SXSW 2012 Guides: Balancing Film and Interactive

Every year, South by Southwest (SXSW) Festivals and Conferences offers an overwhelming amount of amazing content from film to interactive to music. If you are like me and enjoy the full spectrum SXSW offers, striking a balance between these interests can be challenging. The Film and Interactive conferences take place at the same time, from Friday, March 9 through Tuesday, March 13. The film festival starts on Friday too, and continues through Saturday, March 17. And that's not all -- SXSW 2012 also includes a dedicated SXSW Comedy program spotlighting stand-up comics, SXSWedu on March 6 - 8 featuring content for educational innovation, and the first-ever Tech Career @ SXSW March 9-10, open to those seeking careers in the tech and interactive media sectors.

This guide will hopefully help you balance both Film and Interactive successfully, whether you have a badge for either conference or the Gold or Platinum badges that provide you access to both. 

Here are some personal tips and "lessons learned" on balancing the film and interactive portions of SXSW 2012:

• Be prepared -- Read our upcoming SXSW 2012 guides.
• Plan ahead -- SXSW has made major improvements to the SX Schedule, although I haven't found an export feature. (Let us know if you have.) Check out the official mobile app SXSW GO app, which should allow you to view and build your schedule, including a map of what’s happening and how to get there, navigate the tradeshow, and stay connected to SXSocial registered attendees.
• Be flexible -- If a film will have wide distribution or a screening later in the week, go to a crossover panel or evening event instead.
• Practice the SXSW mantra -- "Sleep is the enemy."
• Remember you can never do everything at SXSW, so relax and enjoy the ride -- but don't let time slip away from you if there's a "don't miss" event on the horizon.

No matter which badge you have, SXSW has chances for you to enjoy aspects of both Film and Interactive offerings simultaneously, and maximize the value of your SXSW experience. Here are some great opportunities for you to mix film geekdom and techie love.

SXSW Panels: The Digital Domain

You may have heard of the crossover and convergence panels in the past few years -- 2012 ushers in "The Digital Domain," a new SXSW concept of addressing "new directions in narrative and non-fiction, via new platforms, media and tools, in the hands of a new generation of storytelling pioneers." Ranging from cross-platform projects to the blending of web series and interactive documentaries, SXSW 2012 will feature a series of programs and events in the Austin Suite at the Austin Convention Center. The Digital Domain will spotlight and create discussion on new work. These events will be open to Film, Interactive, Gold and Platinum badges.

Here are few highlights from the Digital Domain lineup:

