Kevin Spacey to deliver the MacTaggart lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival.

London, Monday 13th May 2013: Academy award-winning actor, director and producer Kevin Spacey is confirmed to give the prestigious James MacTaggart Memorial Lecture at this year’s Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival, powered by YouTube.

It has been a landmark year for Spacey, who executive produced and starred in the acclaimed break-out Netflix original drama series House of Cards, which was co-produced by his production company Trigger Street.

House of Cards bypassed traditional TV networks and has been seen as heralding a major shift both from the traditional model of broadcasting and in the way viewers consume content.

Kevin Spacey comments: “As a newcomer to the TV industry I am honoured to be invited to give the MacTaggart Lecture. Clearly this has been an exciting period for me personally but also I believe this is a time of huge opportunity, innovation and creativity for all of us who live to tell stories and engage audiences. I’m excited to share my thoughts and meet players from across the media industry. I’m also an Edinburgh TV Festival virgin so have no idea what I am letting myself in for!”

Executive Festival Chair, Elaine Bedell, said; “I’m thrilled that Kevin Spacey has agreed to deliver this year’s MacTaggart – it confirms the Edinburgh International Television Festival as the industry’s most important event of the year. Kevin Spacey has been at the centre of cultural life both here in the UK and in the States for many years – and now with House of Cards, he has shown that he is also at the forefront of new ways of delivering television content to audiences. I’ve no doubt that his speech in Edinburgh will be as blistering, honest, and entertaining as any of his extraordinary performances on screen and stage”.

Kevin Spacey has won Academy Awards for his performances in The Usual Suspects and American Beauty, which also garnered him a BAFTA Award. Additionally, he was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for his role in Casino Jack.

His film credits include Swimming with Sharks, Se7en, LA Confidential, Glengarry Glen Ross, The Negotiator, K-Pax, The Shipping News, Superman Returns, Beyond the Sea, Shrink, The Men Who Stare at Goats, 21, Horrible Bosses and Margin Call.

Trigger Street Productions, which Spacey founded with producing partner Dana Brunetti, have produced multiple award-winning movies for film and television. The feature films include 21 and The Social Network, which won a Golden Globe for Best Picture and received multiple Academy Award nominations. Recount and Bernard & Doris both garnered double-digit Emmy Award nominations. This year will see the release of Captain Phillips, starring Tom Hanks and directed by Paul Greengrass.

Since 2004, Kevin Spacey has been the Artistic Director of The Old Vic Theatre in London. He has appeared in productions at the Old Vic including National Anthems, The Philadelphia Story, Richard II, A Moon for the Misbegotten (which subsequently transferred to Broadway) Speed-the-Plow, Inherit The Wind and Richard III, which he took on a world tour to a dozen countries as far afield as Australia, the US, Doha, China and Greece.

In 2010 he was honored with a CBE from Her Majesty the Queen for services to the theatre.

Away from the Old Vic stage he won the Evening Standard and Olivier Awards for Best Actor for his role in The Iceman Cometh, as well as a Tony Award for Best Supporting Actor in Lost in Yonkers. Spacey also starred in the Broadway and West End productions of Long Day’s Journey into Night.

Now in its 38th year, the Festival will take place from Thursday 22 to Saturday 24th August.

Advisory Chair of the Festival, Karl Warner comments: ‘Kevin Spacey sums up everything we want this year’s International Television Festival to be; creative, inspiring, and about story-telling in all forms, across all platforms. He’s a genuine artist and visionary, and I’m thrilled he’ll be at the centre of the Festival, delivering an unmissable MacTaggart lecture.’

The prestigious MacTaggart Lecture has drawn major names from both UK and international broadcasting, and is known for producing controversial and agenda-setting speeches. Past MacTaggart speakers include Elisabeth Murdoch, Eric Schmidt, Mark Thompson, James Murdoch, Dennis Potter, Michael Grade, Verity Lambert, Ted Turner, Greg Dyke, David Liddiment, Peter Fincham, Charles Allen, Jeremy Paxman, John Mortimer and Rupert Murdoch.

Visit www.geitf.co.uk to register now. Follow the Festival on Twitter via @edinburghtvfest

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Notes to Editors:

• Now in its 38th year, the Guardian Edinburgh International Television Festival is the essential annual event for anyone involved in the media industry.
• A diverse programme of over 50 sessions including debates about important industry issues, future trends, spectacular entertainment sessions and some of the most innovative leaders in the media delivering keynote speeches.
• The Festival is attended by over 1,500 delegates, representing the full spectrum of the industry – from chief executives, controllers and commissioners to producers, directors, marketers, writers, new media companies, distributors and press.
• The GEITF is a charitable organisation. Proceeds from sponsorship and the sale of each delegate pass support the GEITF’s talent schemes. The schemes identify and support emerging talent to promote a healthy and diverse future for our industry.