Mindy Kaling, the writer, actress and producer best known for the acclaimed and groundbreaking TV comedy series The Office and The Mindy Project, will be celebrated on the opening night of the second annual Newport Beach TV Fest, The Hollywood Reporter can exclusively report.
The festivities will kick off at 7 p.m. on Thursday, June 4, at the Lido Theater in Newport Beach, when Kaling records an hourlong career-retrospective conversation with yours truly for subsequent airing on The Hollywood Reporter‘s Awards Chatter podcast. Immediately afterward, she will be presented with the fest’s Artist of Distinction Award in recognition of her body of work including two current TV comedy series that she created, writes and produces: Netflix’s Running Point, the second season of which dropped on April 23, and Hulu’s Not Suitable for Work, the first season of which will premiere on June 2.
“Mindy Kaling is one of the most talented people working in television today,” Gregg Schwenk, the CEO and executive director of the Newport Beach TV Fest, said in a statement. “With this newest season of Running Point, she has again delivered one of Netflix’s sharpest and funniest shows, a comedy that belongs squarely in the awards race. We are thrilled to open this year’s TV Fest celebrating her extraordinary career alongside The Hollywood Reporter.”
Widely regarded as one of the most gifted creative voices of her generation, Kaling is an Emmy-nominated writer, Tony-winning producer and New York Times bestselling author who has been named one of TIME’s 100 most influential people in the world, honored with the Producers Guild of America’s Norman Lear Achievement Award in Television and awarded the National Medal of Arts by former president Joe Biden. Her production shingle, Kaling International, was named one of TIME’s 100 most influential companies.
At 24, she joined the writing staff of NBC’s The Office as the only woman and youngest writer on the team, and ultimately penned more episodes than any other writer over eight seasons. She also earned an Emmy nom for writing, marking the first time a woman of color had been recognized in any writing category. She went on to create and star in The Mindy Project, which ran on Fox and then Hulu for a combined six seasons; created Netflix’s Never Have I Ever, which reached 40 million households in its first four weeks; and co-created The Sex Lives of College Girls, the most-watched comedy premiere on Max in 2021. She has found continued success with Running Point, which debuted as the #1 TV show in the U.S. and surpassed a billion minutes viewed in its first week.
The Newport Beach TV Fest, a four-day celebration of television artistry, will run June 4-7, and will also include another live recording of Awards Chatter: on closing night, June 7, Seth MacFarlane will tape the pod en route to collecting the fest’s Maverick Award.
Other 2026 festival honorees will include Andy Cohen (Creative Impact Award); Sebastian Maniscalco (Standup Comedy Special of the Year); Landman stars Billy Bob Thornton, Ali Larter, Andy Garcia and Michelle Randolph (Outstanding Drama Ensemble Award); and Shrinking stars Jason Segel, Christa Miller, Jessica Williams, Michael Urie, Luke Tennie, Lukita Maxwell and Ted McGinley (Outstanding Comedy Ensemble Award), among others.
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