe."Emily Gipson
Together they have grown ATX from ~700 attendees in 2012 to a national gathering and a 365-days-a-year community of fans and industry. Friday Night Lights was a signature of the very first festival, and the 2026 20-year reunion — and its Texas Made Award — is, in a real sense, their story too.
Follow the festival atxtv.com · Instagram · X · Facebook • Founders McFarland · Gipson
For Austin
The crowd that packed the Paramount
A reunion is only as good as the room, and Austin filled the Paramount Theatre on both levels and gave applause at every turn — for the marquee, for the music, for every memory of Dillon. This page, and this whole section, is a thank-you to the city that has made the ATX TV Festival a home for television, and to the fans who keep the lights on. Clear eyes, full hearts.
The Cast — The Dillon Panthers
Seasons 1–3 · Reunion = on stage (or honored) at the 2026 ATX reunion
ReunionCoach Eric Taylor
Kyle Chandler
Won the 2011 Emmy for Lead Actor in a Drama as Coach Taylor. Since Dillon: Bloodline (Emmy-nominated), and films including Super 8, Argo, Zero Dark Thirty, The Wolf of Wall Street, Game Night, First Man and Mayor of Kingstown.
ReunionTami Taylor
Connie Britton
The show's conscience — and the only lead carried over from Peter Berg's 2004 film. A four-time Emmy nominee whose career spans Nashville, American Horror Story, Dirty John, 9-1-1 and The White Lotus.
ReunionJulie Taylor
Aimee Teegarden
The Taylors' daughter, who grew up across all five seasons. Later led the CW's Star-Crossed and appeared in Rings, Notorious and Scream: Resurrection.
ReunionJason Street
Scott Porter
The star QB whose injury opens the series. Went on to Speed Racer, Hart of Dixie, The Good Place and Netflix's Ginny & Georgia, plus acclaimed game voice work.
HonoredMatt Saracen
Zach Gilford
The backup who becomes QB1 — honored in absentia at the reunion. Best known since for Mike Flanagan's Midnight Mass, plus Off the Map and The Purge: Anarchy.
ReunionBrian "Smash" Williams
Gaius Charles
The star running back chasing a scholarship. Later a regular on Grey's Anatomy (Dr. Shane Ross) and NBC's Taken, with roles in Roots and Aquarius.
Tim Riggins
Taylor Kitsch
Texas forever. A breakout that led to John Carter, Battleship, Lone Survivor, True Detective Season 2, Waco (as David Koresh), The Terminal List and Painkiller. Not at the 2026 reunion.
ReunionTyra Collette
Adrianne Palicki
College-bound and fierce — "girls have gone to college because of Tyra," she says. Since: Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The Orville, G.I. Joe: Retaliation and John Wick. Now producing the docuseries Texas Forever.
ReunionLandry Clarke
Jesse Plemons
Brainy best friend and Crucifictorious frontman — who opened the reunion with "Devil Town." Now an Oscar nominee (The Power of the Dog) and Cannes Best Actor winner, with Breaking Bad, Fargo, Killers of the Flower Moon and Civil War behind him.
Lyla Garrity
Minka Kelly
Head cheerleader and Street's girlfriend. Later (500) Days of Summer, Almost Human, Titans (Dove) and Euphoria. Not at the 2026 reunion.
ReunionBuddy Garrity
Brad Leland
Dillon's loudest booster — and a fixture of Texas film and TV for decades, with roles in Veronica Mars, The Cabin in the Woods and W. Now co-producing the Texas Forever docuseries.
ReunionBilly Riggins
Derek Phillips
Tim's older brother, holding the family together. Later seen in Longmire and 13 Reasons Why, with extensive voice-acting work.
ReunionMindy Riggins
Stacey Oristano
Tyra's sister and the Riggins family's spark. Later a regular on Bunheads, with roles in Shameless and Supernatural.
ReunionGrandma Lorraine Saracen
Louanne Stephens
Matt's grandmother — one of the show's most tender bonds. A veteran Texas character actress whose film work includes Terrence Malick's The Tree of Life.
PerformedDevin
Stephanie Hunt
Crucifictorious bandmate and a musician in her own right — who reunited with Plemons to open the night with "Devil Town."
The Cast — The East Dillon Lions
Seasons 4–5 · a new school, a new team
Vince Howard
Michael B. Jordan
The Lions' quarterback — a star turn before superstardom. Now an A-list actor, director and producer: Fruitvale Station, the Creed trilogy (he directed Creed III), Black Panther (Killmonger) and Just Mercy. Not at the 2026 reunion.
Jess Merriweather
Jurnee Smollett
Team manager with a coach's mind. Later led Lovecraft Country (Emmy-nominated) and played Black Canary in Birds of Prey, with roles in Underground and True Blood.
Luke Cafferty
Matt Lauria
The hard-running farm kid caught between schools. Later a lead on Kingdom, with roles in The Killing, CSI: Cyber and Special Ops: Lioness.
Becky Sproles
Madison Burge
Heart and grit on the East side through the final seasons.
The Creators
The team that turned a book and a film into one of TV's most beloved dramas
Peter Berg
Developer · Director (film & pilot)
Made the 2004 Friday Night Lights film and directed the series pilot, setting its restless, three-camera style. Also directed Lone Survivor, Deepwater Horizon and Patriots Day.
ReunionJason Katims
Showrunner · Executive Producer
Shaped the series' intimate, character-first voice. An Emmy winner whose work also includes Roswell, Parenthood, About a Boy and As We See It.
H.G. "Buzz" Bissinger
Author of the source book
Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist whose 1990 book Friday Night Lights: A Town, a Team, and a Dream — about Odessa's Permian High Panthers — started it all.
ReunionDavid Hudgins
Executive Producer · Writer
A longtime writer-producer on the show — and the festival connection, the writer-producer ATX's founders met through Kickstarter. Also wrote on Everwood and Parenthood.
ReunionJeffrey Reiner
Executive Producer · Director
Defined the show's handheld, you-are-there look across many episodes. A prolific TV director whose credits include The Affair and Hightown.
ReunionLiz Heldens
Writer · Co-Executive Producer
Wrote many of the show's defining hours. Later created The Passage and wrote on Deadwater Fell and Camp.
ReunionKerry Ehrin
Writer · Consulting Producer
A key voice in the writers' room who went on to co-create Bates Motel and create/showrun The Morning Show.