There are more film festivals and music festivals out there than we care to count, but here at Zap2it, our hearts are in the TV business — which is why we are so flippin’ excited to attend the first annual ATX Festival, a television-a-palooza in Austin, Texas.

Featuring tons of our small screen faves, ATX Festival doesn’t discriminate against underrated or canceled shows. “Life Unexpected” will have a major presence at the event, with creator Liz Tigelaar on hand to answer questions and stars Arielle Kebbel, Britt Roberston, and Shiri Appleby in the house to reminisce with us. “One Tree Hill” creator Mark Schwahn is attending, along with the ever-swoonworthy James Lafferty.

We’re particularly psyched for a “Friday Night Lights” party with a screening attended by executive producers Jason Katims and David Hudgins, along with cast members like Scott Porter, Michael B. Jordan, Matt Lauria, Gaius Charles, Alicia Witt, Jesse Plemons, Madison Burge, and Brad Leland. We’ll be donning our Panther blues (or Lion reds?) for the occasion, obviously.

Click here for a full list of confirmed attendees, with big names from “Parenthood,” “The Vampire Diaries,” “True Blood,” “Awake,” and much much more.

Kicking off the weekend on June 1 is a red carpet event from USA Network, with screenings of two of their summer shows, “Suits” and “Royal Pains.” ATX co-founder Emily Gipson says, “We love USA’s slogan ‘Characters Welcome.’ It fits perfectly, not only for Opening Night, but with our overall festival goals — from panelists to fans, all characters are welcome at ATX.”

Tickets to ATX Television Festival are available for purchase here. We can’t wait to see you there!

Source: Carina Adly MacKenzie @ Zap2it

Thanks to Amanda from One Tree Hill Blog!

Gallery links:
Public Appearances > 2012 > Nicholas Sparks Golf Tournament (Apr. 21, 2012)

At just 26, James Lafferty has achieved something only a handful of actors can say they have: he played a leading role on a television series for nine seasons. When “One Tree Hill” aired its series finale on April 4 on the CW, Lafferty closed the chapter on Nathan Scott: a pivotal character on the drama that evolved tremendously throughout the years. From playing a high school basketball player to an NBA athlete to an agent, all while being a husband, father, and son who has a complicated relationship with his father; it’s almost as if the young actor has played multiple roles on one show! Now Lafferty says he is taking everything he absorbed from “One Tree Hill” with him onto the next leg of his life. I had the pleasure of catching up with him recently at the opening of the Warner Brothers ‘Television Out Of The Box’ exhibit at The Paley Center in Beverly Hills, and we chatted about his thoughts on Nathan’s ending, what he’s most grateful for from the Tree Hill journey; as well as the two simple life lessons he always carries with him!

Congratulations on the series finale of “One Tree Hill”! You have been a part of it from day one and here it is nine years later-that’s an amazing achievement.
James- Thank you! Yes we’re really happy about that. Huge sense of accomplishment.

I remember you told me at the end of season eight that you learned everything from the show.
Yes, I mean I was shooting that show since I was 17. We shot the pilot when I was 17 and I’m turning 27 this year, so it’s been a long road and it’s been a great one. I’ve learned so much over the years. Now that it’s over I’m just trying to take all that knowledge with me.

What’s the thing you’re most grateful for from the whole “One Tree Hill” experience? Something that 30 years from now you’ll always look back on?
It’s gotta be the entire thing. I don’t think there’s any one moment that stands out. I think being able to say that I was on a television show for nine seasons is probably the thing that I will always take with me and never forget. That holds a lot of pride.

Were you satisfied with Nathan’s ending? Even though he’s not in the NBA?
Exactly, that would have been awesome. But it was great! I think the heart of Nathan as a person was really the relationship with his father. And that was what drove a lot of his decisions throughout his life, the life of the show. And so to have that closure with Dan Scott and Nathan Scott, was I think the most important thing. And we got it. I was really proud of that.

Did you want Dan to pass away or would you have preferred a different ending for him?
I kind of feel like it’s the only it could have been. I didn’t necessarily want that, but it was almost like after everything that he had put everybody through, everything the character had been through- you knew that he had to be a martyr. You knew he was going to become a martyr in a way. And it was definitely the most poetic way to make it happen. I’m proud of that.

Throughout all the interviews we have done, you have always come across as very grounded to me, and you started in this industry at such a young age. What is a piece of advice you always take with you that you would like to share with your loyal “One Tree Hill” fans?
I guess my way of life would be to work hard and just respect everybody around you. And if you fail to do that, you may find things are much harder for you in the future. But if you can do those two simple things, I think people are going to enjoy working with you and hopefully it will go much further. But who knows that could be terrible advice! We’ll see how the next ten years of my life go! (Laughs)

What’s next for you?
I’ve got a film that we’re waiting to see how it does in the festival circuit. It’s called ‘Lost On Purpose’. It’s in the post-production part of it. And then I filmed a small part in a film called ‘The Legends of Hell’s Gate’, with Rob [Buckley]. That’s going to be on-demand pretty soon here I think. So I’ve got a couple things in the can and looking forward to the next one!

Source: Meriam Bouarrouj @ examiner.com

In the opening moments of tonight’s “One Tree Hill” season premiere, the audience immediately realizes that our favorite characters are in for a harrowing, heartbreaking thirteen episodes. Still, Nathan, Haley, Brooke, and the rest of the gang have been through hell before — so we were pretty confident that they can handle whatever is thrown at them at this point.

That is, until we met up with series star James Lafferty at the Zap2it offices this morning and he warned us, “It’s by far Nathan’s worst year. Absolutely.” After car accidents, school shootings, traumatic injuries, and really bad hair, that’s saying something.

