DENVER — Actor Jocko Sims and Dr. Nia Schwann Mitchell joined forces at SeriesFest: Season 10, an annual TV festival in Denver to participate in a panel on the importance of Black doctors.

The event included a screening of the TV show “New Amsterdam” followed by a panel discussion on representation in medicine on the big screen and in real life medical settings.

Sims, who played Dr. Floyd Reynolds on the show “New Amsterdam,” said the role taught him about the impact he can have on future generations who watch the show and see a Black man playing the role of a doctor.

“Being on New Amsterdam, I had parents reach out to me to say, ‘Thank you for the role that you’ve played… My Black son or daughter now want to be doctors because of Dr. Reynolds.’ And that was very inspirational,” Sims said. “I think it was about that time where I started to realize, well, this show and this role that I have is making a greater impact than I realized. And I started to look and I started to learn about the disparities in health care.”

Sims said those disparities recently hit close to home.

Randi Kleiner felt like an 8-year-old at her birthday party as she fretted inside the Sie FilmCenter. It was 2015, the opening year of the SeriesFest TV festival and, as with a birthday party, there was no guarantee people were going to show up.

” ‘Is anyone actually coming?’ ” the festival co-creator recalled wondering as she unlocked the doors at the theater on East Colfax Avenue. “I was anxious.”

Not only did people show up that first year, they’ve also continued to blow past her expectations. Now in its 10th year, the nonprofit SeriesFest draws more than 12,000 attendees annually and commands a $2.7 million budget. Kleiner expects attendance to grow by another 2,000 this year, based on current ticket sales for the public event.

SERIESFEST REVEALS ADDITIONAL EVENTS FOR SEASON 10 LINEUP FEATURING DAYMOND JOHN, LINDA POWELL, SHARI BELAFONTE, JODI LONG AND KICK GURRY, SCREENINGS FROM APPLE TV+, PEACOCK AND SYFY, PLUS MARK DUPLASS HONORED WITH ‘EXCELLENCE IN ACTING’ AWARD

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SeriesFest, the esteemed international festival and non-profit organization dedicated to championing emerging and underrepresented voices in episodic storytelling, today announced the 45 titles from all over the world participating in the International Independent Pilot Competition at SeriesFest: Season 10.