SXSW Update

Brene Brown and Stephen Colbert among all-stars just added to SXSW 2020

Brene Brown is just one of the new additions to the SXSW lineup.

Photo courtesy of The University of Texas

Two months from opening day, and SXSW is still rolling out all-star additions to its programming. On January 13, the Austin festival announced the addition of three keynotes and dozens of new featured speakers to the 2020 lineup.

Joining this year's notable list of keynotes are award-winning immersive artist, professor, and former United Nations diplomat Gabo Arora (Convergence); Grammy Award-winning musician, producer, and DJ Diplo (Music); and Emerson Collective founder and president Laurene Powell Jobs (Convergence).

The three join previously announced Erin Lee Carr (Film), Reggie Fils-Aimé (Convergence), Kim Gordon (Music), Roger Waters (Music), and Whitney Wolfe Herd and Jon Korngold with Gayle King (Interactive).

Also on the docket are 24 new featured sessions, including newly announced speakers like Dr. Brene Brown, who joins Queer Eye's Jonathan Van Ness for a conversation about vulnerability. Based on her viral Ted Talk on the same subject, expect this to be one of the festival's buzziest sessions.

On the tech side, highlights include Twitter co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey in conversation with Axios business editor Dan Primack; NSA Director of Cybersecurity Anne Neuberger with Wired editor in chief Nicholas Thompson;and conversations with Amazon Chief Technology Officer Dr. Werner Vogels and Reddit Chief Operating Officer Jen Wong.

Late-night will certainly be represented, with both Samantha Bee and Stephen Colbert in attendance. And investor/author Tim Ferriss will host neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author Sam Harris for a live version of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, during which they will "discuss dangerous ideas, meditation, psychedelics, and more," according to a release.

SXSW returns to Austin March 13-22 and badges, including Platinum, Film, Interactive, and Music, are on sale now. For more information and to purchase a badge, go here. A full list of this year's speakers, keynote addresses, bands, films, and more can be found here.

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SXSW 2020

Amazon Prime sets premiere date to stream SXSW 2020 films for free

Photo by Charlie L Harper III

Amazon Prime begins screening SXSW films on April 27.

SXSW is largely a place of discovery, but for technology companies and creatives, it provides a massive platform to get in front of new audiences. In the case of filmmakers, it's an opportunity to debut their work and — fingers crossed — score distribution deals. After the 2020 event was canceled due to COVID-19 concerns, these creators and creatives were left without an avenue to showcase their work and audiences without the opportunity to see it.

In early April, Amazon Prime provided one of the only pieces of good news in the wake of this year's cancellation: it will screen the festival's films — for free.

Prime Video presents the SXSW 2020 Film Festival Collection launches on Monday, April 27, through Wednesday, May 6, with 39 films ranging from narrative and documentary features to shorts and episodic shows. All titles will be available for free for both Prime members and non-members.

Each film would have been screened during SXSW Film, the movie portion of the 10-day mega-festival. In an earlier release, SXSW said every filmmaker would be invited to take part in the Prime festival, but it was not required. An earlier release noted that filmmakers would receive an undisclosed screening fee to participate. On April 9, the Hollywood Reporter said it had reviewed the fee documents given to filmmakers, but it was unclear what the compensation would be.

Writes THR, "The compensation would be delivered after the projects complete the 10-day run on the service. But it is was unclear to filmmakers what type of compensation that 'screening fee' would be, which was troubling for filmmakers that were trying to accurately weigh the possible financial risk."

"We understand every film has its own strategy and we know this opportunity may not make sense for every filmmaker. However, for those who want to share their stories right now and with as many people as possible, we’re excited to provide them this platform,” said Jennifer Salke, head of Amazon Studios, in an April 21 release.

Along with the titles, nonprofit Free the Work is curating Q&As and online panels to accompany the collection, bringing a bit of that South By spirit to the online streaming platform.

"Free the Work's mission is to find new pathways to the discovery of underrepresented creators and we're excited to help celebrate, spotlight, and provide a platform for the voices of these talented filmmakers," said founder and filmmaker Alma Har’e of the organization's part in the collection.

To take part, users must create a free Amazon account and can stream the films through a browser or download the Prime app to watch on personal devices and smart TVs. See a full list of participating titles here, and start planning your very own SXSW Film festival.

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