Cartoon Network Execs Dissect Adult Swim Festival

By Evan Valentine

The Adult Swim Festival gives the Cartoon Network programming block the opportunity to share plans for the future when it comes to some of its biggest current and upcoming series, with this year's installment being no different as it was able to drop new details regarding the likes of Rick And Morty and Smiling Friends. Recently, a number of executives at Cartoon Network took the opportunity to share their thoughts on the Festival itself, informing fans of the programming block of lessons learned and what they were hoping to accomplish with each major event.

Jill King, the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Partnerships for Adult Swim, chatted with The Los Angeles Times about the Festival and how it has found its home on a virtual landscape in the face of COVID-19:

"Your real life is your digital, social and physical life. We made the decision to continue with virtual because we are learning a lot. Over 60% of the people who showed up live to watch a watch party came from international markets." King had noted when it came to the "Watch Parties" which helped propel the event to new heights.

On top of King, the voice of Summer in Rick And Morty, Spencer Grammer, also lent her thoughts about the Festival and how the annual event going digital allowed her to meet some unexpected faces:

"What's going to be unique about this particular Adult Swim [Festival] is the people who do the voices in other countries are also being interviewed at the same time, which we would never have the opportunity to do if we weren't doing this virtually. I get to go meet the other Summer, who does it in Italian."

Jill King also took the opportunity to discuss how the Adult Swim Festival has been able to support artists who otherwise might not receive the spotlight:

"We want to make sure that we're here as a support to bring [artists'] vision to life. A lot of our artists give nontraditional performances because they're not held to the big festival stage. They were able to get creative and express themselves and their show in a different way."

What did you think of this year's Adult Swim Festival? What do you think was the biggest announcement from the event? Feel free to let us know in the comments or hit me up directly on Twitter @EVComedy to talk all things comics, anime, and the world of Adult Swim. 

Via Los Angeles Times

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