There are 94 naturally occurring elements, from hydrogen to plutonium. Their stories reveal the intimate details of our lives, our relationships with our natural resources, and the patterns of our economies.
94 Element…
Intermediate
Presenters
Angus Keith, Graham Holt, Mike Paterson, Sarah George
It's every filmmakers end goal to get their project out in front of as many eyes as possible and in an age where distribution is more DIY and in their hands than ever, how are studios and film distributors evolving along…
Intermediate
Presenters
Arianna Bocco, Dan Guando, James Shapiro, Peter Van Steemburg, Bret Berg
Hear first hand from previous SXSW filmmakers, producers and distributors about their journey with films from festivals and beyond. From fielding offers, to signing and making deals, to getting projects out there for the…
Beginner
Presenters
Mac McLean, Matthew A Cherry, Nicolas Gonda, Aaron Hillis
Kick off SXSW Film right on day one by getting insider tips, strategies and advice you can use to maximize your time at the film fest, straight from some of today’s most influential film pundits. Offering up a “sneak pr…
Beginner
Presenters
Brian Salisbury, Dana Harris, Eugene Hernandez, Jen Yamato, Dave Karger
A basic foundation of animation is story but in an industry where the technology is constantly evolving, how are animation professionals bringing characters and story worlds to life? Join the discussion with those workin…
Intermediate
Presenters
Darcy Prendergast, Ryan Quincy, Saschka Unseld, John Bernstein
Armed Response is an action series about a SWAT team battling a Mexican cartel at the Port of Long Beach. The series is told from the POV of helmet and security cameras. The idea is to combine a video game aesthetic with…
Advanced
Presenters
Greg Siegel, Justin Lutsky, Matt Michnovetz, Thomas Bannister
Catch an exclusive sneak peek of the first episode of Bates Motel, the thrilling new series from A&E starring Vera Farmiga and Freddie Highmore. The contemporary prequel to the genre-defining film “Psycho,” promises to g…
This presentation by BBC reporter and video jouranlist Matt Danzico will discuss the neurological and evolutionary underpinnings of storytelling, i.e. what parts of the brain are affected when a narrative is told and why…
A nexus of discovery and collaborative energy, SXSW Film kicks off in high gear with their annual Beginner's Guide. Answering questions like how do I get around Austin during the fest? When should I arrive to get into my…
Beginner
Presenters
David Modigliani, Jette Kernion, Kimberley Jones, Yen Tan, Agnes Varnum
From visionary director Harmony Korine, comes a bold new vision of the seasonal American ritual known as spring break. Korine, joined by his cast, will discuss what it was to film amidst real-life revelers and create one…
Beginner
Presenters
Ashley Benson, Harmony Korine, Rachel Korine, Selena Gomez, Eric Kohn
For 48 hours, a fan video for the Miami band Jacuzzi Boys took the internet by storm. The video featuring singing vaginas, used as puppets and dressed like various pop icons, amassed almost 700,000 views on YouTube while…
On August 30th, 2012 over 10,000 people gathered at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis for the first Internet Cat Video Festival (#catvidfest). What began as a social experiment testing the boundaries of online communi…
InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Capital Ballroom
Monday, March 11
11:00AM -12:00PM
Video is a powerful way to tell and share stories. Organizations around the globe are finding innovative ways to use collaborative video storytelling to make a difference in the world. With the explosion of online video …
This latest TV season brought us one woman impersonating an underage hooker in bed (Girls) and another woman smashing her date's head into a car window (Louis C.K.). These were not trashy housewives or the recently arres…
Intermediate
Presenters
Anna Camp, David Haglund, Noreen Malone, Sarah Shapiro, Alyssa Rosenberg
We know that Comedy and the internet go hand in hand but is there more to this marriage than meets the eye?
What's really behind the success of Funny or Die? , College Humor, and Cracked?