Certainly the arrival of Dan (Paul Johansson), Nathan’s dad, doesn’t exactly signal harmony in the Scott household. Lafferty tells us that the contentious relationship between the father and son will shift significantly this year.

“The nature of their relationship this season is far different from anything we’ve seen so far,” he says, acknowledging the possibility of some forgiveness. “There are going to be some things that they go through that we haven’t seen them tackle before. It’s very very different, and very high-stakes and I think there’s going to be a great payoff there for two of them.”

As for Nathan and Haley, Lafferty promises that there’s still spark in the romance that has become the center of the show. “They’re a rock solid unit as they always have been, and they’re going to be tested this season, of course, but I think the fans can definitely look forward to some classic Naley moments,” he teases.

With all the turbulent ups and downs of this shortened season, we’re a little nervous about the way it’ll all end — particularly given the fact that there are only 13 episodes for the characters to come out on the other side of the trauma they’re about to endure. After playing Nathan for nine years, though, Lafferty feels satisfied by where he left the character. “I think all of our characters have a lot of things we go through this season, and as actors, we had a lot of work to do in that capacity,” he says. “But like I said, the payoff is really there at the end, for the fans, and for us as actors playing these roles.”

This November, we followed along with the cast as they said goodbye, one by one, to Tree Hill, Wilmington, and each other. Given the fact that we shed a few tears from thousands of miles away, we can’t imagine the emotional toll that week took on the actors who had brought the characters to life for close to a decade.

“I think that the saying goodbye to everybody, crew and cast, that experience had been undermined by saying goodbye to everybody like three times before,” Lafferty says, referring to the several other years when the show was on the brink of cancellation. “Everybody was so sick of saying goodbye. It was saying goodbye to the world that really affected me. On my very last day of shooting, I wrapped and I said goodbye to everybody, and it didn’t really hit me until I walked into my trailer. I shut the door to my trailer and I changed for the last time, and I was in this trailer for the last time that I’d spent so many years in — basically my entire adult life — and I was never going to be in that trailer again or have the same experience with the same people again. It was a quiet, private moment, but it was there.”

Now, with a few months between him and his last day in Tree Hill, Lafferty is ready to move on to his next project. Though some of his co-stars are hoping to avoid TV for the time being — Bethany Joy Galeotti, for example, tells us that she’s looking forward to playing a variety of characters as opposed to committing to another long-term role — Lafferty says that he is open to doing another television series.

“It just depends on what the project is,” he says. “Working so long on the show I’ve realized that I don’t want to go too long without working. It’s just kind of part of me now to constantly have something to do and to constantly be on a set. I want to keep that going. I think it’s given me purpose in life and it’s going to continue to be my purpose.”

Source: Carina Adley MacKenzie @ Zap2it

Some You Give Away (season 4)
James: “There was so much payoff for the ravens basketball team, for Whitey and for Nathan as everybody’s storyline converged on this one event. It was a blast to shoot, a blast to watch and I’ll always remember it.”

Source: TV Guide

When One Tree Hill star James Lafferty stopped by our office back in September, we were all a bit giddy. I mean, is there anyone who hasn’t crushed on the hot TV star at some point during the show’s soon-to-be eight-season run? But one of our editors was just a tad bit giddier than the rest of us…

OK, so that might be the understatement of the year–Julie, our amazing-beyond-words photo projects director actually prepped for her grand entrance with James–fluffing the hair, glossing the lips–you know the deal. See, Julie’s always had a thing for James (just like I’ve always had a thing for Bryan Greenberg), so we sent them off for an exclusive interview, and he opened up to her about what’s to come after this year’s bittersweet series finale, hipsters, and sneaking peaks at Victoria’s Secret catalogs. (Say what?) Well, just read the interview for yourself:

Julie: So this is it–the final season of One Tree Hill. How does it feel?
James: We shot our pilot in 2003 and we’ll be airing into 2012, so it’s been nine years! Now that the show’s done, I’m happy to take a bit of a break and just wrap my head around what has been and what’s to come.

Do you ever watch old episodes of yourself?
Every once in a while, I do. We’re constantly on SoapNet, which I find both hilarious and great because I can turn on the TV and see the whole cast six years ago and how much we’ve all changed.

And do you always remember the episodes when you watch them on TV?
That’s the weirdest thing. I turn on the TV and watch specific scenes and I have no recollection of ever being there! It would be as if somebody filmed every single day of your high school career, you’d be like, I don’t remember saying that! I don’t remember doing that, but I guess I did, because it’s on TV!

So what do you have planned next?
I’ll start auditioning for roles, which is crazy. I haven’t really done a full audition for a long time, so I’m going to have to get back in the groove of going into that room and just doing my thing. But I also wrote a film that I want to direct.

What’s it about?
I guess you could classify it as a post-apocalyptic zombie western. It’s out there, but it’s grounded in real relationships. I’ve had the script written for two or three years now. I love zombies.

What are some of your favorite movies?
Wayne’s World is my all time favorite comedy. I used to watch it on VHS on repeat with my brother when I was ten years old. I also love the Harry Potter films–they’re genius! I watched all of them last Thanksgiving break–I couldn’t believe what I was missing.

What’s your fantasy outfit for a girl?
Well, I’m giving an interview to Glamour, so I know I might get crucified for this, but there’s a trend going on where girls are wearing clothes that are big, formless and flowing. There’s no element of mystery! I know it’s comfortable, but girls are just kind of hiding everything.

So you want to see some skin.
I understand why a lot of women want to dress hipster. But I grew up sneaking my mom’s Victoria’s Secrets…so I could look at the hot chicks!

Source: Caitlin Brody @ Glamour