• Fact Checkers Unit: Making a Web Series -- The unusual story about how a Sundance short film became the basis for an award-winning web series now in its second season. Discover how the producers found success through innovative and creative financing, sponsorship, distribution, as well as from celebrity cameos. (Saturday, March 10, 2 - 3 pm)
• Condition ONE - The Future of Mobile Video -- Producers of the award winning documentary film Hell and Back Again will demo Condition ONE, the immersive video application they've built based on their experience as filmmakers and photojournalists. (Saturday, March 10, 12:30 - 1:30 pm) 
• Screaming with Laughter: FEARnet TV's Holliston -- With the rise of horror and genre programming not just in the theater but on television with The Walking Dead and American Horror Story, FEARnet debuted its first original situation comedy series Holliston. Described as "The Big Bang Theory meets Evil Dead 2," the series follows the story of two friends -- co-star Joe Lynch pictured at right -- who dream of becoming successful horror movie filmmakers, when they aren't busy with their cable access station late-night movie program, The Movie Crypt.(Sunday, March 11, 2 - 3 pm)
• Screw the Big Screen, We Have the Web! -- Television is the "big screen" in this discussion and the ongoing battle with the web as more multi-platform videos are created for the likes of XBOX Live and the soon to be realized Google TV, changing how we view content. (Sunday, March 11, 11 am - 12 pm)
• Interactive Doc Showcase: Best of IDFA DocLab -- Documentary cinema is becoming one of the most fruitful places for digital innovation and new forms of interactive storytelling. What are some of the best examples and most exciting new genres of interactive non-fiction storytelling? Caspar Sonnen, Curator of IDFA DocLab, showcases some of his favorite projects that are breaking out of the boundaries of linear cinema. IDFA DocLab is the new media competition program at the International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam. (Monday, March 12, 3:30 - 4:30 pm)
• Producing An Award-Winning Interactive Documentary -- What makes a good interactive documentary? How do you reach a global audience and how are interactive storytelling, the web and digital media changing the art of documentary cinema?  IDFA DocLab curator Caspar Sonnen continues the discussion with Jeremy Mendes (creator of Bear71 and other interactive documentaries for the National Film Board of Canada) and Marshall Heald (Manager, Digital Media and Content Distribution at SBS Australia). (Monday, March 12, 5 - 6 pm)
• Dreams of Your Life: A Darkly Playful Experience -- Film4 is a developer and co-financier behind films such as The Iron Lady and Attack the Block. This session will take Film4’s first multiplatform commission, a unique and innovative digital experience inspired by Carol Morley’s feature Dreams of a Life, which pieces together the true story of 38-year-old Joyce Vincent, whose skeleton was found in her bed -- three years after she had died. The accompanying digital commission, www.dreamsofyourlife.com, is a thought-provoking and immersive experience which engages users in the themes explored by the film. Award-winning writer A.L. Kennedy crafted the absorbing and sometimes unnerving narrative, which prompts responses to questions on society, friendship, love and loneliness. This is played against the backdrop of beautifully haunting time-lapse imagery by photographer Lottie Davies. (Monday, March 12, 11 am - 12 pm)
• Times Are a'Changin: Digital Storytelling Today -- This panel tackles the role of digital storytellers in this new digital age, from the everyday individual with a webcam to the biggest stars in Hollywood, and the brands that are underwriting much of this new wave of content. (Monday, March 12, 12:30 - 1:30 pm)
• 1,000 Voices: Redefining Creative Collaboration -- In the creation of Girl Walk // All Day, filmmakers embraced collaboration on a wide range of scales, from the individual to the crowd, and across many web platforms. By starting with the mash-up musician Girl Talk's album All Day -- an artful collage of the last four decades of pop music -- filmmakers created a feature-length dance movie shot in the streets of New York. The filmmakers solicited input and participation from the film's dancers, web fan base, Kickstarter backers, and people throughout the city who helped shape the final film. (Tuesday, March 13, 5 - 6 pm)
• Make a BTS Web Series and Survive -- What happens when you stop marketing and use the medium to inspire and educate? Zacuto Films presents BTS, a new web series that goes behind-the-scenes to document the making of a film. In this "Documentary About Making Documentaries," the Zacuto Films production team travels to Rwanda to follow director T.C. Johnstone, producer Greg Kwedar and their entire film crew during the last 18 days of filming Rising From Ashes, a film about Rwandan's first national cycling team. Join the filmmakers of Rising from Ashes, the subjects of BTS, for a discussion on the power of a web series to support your film. (Tuesday, March 13, 3:30 - 4:30 pm)

You can view the entire Digital Domain event listings of over 50 core conversations, solo presentations, and panel discussions here.

SXSW Interactive-related Films

I'm still waiting to hear whether any special screenings will be open to Interactive badgeholders, and will update accordingly. If you are a Film, Gold and Platinum badgeholder, you may be interested in the following multimedia-related screenings:

Best of Vimeo: Vimeo Loves -- I really enjoy Vimeo for screening films, so it's no wonder that it has one of the most impressive collection of short-form media. The curators at Vimeo have selected their favorites to showcase the diversity of the Vimeo community's work. "From time-lapse experiments that depict the Earth in new ways, to tours of new worlds never before visited, get ready for some of the most captivating videos on Vimeo." (Friday, March 9, 6 pm at the Vimeo Theater in ACC)

When You Find Me -- I missed the YouTube debut of this Bryce Dallas Howard film, but found the "making of" teasers on YouTube extremely engaging -- especially of her father Ron Howard speaking about his proudest moment about his filmmaker daughter. This don't-miss project was inspired by photos sent in by Canon camera users. (screening schedule)

Buzz Screenings

Using the new film crowdsourcing service, Tugg.com, the SXEncore screenings are dedicated to showing films that get the most social media buzz from viewers through popular votes. Through Tugg, individuals are empowered to select a film, screening time, and nearby theater, and then spread the word to their immediate and online community. Several films were selected to screen March 9 - March 15, including local film Richard Garriott: Man on a Mission, which will screen Friday, March 9 at 9 pm, at SXSatellite venue Alamo Drafthouse Slaughter. 

Pay attention to Twitter for the buzz as well as where the lines are forming or where "the cool kids" are gathering for a nightcap. As always, you can follow Slackerwood on Twitter as well as yours truly on Twitter.

Want to maximize your experience? Get to panels and films early. If you are a Film badgeholder, concentrate your socializing on the SXSW film parties and lounges, and limit the free drink intake. Create your backup plans now, and be prepared for last minute changes. Stay tuned to Slackerwood for more coverage and updates.

And if you have any tips to share for balancing Film and Interactive at SXSW, feel free to post 'em in the comments.

[Photo credit: "Al Franken" by Amy Price, courtesy of SXSW.]