Do Reddit, Tumblr, Facebook an…
Intermediate
Presenters
Alf LaMont, Heather Knight, Joel Warner, Peter McGraw
I describe myself as a web-friendly director. I studied filmmaking and self-taught myself programming. In the last years, I directed traditional films (INNI and MIROIR NOIR), developed web sites and created projects that…
In the media age, the intersection between film critics and the film industry has never been more vocal. Opinions are given, read at a heightened rate and can have a hand in making or breaking the success of a project. J…
Intermediate
Presenters
Marian Koltai-Levine, Melissa Hanson, Scott Weinberg, Simon Barrett, Matt Singer
Documentaries have never been more influential. So no surprise that they are increasingly targeted-- both before and after their making-- by subjects who don't like their revelations.
Whether you’re facing big corpora…
Intermediate
Presenters
Michael Donaldson, Nonso Christian Ugbode, Parker Higgins, Suzan Beraza, Patricia Aufderheide
Steve Jobs was famously quoted as saying “You watch television to turn your brain off and you work on your computer when you want to turn your brain on.” The rapidly evolving field of Social TV is turning the belief that…
Advanced
Presenters
David Beck, Hermione Way, Jason Hoch, Jesse Redniss
When Intellectual Property (IP) and Copyright laws were created, content was static – the idea of a world filled with shares, posts, pins and tweets was inconceivable. Today, anyone can be a content creator, making the w…
Intermediate
Presenters
Christian Castle, Jeff Roberts, Josh Wattles, Offir Gutelzon, Bill Rosenblatt
When Louis C.K. released his comedy special "Live at the Beacon Theater" by himself on his website for $5, it was little more than a cautiously optimistic experiment. In just 12 days, it reaped more than $1 million. Alre…
Today, filmmakers have the unprecedented ability to utilize their greatest resource - their community.
Crowdfunding and community-building platforms like Kickstarter and Seed & Spark are giving filmmakers a unique aven…
Intermediate
Presenters
Chris Horton, Daniel Parnes, Emily Best, Matt Adams
InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Capital Ballroom
Saturday, March 9
11:00AM -12:00PM
With the increase and development of mobile technology and digital platforms allowing anyone with a smart phone the ability to point, shoot and share - filmmaking is at the most accessible point it's ever been. Content c…
Beginner
Presenters
Andrea Allen, Hooman Khalili, Pat Gilles, Peter Ferris
How do you tell the story of a PLACE? New technologies like geo-tagging, location-aware devices, interactive video and augmented reality are being combined with traditional storytelling methods like documentary film and …
Intermediate
Presenters
Danny Harris, Liz Nord, Michel Reilhac, Mike Knowlton
After the Tampa Bay Times won a Pulitzer Prize for PolitiFact, its groundbreaking fact-checking operation, other newspapers wanted to get in the game and start their own PolitiFact sites. Editor Bill Adair had to figure …
Moderated by Richard Lorber, CEO & President of Kino Lorber, he will explain the fragmented digital landscape and talk about the platforms that deliver audiences and money. He will outline the challenges to entry, the ch…
Intermediate
Presenters
Eric Stein, Melanie Miller, Nick Savva, Steven Beckman, Richard Lorber
Director of post production at CollegeHumor.com Michael Schaubach and composer Cheryl B. Engelhardt will examine the process of creating online hits like "The Fresh Prince of Downton Abbey" and "Katy Perry Puppet Sex" as…
Eric Cheng has been exploring the limits of photography as a world-renowned underwater photographer and founder of WetPixel.com, traveling hundreds of feet underwater to capture rare and beautiful creatures. As the Dire…
Ready to take your entertainment startup to the next level? You’ll probably need some capital to do so. Learn the tricks to getting investment from top venture capitalists and angel investors with experience funding ente…
Intermediate
Presenters
Dana Settle, Matt Mazzeo, Patrick Chung, Thomas McInerney, Christina Chaey
The current studio and independent film distribution systems don't serve the evolving desires of a modern audience. This panel will discuss current and proposed alternatives that solve the gap between what audiences want…
Intermediate
Presenters
Adam Klaff, David Hayes, Josh Braun, Paul Levering, Keith Calder
Once upon a time -- 2010, say -- building a TV section was easy. Figure out the 10 TV shows your readers like the best; hire a bunch of kids and pay them a hundred bucks to write recaps of those shows; watch the traffic …
Advanced
Presenters
Chris Rovzar, Jason Forbes, Stephanie Goodman, Willa Paskin, Dan Kois
Explore what the future holds for content creators and the distribution of video with leaders and talent at the forefront of the digital revolution. Investigate how you create a model that thrives and what advice can be …
What does a major Hollywood studio look for in a technology provider?
