SXSW 2016 Sets Featured Sessions, First Wave Of Panels

With five months to go still before the annual descent of throngs of music, technology and film fans upon Austin, the South By Southwest Film Festival has announced featured sessions and the first wave of panels for the 2016 event. Among them, Jake Gyllenhaal and Producer Sarah Green will appear in featured conversations, Sam Esmail, Rami Malek and Christian Slater are returning for a discussion of Mr. Robot, and Kerry Washington will be on hand for a panel called “The New Rules Of Social Stardom” as part of the “Future of Entertainment” series of panels.

SXSW 2016 has been organized into four tracks: “Influencers”, “Creating Your
Content”, “Finding Your Audience”, and “What’s Next”. Formats for each session range from one-on-one mentor sessions to hands-on workshops to panels with up to four industry insiders. In addition, the Convergence Programming series of events, collaboratively curated by Interactive, Film and Music, will be open to badge holders from SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, and SXSW Music.

The festival features nine days of film screenings, along with 200 presentations including keynotes, conversations, panels, workshops, mentor sessions, and more. The SXSW Film Festival 2016 takes place in Austin March 11-19; SXSW Interactive is March 11-15; and SXSW Music is March 15-20. The 2016 Film Keynote Speakers and the complete festival lineup will be announced in the coming months. Check out today’s SXSW panel line-up reveal below.

INFLUENCERS

The Art of Starting From Nothing – presented by Austin-based comedian Zach Anner.

A Conversation with Jake Gyllenhaal

A Conversation with Sarah Green

CREATING YOUR CONTENT

360 Degree Editing
(Organized by: Kyle Henry/Northwestern University School of Law)

Across the Border: Finding International Partners
(Organized by: Elizabeth Sheldon/Kino Lorber Inc)

Deliverables Today
(Organized by: Jason Tobias/Broad Green Pictures)

Documentary to DocuSeries and Beyond
(Organized by: Elsa Ramo/Ramo Law)

Everything You Need: Producer Bootcamp for Digital
(Organized by: Julie Gomez/Upright Citizens Brigade Theater)

FairUse-Docs & Fiction Films-Everybody is Welcome!
(Organized by: Michael Donaldson/Donaldson & Callif LLP)

How To Make (The Most Of) Your Music Budget
(Organized by: Amanda Thomas/Neophonic Music & Media)

Latino Filmmaker Meetup & Quick Pitch
(Organized by: Liz Arreaga/Mercury Mambo)

The Making Of: How to Create iTunes Extras
(Organized by: Brian Ellis/Apple)

Peace Officer: A Character Film Driven by Issues
(Organized by: Scott Christopherson)

Round Tables: Legal
(Organized by: Erik Metzger/Intel Corporation)

US-Europe Co-Prods Grow Without Treaty!
(Organized by: Holger Carlsson/Little W Productions USA)

FINDING YOUR AUDIENCE

1 Month and a Small Wad of Cash: Speed Marketing
(Organized by: Tiffany Pritchard / StudioCanal UK)

Con Man: The Fan Revolt 13 Years in the Making
(Organized by: Drew Lewis / Wunderman)

How Crowdfunding Can Screw Your Distribution Plan
(Organized by: Missy Laney / Sundance Institute)

Humanity Rising: Storytelling to End Injustice
(Organized by: Christina Hollenback / Televised Revolution)

New Dealmakers Talk New Distribution
(Organized by: Zac Bright / Preferred Content)

Theatrical + Festival DIY Power Combo
(Organized by: Bryan Glick / The Film Collaborative)

WHAT’S NEXT

Enter the Void
(Organized by: David Kaplan / Animal Kingdom)

A Filmmaker’s Exploration of Outer Space
(Organized by: Allison Hirata / IMAX Corporation)

New Partnerships in Digital Storytelling
(Organized by: Jennifer Samani / ITVS Interactive)

Through Our Eyes: Female Filmmakers Tell All
(Organized by: Catherine Eaton / Corsetless Productions)

Underage@SXSW: No Parties? No Problem!
(Organized by: Jessikha Block / PhoneFlip Productions)

Wake Up Streaming: Future Film-Loving Communities
(Organized by: Tom Roston)

Your Character & New Technology in Storytelling
(Organized by: Alexandra Barnett / Sunshine Sachs)

CONVERGENCE PROGRAMMING

Convergence sessions from Future of Entertainment and VR/AR are listed here, with a recap of all Convergence programming coming October 22. Other Convergence tracks include: SXSW Comedy, Continuing Legal Education, Next Stage, SouthBites™, SXgood, SXsports, and SXstyle.

