Virginia Film Festival

VAFF Beyond the Screen Conversation with ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and ‘Station 19’ Cast and Showrunner

by Erica Barnes on April 15, 2021

VAFF Beyond the Screen Conversation with ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and ‘Station 19’ Cast and Showrunner featuring Actors Jason George, Boris Kodjoe, Kevin McKidd, Kim Raver, and Executive Producer/Showrunner Krista Vernoff

Discussion to Feature How Beloved Series Embraced the Pandemic and Brought COVID-19 to Primetime TV Series

The Virginia Film Festival has announced that its popular Beyond the Screen: A Virtual Conversation Series will return with a conversation with cast members and the showrunner of the ABC television series Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19. The livestreamed discussion will take place Sunday, May 2 at 8:00 PM ET and feature actor, University of Virginia alumnus,s  and VAFF Advisory Board member Jason George, fellow cast members Kevin McKidd, Boris Kodjoe, and Kim Raver, alongside executive producer and showrunner Krista Vernoff.

Beyond the Screen: Reflecting Reality with the cast of Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 will focus on the 17th season of Grey’s Anatomy and 4th season of Station 19, both of which are being filmed at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. The discussion will feature the cast members from both shows and series’ showrunner Vernoff discussing their experience of filming during a global pandemic and the decision to weave current events directly into their storylines while keeping the story grounded in the characters that audiences know and love. The conversation will be moderated by VAFF Program Manager Chandler Ferrebee.

The Virginia Film Festival is a program of the University of Virginia and the Office of the Provost and Vice Provost for the Arts.

Pre-registration for Beyond the Screen: Reflecting Reality with the cast of Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19 is required to attend the live discussion and is available at virginiafilmfestival.org/year_round/reflecting-reality/. This event, like all in the Beyond the Screen series, is free and open to the public. A recording of the conversation will be archived on the VAFF’s YouTube channel. Station 19 and Grey’s Anatomy air Thursdays at 8/c and 9/8c, respectively, on ABC. Past seasons of each show are available on Hulu and Netflix.

The Emmy and Golden Globe-winning drama Grey’s Anatomy, now in its 17th season, is one of the most popular and longest-running series on the air today. The show, which won the 2007 Golden Globe for Best Drama Television Series, as well as five Emmys and garnered 29 Emmy nominations, follows the personal and professional lives of Meredith Grey and her fellow doctors at Seattle’s Grey Sloan Memorial Hospital. A spinoff of Grey’s Anatomy, Station 19 centers around a group of heroic firefighters in Seattle as they risk their lives and hearts both in the line of duty and off the clock.

Jason George, a University of Virginia graduate whose first experience on stage came when a friend coaxed him to audition for a UVA Drama Department production, has appeared in over 50 guest star and 10 series regular television roles. He is known to millions for his role as Dr. Ben Warren, the husband of Dr. Miranda Bailey on the Grey’s Anatomy and the spinoff series Station 19.

Boris Kodjoe, German native Kodjoe is best known for his role in the television series Soul Food, earning him three NACCP Award nominations for Outstanding Supporting Actor. In 2019, he joined ABC’s hit action-drama series Station 19 as a series regular. Kodjoe also appeared on the final season of House of Cards.

Scottish-born actor and director Kevin McKidd, who plays Dr. Owen Hunt on Grey’s Anatomy and Station 19, has also directed several episodes of Grey’s Anatomy. He earned wide acclaim on the big screen for his role as Tommy Mackenzie in the Danny Boyle’s Trainspotting.

Kim Raver, who plays surgeon and Iraq veteran Dr. Teddy Altman on Grey’s Anatomy, joined the show in 2009 for a three-year-run and then rejoined the cast in 2017. Raver is also known for her role on Showtime’s Ray Donovan, and as Audrey Raines, in the Emmy-nominated 24: Live Another Day.

Krista Vernoff is an Emmy-nominated screenwriter, showrunner, executive producer and director. She currently runs Grey’s Anatomy and its spin-off Station 19, in addition to her new series for ABC, Rebel. Krista has also worked as executive producer and writer for Shameless, and producer-writer on Charmed and Wonderfalls.

The Virginia Film Festival’s 2021 Beyond the Screen: A Virtual Conversation Series is presented by The Jefferson Trust. The virtual series will be presented monthly through July 2021, and announcements on future events are forthcoming.

The 34th annual Virginia Film Festival will be held on October 27-31, 2021. For more information, visit virginiafilmfestival.org.