As senior digital executives at Warner Bros. Entertainment, Hiram Norman and Bob Mohler get hundreds of queries per year from B2B technology providers…
Building a web site doesn't guarantee that it will automatically be loved by search engines. Having some SEO (search engine optimization) savvy can be a big help. But SEO doesn't mean terrible design or black-magic trick…
I would like to talk about how to program for the convergence of the Internet and television. In 5 years both mediums will be obsolete. The box we have at home -- call it Intervision -- will service our appetite for en…
Social media has had a dramatic impact on how we watch television, with Twitter leading the way for a social TV revolution. Social television - the term used to describe the symbiotic relationship between social media an…
Bringing audiences inside the literal arena, sports filmmaking offers a unique inside look at the inherently relatable themes of triumph, tragedy, adversity and glory that go hand in hand with sports, where opponents are…
Intermediate
Presenters
Connor Schell, Ken Rodgers, Ross Greenburg, Michael Hogan
Social media and the 24-hour news cycle have pushed the water cooler conversation into hyper-drive. It’s happening around the clock with instantaneous reactions from professional critics and their armchair counterparts a…
As Ben Decker once said, "The Internet is not just another TV pipe." And that is why, particularly in the documentary genre, we've seen innovative filmmakers, journalists and other digital pioneers exploring the web and …
What happens when big ambition meets limited budgets? A lot, as it turns out. Listen in as Josh Ruben and Vincent Peone (CollegeHumor's resident director/DP team) take us through their experiences as professional filmmak…
InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Capital Ballroom
Tuesday, March 12
11:00AM -12:00PM
What are the biggest changes disrupting filmmaking today? From equipment to accessories to apps, the explosion and subsequent interweaving of film and technology is changing the filmmaking landscape at a frenetic pace. J…
Noah Robischon, executive editor of Fast Company, will moderate this in-depth discussion with seven-time entrepreneur Anthony Wood. Best known as the founder and CEO of Roku, which was just named one of the "50 Most Inno…
Cloud Chamber is a premium online mystery launching this spring. It aims to raise the bar of online fiction with international stars, feature film production values and a deep understanding of social media and gaming. Bu…
Nev Schulman is the subject of the acclaimed documentary CATFISH and host of MTV’s CATFISH: THE TV SHOW. In a world of constant digital connection, social networks have made communicating easier while complicating the…
The Internet has grown exponentially throughout the years. It has gone from a place that no one understood to a world that no one can take their eyes off of. The Internet has evolved from a place to get your news, pay yo…
MIT has launched a documentary lab. Why? Because at this moment of media change, the opportunities for documentarians have never been greater. Yet it is also a time of confusion, with narrative structures, technologies, …
Intermediate
Presenters
Chris Boebel, Jesse Shapins, Katie Edgerton, Sarah Wolozin
What's the next step after directing one of the biggest films of the year? Gather some of your favorite actor friends in your home to film a contemporary take on a Shakespeare classic! Directly following the SXSW US Prem…
Intermediate
Presenters
Alexis Denisof, Amy Acker, Clark Gregg, Joss Whedon, Nathan Fillion, Adam B Vary
This panel will discuss the evolution of music into a source of finance for independent film. Filmmakers rarely raise money from one source; debt, equity, grants, tax credits, rebates, and fan funding are well known sou…
Intermediate
Presenters
David Kaplan, Goetz Grossman, Jennifer Dana, Mike Ventimiglia, John Sloss
No matter how you do the math, there’s no ROI on a video that doesn’t get any views. So you just have to make your video go ‘viral’, right? But counting on a video to go viral effortlessly is not so different from planni…
Advanced
Presenters