FUTURE OF ENTERTAINMENT 

Better than Sync: Why Music Partnerships Work
(Organized by: Jeremy Peters/Ghostly International+Ghostly Songs)

Brandvertainment: How Norton Hacked Hollywood
(Organized by: Shauna Sweeney/FilmBuff)

Breaking Down Borders Between TV and Online Video
(Organized by: Bob Gohn/Text100 Global Communications)

Breaking into TV in the Digital Age
(Organized by: Dani Leonard/Big Vision Empty Wallet)

Coding on Camera: MR. ROBOT & Authenticity on TV
(Organized by: Kayra Contreras/USA Network)

Creating a Meaningful Dialogue Through Video
(Organized by: Alana Zeitchik/Vimeo)

Creating Brand Fans: Lessons From Game Marketers
(Organized by: Jessica Andersen/The Concept Agency)

Creative Thievery = What’s Yours Is Mine.
(Organized by: Mary Crosse/Pile O’ Bones Derby Club)

Film Music & TV Music: Who Gets Paid, Why and How?
(Organized by: Scott McKinlay/Film Musicians Secondary Markets Fund)

Fuck You, Sue Me: Artist Rights, Corporate Theft
(Organized by: Andrew Gerber/GAVL)

How A Viral Video Led to an Experiential Empire
(Organized by: Maria Gonima/Rooster Teeth Productions)

It’s My Two Cents With Larry King
(Organized by: Laura Hertzfeld/Ora TV)

Kerry Washington & The New Rules of Social Stardom

Laugh & Scream: 360 Video, Skybound, Conan O’Brien
(Organized by: Rich Jones/Fortyseven Communications)

LEGO Group & Cartoon Network, Building Future Fans
(Organized by: Michael Ouweleen/Cartoon Network)

Lighting Hollywood’s Real and Virtual Actors
(Organized by: Vicki Hanson/Rochester Institute of Technology)

Making Reality Shows for the Web (That Don’t Suck)
(Organized by: Chris Demarais/Rooster Teeth Productions)

Music in Trailers: How Music Drives Film Marketing
(Organized by: Dan Silver/RipTide Music)

New Hollywood: Social Media Storytelling
(Organized by: Brittany Frizzell/Moviepilot)

Political Satire & Its Comedic Effect on Policy
(Organized by: Natali Johnson/Turner Broadcasting)

Social Media: The New TV Show Launchpad
(Organized by: Kim Garcia/VaynerMedia)

What I Learned from Publishing a Book on Instagram
(Organized by: Mesa Dobek/RPA)

Writer’s Blockchain: Full Stack Storytelling
(Organized by: Ann Greenberg/Sceneplay Inc)

VR/AR SESSIONS

5 Best Startup Ideas in VR / AR
(Organized by: Kevin O’Malley/TechTalk/Studio)

Can VR Deliver More Emotion than Movies and Games?
(Organized by: Nicole Lazzaro/XEODesign Inc)

Exploring a Holographic Mars
(Organized by: Jeff Norris/NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory)

The Future is Now: City Planning Using Social VR
(Organized by: Renee Cheng/University of Minnesota)

Game Design for VR Pioneers
(Organized by: Theresa Duringer/Temple Gates Games)

Mars Experience VR
(Organized by: Julian Reyes/Fusion Media Network)

New Advertising Models for Virtual Reality
(Organized by: René Pinnell/Kaleidoscope Media)

Prologue VR-Creating 360 films using stop motion
(Organized by: Kimberly Cooper/Prologue VR)

Sucked Into the Story: Virtual Reality and News
(Organized by: Eric Carvin/Associated Press)

Using Virtual Reality to Create Compassion
(Organized by: Chelsea Sanders/Sunshine Sachs)

Virtual Reality and the Rebirth of the Music Video
(Organized by: Randi Brant/Future Colossal)

Virtual Reality for Serious Sports Training?
(Organized by: Peter Fadde/Southern Illinois University)

Virtual Reality – Is It The Ultimate Brain Hack?
(Organized by: Amanda Purvis/SutherlandGold Group)

Virtual Tourism: VR, 360 & the Travel Industry
(Organized by: Susannah Dilallo/Rapid VR)

VR Porn: Future Is Upon Us, What’s Next?
(Organized by: Stephen Yagielowicz/XBIZ)

VR, AR & Digital Storytelling
(Organized by: Shadee Malekafzali/Beck Media & Marketing)

Your Brain on Virtual Reality
(Organized by: Zoltan Nadasdy/NeuroTexas Institute Research Foundation)