Napa Valley StreamFest pays tribute to the arts

Hollywood Reporter host Scott Feinberg and creator and producer Bill Lawrence at Napa Valley StreamFest 2026. Mario Piombo - Aperture Media & Design photo — Hollywood Reporter host Scott Feinberg and creator and producer Bill Lawrence at Napa Valley StreamFest 2026. *Mario Piombo – Aperture Media & Design photo*

Napa Valley StreamFest made its grand return to Napa April 23-26.

StreamFest focused on celebrating film, live podcasts, series and digital culture with premieres, panels, a wine and culinary lineup and the chance for attendees to meet filmmakers and creators.

Events across the four days included red carpet arrivals, conversations with creators, the world premiere of the feature narrative film “Casa Grande,” a showcase of less-than-two-minute micro-short films, a showcase of comedy shorts that were all world premieres, pop-up panels, a panel and awards for breakthrough artists, and a farewell party.

Two big events that took place on the evening of April 25 at the Uptown Theater were a live recording of the “Awards Chatter” podcast hosted by Scott Feinberg of The Hollywood Reporter and a conversation with actors Christa Miller and Ted McGinley from the popular series “Shrinking” that was moderated by Julia Cunningham of SiriusXM.

Feinberg’s podcast guest was showrunner and creator Bill Lawrence, who is behind “Scrubs,” “Ted Lasso” and “Shrinking.” After Cunningham interviewed Miller and McGinley, the two actors were presented with the 2026 Vanguard Award, which acknowledged their years of celebrated performances.

During the two events, the lower section of seats at the Uptown Theater was filled with a crowd of excited attendees.

Audience members got to learn a lot about Lawrence’s life during the interview with Feinberg.

Even though Lawrence was born in Santa Monica, he grew up in Ridgefield, Conn. His father was a regional salesman who worked for Pitney Bowes selling office equipment. His mother was a fine arts appraiser and auctioneer.

Growing up, Lawrence was a huge fan of television, movies, and books. At his bedtime, he would sit on top of the stairs and watch the sitcom “M*A*S*H*,” in spite of it being too late for him when it first began. He credits his parents for letting him see a variety of theater and movies at a young age, which helped him build a passion for the genre.

Lawrence didn’t know anybody in Hollywood while growing up on the East Coast, but he found his first mentor in Bob Cox, the head of the English department at Lawrence’s high school. At lunch, Lawrence and a friend would sneak off and drink beers. Cox recommended, instead, that they spend lunch with him, talking about the books and movies they were into. He convinced Lawrence that he could become a writer and told him that he was extremely skilled at writing dialogue. Cox recently passed away but while he was alive, he had the honor of seeing Lawrence name the character Dr. Cox after him in “Scrubs.” Lawrence said he gets emotional when thinking about his former mentor.

As someone who’s experienced being fired, Lawrence is a huge believer in the learning power of failure and that experiencing it can help people develop resilience.

Lawrence is proud of the relationships he’s built through his work in Hollywood.

“Every time someone asks me what my favorite episode of ‘Scrubs’ is or ‘Spin City’ or ‘Shrinking,’ it’s always the pilot and not because I wrote it but because it’s when I got to first meet all those great, talented people,” Lawrence said.

“I’ve kept them all in my life,” Lawrence continued. “I’ve kept all those friendships and those relationships mattered to me.”

The attendees also got to learn about Christa Miller’s background.

Miller’s mother left her biological father when she was 2 and married someone else. Miller’s grandmother used to tell her, “You’re gonna be an actress. You’re the greatest. You’re so funny.” Her grandmother also told her that her father wasn’t her real father and that her biological father’s sister was the actress Susan Saint James. Things shifted for Miller after learning that, and she realized, “Oh, I could do that. I could do what my grandmother said.”

Miller and McGinley spoke glowingly of each other as scene partners in “Shrinking,” where they play a husband and wife, Derek and Liz. “Shrinking” tells the story of Jimmy Laird (Jason Segel) who is grappling with grieving the loss of his wife while simultaneously balancing life as a father and therapist.

“Ted comes to play,” said Miller. “We’re both very prepared and [I also] trust him. I feel safe with him. He’s available to me in a way that I feel that he’s willing to go through difficult emotions with me and is there to catch me.”

Napa Valley StreamFest 2026 Uptown Theatre marquis. Napa Valley StreamFest photo

“Sometimes, when you’re on stage and you look at someone’s eyes, you’re seeing someone thinking, ‘Let’s see, where am I supposed to go? What’s my line or what am I?’ You never see that with Christa,” said McGinley. “You look in there and Liz is in there, and it’s beautiful, and that is a wonderful thing.”

Miller and McGinley also gave audience members a taste of the secret sauce happening on set with the cast.

“This cast is so special and unique,” McGinley said of the “Shrinking” cast, which also includes Hollywood icon Harrison Ford. “They are in the moment and it’s really exciting to sit in there and just watch. I can sit on the side and just watch a scene and not want to go home. It’s really special.”

“We have a lot of times that we’ll be in scenes either with the cast or with each other and all of a sudden, I’m in [a] scene and then they’re like, ‘Christa, it’s your line’ and everyone knows their lines on our show and I’m like, ‘Oh, I’m watching this show,’” Miller said, noting that she’ll lose herself in what’s going on around her even if it’s a scene that she’s in.

McGinley spoke about what he feels the positive aspects are of “Shrinking” being a part of the streaming era of television shows. He pointed out that sitcoms would only have a certain amount of time before they had to get to commercial breaks. He believes the streaming era has allowed more freedom to explore people’s lives and relationships in shows.

“We have this beautiful canvas to explore and extend a little more if you have to,” said McGinley. “I personally think that’s changed television. It’s changed the way you see things because it’s not such a formula anymore. It’s real life.”

McGinley also spoke about why he feels “Shrinking” has been a successful show.

“I think ‘Shrinking’ is successful because it is the mirror to who we all are,” McGinley said. “We’re all messed up. We’re all hurried. We all feel pain. We feel love. We feel all of these [things]. We have all of these questions and issues in our lives and they’re just showing us; here’s a group of people who are experiencing that and how they get through it…we are you and you are us.”

To learn more about StreamFest, visit napavalleystreamfest.com.