Bettina Hein, Eduardo Tobon, Kevin Doohan, Rob Ciampa
Gone is the golden age of movie trailers and posters. Social media are the new tools for film promotion. Vanity Fair’s Senior West Coast Editor Krista Smith talks with those who have championed Twitter, Tumblr and beyond…
Intermediate
Presenters
Jason Janego, Matt Jacobson, Natalie Bruss, Olivia Wilde, Krista Smith
Social influencers are starting to get involved in the startup ecosystem with the expectation that they will use their influence to attract new investors, users and revenue. This panel will discuss the benefits of gettin…
Beginner
Presenters
Chris Kantrowitz, Dhani Jones, Sophia Bush, Walter Delph, Adam Lilling
The entertainment business is evolving faster than ever, with new methods of funding, production, distribution, viewing and sharing content entering the market regularly. Learn how startups can disrupt the industry from …
Beginner
Presenters
Casey Pugh, Franklin Leonard, Pablo Gonzalez, Stephan Paternot, Adam Lilling
Short films can allow filmmakers to build a name for themselves and flesh out directorial styles prior to moving onto feature length projects. Join filmmakers who started in shorts and discover how they turned heads enou…
Intermediate
Presenters
Calvin Lee Reeder, Hannah Fidell, Kyle Henry, Neil Miller
Making films is tough wherever you are, but what are the challenges of shooting in another country? How do you wrangle the added difficulties of permits, travel, customs and extra cost, alongside the usual logistical puz…
Today, more than 80 percent of time spent with mobile media happens via apps. How do you design a best in class mobile experience when the primary use case is for the ears?
This interactive session will put top app dev…
This panel discussion springs from the newly released interactive documentary 48 Hour Games which takes place during the Nordic Game Jam, where teams are followed through their creative process, as they struggle to creat…
The long- running debate about the power of film to effect real change in the world has 'jumped the shark' through the commercial and results-oriented success of numerous documentary and narrative films. From the widespr…
So you went to film school but you're not a filmmaker - now what? Hear from 5 young(ish) film nerds who navigated their way to interesting positions at interesting companies and organizations, working in criticism, progr…
Beginner
Presenters
Dan Schoenbrun, Farihah Zaman, Kate Hurwitz, Nicholas Kemp, Sara Kiener
Through advances in artificial intelligence and data science, Web sites and apps are evolving. There is a new breed of “robot” applications focused entirely on working on our behalf. Search robots like Siri turn mobile d…
At a time when many are pursuing new approaches to storytelling that involve non-linear narratives, interactivity, and the influences of gaming, an unlikely but exciting format is attracting viewers and filmmakers alike:…
Intermediate
Presenters
Jeremy Boxer, Nirvan Mullick, Ted Hope, Beth Levison
The first wave of web was text. Remember Julie Powell's famous food blog -- and how it had no pictures? Along came a more visual web soon after, and now, anyone can be a visual curator with the help of Pinterest. But the…
Beginner
Presenters
Camille Styles, Christian Remde, Jillian St Charles
InterContinental Stephen F. Austin Capital Ballroom
Sunday, March 10
11:00AM -12:00PM
If a picture is worth a thousand words, what is a video worth? With the rise of video-enabled smart phones and social media distribution channels available for sharing with a single click, when do we reach the tipping p…
Beginner
Presenters
Greg Kostello, John Biggs, Jostein Svendsen, Oren Boiman, Alexia Tsotsis
Official websites are now a major player in the sporting landscape. Sports teams now see themselves as media organizations – offering news that competes with more traditional outlets such as print and television. (And th…
Gain insights into founding and funding an entertainment startup from this case-study style session focusing on indie film distributor and digital pioneer SnagFilms. Dana Harris, the editor-in-chief of IndieWIRE, will mo…
Beginner
Presenters
