SXSW Film Panels: What Would You Like to See?

There are only a few days left to vote in the SXSW 2010 PanelPicker mentioned in my previous post - you have until midnight CST on Friday, September 4 to participate in the community voting process.

I've taken a look at several dozen panel submissions, and voted for a few of my favorites. Here are the film panels I found interesting at first glance:

There's Gold in Those Archives: Long-Long-Tail Filmmaking (organizer: Center for Social Media) -- I had no idea what long-tail filmmaking was until I saw this panel submission, but it was intriguing enough to read the questions and comments. Licensing and distribution are critical aspects of the longterm results of making a film filmmaking. I would expect this panel to convey some valuable information to filmmakers and distributors.

Writing a Successful Screenplay: Consider the Source (organizer: Stephen Harrigan) -- The most memorable movie experience I've had in my life was the first ten minutes of watching Something Wicked This Way Comes at AggieCon 14. My chin hit my chest as I watched my mind's eye vision of Green Town, Illinois play out on the screen, and Jason Robards was Charles Halloway I'd imagined. I found out during a slideshow about the film at the same conference that author Ray Bradbury himself had written the screenplay.  This panel should prove to be extremely useful for screenwriters attempting to adapt others or their own material, and review of the comments show indicates a lot of desire for this topic.

Hyperbole in Film Criticism & Analysis (organizer: Erik Childress - WGN Radio/eFilmCritic.com, proposed Scott Weinberg, Steve Prokopy, Devin Faraci, Eric Snider, William Goss) -- This panel is guaranteed to be lively. I've followed a few rather animated discussions amongst some of the proposed panelists on Twitter regarding what defines a professional film critic. Scott Weinberg (Cinematical, FEARnet.com, eFilmCritic.com and a plethora of sites/projects) has a dynamic "no holds barred" delivery when it comes to debates. This panel will be on my "don't miss" list.

Making Cheap and Ghoulish Horror/Vampire FX (organizer: Anna Hanks, SCARE for a CURE) -- I obviously have a personal interest in supporting a local organization that I volunteer for, so I'm excited to see our Mad Scientist Edwin Wise (Special Effects and Make-Up Supervisor for Deadbacks) along with Robin McShaffry (founder of Mary-Margaret Network). They have both been involved in low cost horror special effects through their work with Austin haunts including Richard Garriott's Britannia Manor, Haunted Trails and SCARE for a CURE. After witnessing firsthand creation of special effects for the movie Red, White and Blue at our house, I'm eager to learn more.

Dreams of a Nation: Palestinian Cinema (organizer: Hadeel Assali, Houston Palestine Film Festival Director) -- As much as I  support  local and familiar faces at SXSW whether it be film, interactive or music, I try to get out of my comfort zone or realm of knowledge. I am unfamiliar with the work of Palestinian film industry, so I'm looking forward to learning more about how Palestinian women are becoming widely recognized for filmmaking.

With 149 film panels and over 2200 interactive panels listed, I've not waded through all of them. I'm open to suggestions for voting. I'm asking our Slackerwood audience:

• What panels are you interested in that are posted?
• What topics aren't covered that you think should be? Any speakers you'd like to see?
• What are some cross-media (film and interactive, film and music) panel ideas you think would be interesting?

Feel free to discuss, as well as promote your panel or your friends' panels in our comments area.

[Photo Credit: Scott Weinberg and Karina Longworth at SXSW 2009 Film Critics panel, by J. Kernion]