Courtesy: Wikimedia Creative Commons
On March 10, 2017, filmmakers, virtual reality developers, music mavens, entrepreneurs and enthusiasts will once again swarm to Austin, TX for the eight-day 2017 SXSW Conference & Festivals. With an updated schedule and 24 conference and festival tracks jam-packed into the “SXSWeek” from last year’s event, it’s no wonder that even SXSW veterans may find themselves overwhelmed by the many programming choices and compromises.
We spoke to a variety of presenting and attending film production, post-production, music and sound, and virtual reality companies to learn how they tackle the conference, avoid #FOMO and what they hope to accomplish during their visit to the city determined to “stay weird”:
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Butter Music & Sound – Annick Mayer, Executive Producer
Butter is a creative sonic collective committed to maximizing the impact and effectiveness of music and sound design for moving pictures and environments. Basically, we make noise.
1. What are your goals while attending SXSW?
To see as many shows as humanly possible…also to eat as many tacos as humanly possible!
2. (If you’ve attended before) What will you do differently this SXSW?
I’m going for less time this year, and just focusing on the music portion. I want to have the energy to see everything I want to see and not be dead come Friday/Saturday. Also hoping to go to more panels this year!
3. What experiences are you most looking forward to at SXSW?
I am looking forward to the feeling you get when you are blown away by an artist you have never heard before.
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Durable Goods – Hani Selim, EP/Managing Partner
Durable Goods is a creative production company known for partnering with agencies and brands to conquer the diverse challenges of an evolving media landscape.
1. What are your goals while attending SXSW?
Being that SXSW has culturally become the meeting place of interactive, film and music, all in one festival, I feel it this is the perfect platform to find opportunities where we can bridge these areas and use them effectively in the advertising space. Getting a pulse of the future trends of digital agencies is also a very important goal as well. I feel that ultimately it will be a great place to network and take in the culture of technology and how tech trends ultimately affect consumer behavior. Another goal is to build our brand through our various companies and find new ways to build the brand effectively.
2. (If you’ve attended before) What will you do differently this SXSW?
This is my first time, so it will be very interesting to see how this show differs from Lions, Ad Craft, AICP and others.
3. What experiences are you most looking forward to at SXSW?
I am very much looking forward to meeting influencers and experts in the various industries and I am really excited to see the pulse and energy of the events. Being this is the spring break for tech geeks, as well as a place to see some of the best indie bands perform in the world, I am excited to see the convergence of these polarities and how they all play together to make such an important footprint–once every year.
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Reel FX – Tiffany Kieran, Sr. Marketing and Outreach Manager, Director of Social Good
Based out of Dallas, Texas, Reel FX has over 22 years of experience as an award-winning one-stop studio for the creation of animated content including films, special attraction/live venue projects, commercials, and interactive projects for companies like Fox, Warner Bros., DreamWorks Animation and Universal Studios.
1. What are your goals while attending SXSW?
We have two amazing panels and films in official selection, so we are excited to connect with our incredible panelists, partners at Oculus VR for Good, and the amazing filmmakers who will be in the Inaugural Virtual Cinema. We partnered with Oculus VR for Good and eight of the films made official selection for Virtual Cinema.
We are excited to share our recent Cinematic VR, like our Power Rangers: Zords Rising on our panel Wrapped up in the Big Screen. Chuck Peil, our Head of Business Development, is hosting with panelists Christine Cattano from Framestore, Daniel Englehardt from Lionsgate and Ted Schilowitz from 20th Century Fox. We also have a panel Nonprofits get the Keys to the VR Kingdom, hosted by Oculus VR for Good Exec Producer Lauren Burmaster, with our Reel FX director Elliot Dillman, VRFG director Shannon Carroll and VRFG mentor/Founder of Variable Labs Barry Pousman.
2. (If you’ve attended before) What will you do differently this SXSW?
This year we have a lot more to cover with two panels and eight films in official selection so I think we are really going to learn to hustle and enjoy a big impact and footprint.
3. What experiences are you most looking forward to at SXSW?
VR for Good and eight of the films made official selection for Virtual Cinema. We are really proud of this partnership, loved working with the amazingly talented filmmakers, non-profits, mentors and Oculus from Facebook crews.
We are excited for the social change promoted by these films addressing topics from ocean preservation to transformational music programs for kids to survivors of human trafficking. These films include our director Elliot Dillman’s film In Harmony edited by Chris Collins and Jayisha Patel’s Notes to My Father edited by Quan Tran.