Harry Weller, Rick Allen, Sam Landman, Marc Schiller
Want to get your product or service in front of the taste makers and investors at SXSW Film’s Startup Alley? Designed for bootstrapping startups and geared towards SXSW registrants with short attention spans, Fastball Sp…
It's never been easier for people to independently make and share their creative work. With the rise of Kickstarter and other methods, the financing of creative works is now in the hands of creators too. Kickstarter cofo…
Using real world examples from a sampling of interactive web-based documentaries, the panel will discuss the specific “Cinematic” and ”Digimatic” devices that makers of interactive documentary are employing to engage the…
Advanced
Presenters
Bart Marable, Florian Thalhofer, Karen Kocher, Laura Dixon
The differences between producing work in a studio vs. independent setting can be immense. Hear first hand from producers who have had experience navigating projects through both systems - from the benefits to drawbacks …
In the constantly evolving landscape of independent film, sustaining a career can be a tricky process - from choosing the right projects and the right people to work with to ensuring your voice is heard above an ever inc…
Beginner
Presenters
Alex Karpovsky, Amy Seimetz, Bryan Poyser, Craig Zobel, Kat Candler, Megan Gilbride
In this special event, Op-Docs series producer and curator Jason Spingarn-Koff presents a selection of recent works and a conversation with contributing filmmakers, including SXSW directors Penny Lane and Brian Frye. Lau…
Intermediate
Presenters
Brian Frye, Katerina Cizek, Penny Lane, Simon Ennis, Jason Spingarn-Koff
There is a national conversation happening around movie violence -- from parents groups to politicians, everyone has a view about appropriate content in film. SXSW presents a discussion for filmmakers about the ratings …
Intermediate
Presenters
Joan Graves, Scott Weinberg, Travis Stevens, Vincenzo Natali, Alyssa Rosenberg
Modern exhibition for low-budget, independent artists is returning to the “roadshow” model-- with artists like Don Hertzfeldt and film's like Everything is Terrible touring almost the way a band would for a new album: bo…
Intermediate
Presenters
Dimitri Simakis, Don Hertzfeldt, Lars Nilsen, Hadrian Belove
IFC creates and champions authentic, original comedies that are “Always On. Slightly Off” including the hit series Portlandia, the fan favorite Comedy Bang! Bang! and the upcoming new original Maron. The network is also …
Intermediate
Presenters
Chris Gethard, Fred Armisen, Marc Maron, Scott Aukerman
More and more films, whether documentary or narrative, are turning to found and archival footage to clarify a point, heighten a storyline and more. Out of the gate when considering using archival footage, the first quest…
Intermediate
Presenters
Brian Frye, Eva Orner, Josh Johnson, Rick Prelinger, Elizabeth Hansen
In the age of constantly evolving news, newsrooms are confronted by the dilemma of how to archive their content for posterity. This is especially true in the case of breaking news as the stories change rapidly — both whe…
Spend 90 amazing minutes in the company of Academy Award-nominated animator and self-distribution pioneer Don Hertzfeldt, who has seamlessly combined his three renowned shorts — Everything Will Be OK (2006), I Am So Prou…
Food-related filmmaking on the web is exploding and never has the phrase, "You eat first with your eyes" been more relevant. As people are more and more conscious about what they are putting into their bodies - restauran…
Beginner
Presenters
Aaron Franklin, Alex Kakoyiannis, Christian Remde, Sara Robertson
A catchy tagline isn’t enough in today’s social media world. With image-driven networks like Tumblr and Instagram taking center stage, collaborative storytelling is more important than ever. In order to leverage your bra…
Intermediate
Presenters
Daniel Bornstein, Eric Korsh, Katrina Craigwell, Peter Orlowsky, Mark Borden
You’re a group of filmmakers in your 20s and want to make a live-action series about the last panda in a post-apocalyptic Wasteland. In your small Australian city, there’s no way this will be funded, but you know your au…