We also provided post for Amor de Abuela by Jessie Hughes, Out of the Blue by Sophie Ansel, Rise Above by Ben Ross, See Beyond Labels by Sarah Hill, Use Your Imagination by Roberto Driliea and Women on the Move by Shannon Carroll. We can’t wait to see the reactions from SXSW attendees, especially after the incredible reception for the VRFG premiere at the Oculus House during Sundance.
We love the energy of SXSW and that it now embraces such a wide spectrum of creative work that relates to our studio missions. It’s not just a film, interactive and music fest – there’s also social good, sports, comedy, gaming and so much more and that relates perfectly with the cross sections of work we also cover in our film, virtual reality and commercial projects. It’s an incredible setting to connect with industry clients, friends and fans.
We are also really looking forward to the infectiously happy Austin scene, weather and the amazing tacos.
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Rodeo Show – Raphael Leopold, Founder/Executive Producer
We are Rodeo Show, a scalable content development and production company driven by the dynamic landscape of both traditional and new media.
1. What are your goals while attending SXSW?
To get a greater feel for how to increase interactivity in the advertising space, using amazing tech and brainstorming disrupting ideas. Now that virtual tech is merging with commercial content, like in the Fiat 360 video we produced for Chrysler working with the ad agency Society, which launched on Facebook and YouTube, it’s becoming clear we need to focus on how to bring other brand stories to life in a similar colorful fashion. We’re always seeking ways to break down production barriers with our team.
2. (If you’ve attended before) What will you do differently this SXSW?
This is my first time attending SXSW–I plan to prioritize tracks and panels for Rodeo Show, meet as many people and friends as possible, try amazing food, and get out and thrive in Austin. I love the city and can’t wait to be surrounded by so many creative innovators in such an eclectic environment.
3. What experiences are you most looking forward to at SXSW?
I’m excited for the energy and drive of the event. SXSW is legendary for its half-conference, half-music festival feel, and any place I can make lasting connections is an excellent experience for me–especially in a place as awesome as Austin. We plan to tack on plenty of incredible sight-seeing opportunities in between festival tracks.
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Start VR – Kain Tietzel, CEO/Co-Founder
Start VR is a dedicated virtual reality content and production studio devoted to the creation of beautiful and immersive virtual reality experiences.
1. What are your goals while attending SXSW?
Our goals are to find new collaborations to build on our slate of original VR projects, whether that be brands, publishers, investors, technology or creative partners. We also wish to meet/network with as many of our competitors and industry partners as possible, to gain new insights into what is happening in the market and what is the consensus is for the future.
…and to see and be seen.
2. (If you’ve attended before) What will you do differently this SXSW?
It’s been a few years since I last attended SXSW, but I still have clear memories of what I would do differently the next time:
- Plan meetings well in advance. This time I plan to build a hit-list of everyone and everything that I want to see and will arrange a time to meet well in advance.
- Have a plan B. There are a lot of talks, presentations and panels to see at SXSW, and unless you start queuing at least 30-60 minutes in advance you probably won’t get in. Having a Plan B is essential.
- Drop into more random events. Most of us live our professional lives in an echo chamber of ideas and opinions. On the few occasions that I dropped into random talks or events, I ended up having the best conversations and creative inspiration. I plan to attend more off-industry events and talks.
3. What experiences are you most looking forward to at SXSW?
There’s nothing like SXSW in Australia–it’s a unique conference that feels like a mix of Sundance, Lollapalooza with the seedy business undercurrent of a Salesforce conference (no offence intended to Salesforce). So it’s the scale, chaos, random events, food trucks, long nights and life-long friendships that I most look forward to, in addition to the great business opportunities.
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Zoic Studios – Tim McBride, CFO/COO
“Visual Evolution” is our mission- to evolve the story, art, and technology of the moving image, and through this evolution, broaden the audience for moving images.
1. What are your goals while attending SXSW?
1) Watch two SXSW talks featuring Zoic executives Loni Peristere (my partner); Saker Klippsten (CTO); Matt Thunell (EVP); and Sarah McGee (Head of Pipeline).
2) Connect with interesting, smart people. Make some new friends.
3) Learn.
2. (If you’ve attended before) What will you do differently this SXSW?
Organize less, “stumble upon” more, and wear comfortable shoes and stock up on healthy snacks.
3. What experiences are you most looking forward to at SXSW?
MEET Smart People. LISTEN to mind blowing talks. HEAR amazing music. TASTE sumptuous food.
SXSW will take place from March 10-18, 2017 in Austin, TX. Read more about the conference and attendance information HERE.