Blog: The Irish @ SXSW 2012
Bord Scannán na hÉireann/the Irish Film Board (IFB), Enterprise Ireland (EI) and a delegation of Irish film and technology companies are attending the South by Southwest (SXSW) conference in Austin, Texas this week. EI and the IFB are showcasing the best Irish film and technology in booth 1307, while five Irish films are screening at the festival - Citadel, Dollhouse, Dreams of a Life, Foxes and Joy.
The IFB is represented by Patrick O'Neill, Industry Affairs Executive who is our blogger from the festival.
The Irish stand on the second day of the trade show was constantly busy, with attendees interested in not only the film and interactive Irish presence at SXSW, but also the shamrock tattoos available on the stand. It seems half of SXSW attendees and Texans have Irish heritage, and being St. Patrick's week, the Irish stand has been getting more than its share of attention in the market.
The Irish films JOY directed by Colm Quinn and FOXES directed by Lorcan Finnegan both played to almost sold out screening rooms in the afternoon, but they are not the only short films with an Irish interest playing at the festival. Irish actors Liam Cunningham and Michael Fassbender star as a couple of thieves in the Robbie Ryan-shot BAFTA-winning PITCH BLACK HEIST, and US based Waterford native Siobhan Mahoney's short film ANOTHER BULLET DODGED also screening in the Narrative Short category.
Upstairs from the trade show, there were numerous panels on the go in both the interactive and film sections. I managed to dip in to a few, including Aaron Kaufman from Troublemaker Studios (Spy Kids, Sin City, From Dusk Till Dawn) chairing a panel called Making it Happen: Financing an Independent Film. Panelists included film producers Katie McNeill (The Place Beyond The Pines) and Garrick Dion (Drive). It was fascinating to hear how US producers approach financing their films with the absence of co-production funding, state investment, and in some cases tax incentives. The panel discussed how the lack of these finance structures makes many films rely on international pre-sales and private investment. Therefore identifying cast, director, and "smart genre" as large factors in getting a US indie financed. http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_FP990329
Selling the Stories: The Art of the Trailer, had Mark Woollen, creator of trailers from Schindler's List to The Social Network, and Myles Bender from Focus Features, examining how trailers persuade audiences to see specialty films. The panel discussed the difference between creating trailers for US and international audiences. They also discussed the emerging trend of interactive trailers, such as the one for the TV show New Girl http://www.fox.com/new-girl/heygirl/ where you can direct the music video from the show, and iTrailers http://www.i-trailers.com/ where online trailers can have valuable metadata embedded in the video. http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_FP990335
Movie Screens with Frickin Laser Beams was a panel showing the emerging technology behind collaborative crowd gaming in cinemas. Following on from Opera, concerts, and sporting events in cinemas, it seems gaming could be coming to a multiplex near you some day soon. Adam Russel and John Sear from Wall Four http://www.wallfour.co.uk/ guided the audience through the current trends in this space, and ended with a 100 player demonstration with laser pointers. http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_FP990225
That was it for a packed day three. With some of the film winners announced http://sxsw.com/node/10865 and the music section of SXSW starting this evening, you can hear Austin getting louder by the hour.
DAY 2 - Monday, 12th March 2012
The trade show opened today, and the Enterprise Ireland, IDA and IFB stand was extremely busy from the start with a constant steady stream of traffic. Irish delegate companies hosted a number of meetings at the stand.
Probably the best thing about SXSW is the panels and events in the Austin Convention Center. Today brought director Kevin Smith to discuss "The Business of Kevin Smith". Very interesting views on "Direct to Fan" marketing and how the internet has facilitated a democratization of entertainment, how everyone who can entertain, has every chance of finding an audience if they use technology in the right ways.
http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_FP990250
How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Love VOD (Video on Demand) was a panel that looked behind the curtain, and showed the audience exactly what money can be made from US distribution for indie films, specifically on Video on Demand platforms. Matt Harlock, the producer of American: The Bill Hicks Story, presented the film as a case study, detailing his strategy of distributing in the US market and the revenues generated. Magnolia's Eamon Bowles was also present and spoke about their current distribution strategies, including premium priced VOD, a window for online distribution before theatrical exposure.
http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_FP11301
Next up was a panel discussion with the stars the cult classic film The Boondock Saints ahead of its launch as a video game. Matt Scibilia, president of Critical Mass Interactive, a local interactive company was on hand with the cast to discuss the game development. http://www.criticalmassinteractive.com/
Irish films DOLLHOUSE, directed by Kirsten Sheridan and CITADEL, directed by Ciarán Foy, both had sold out screenings this evening. The directors attended the screenings and took part in Q&A's.
The Paramount Theatre was buzzing tonight with the arrival of Hollywood A-listers Jonah Hill, fresh from his Oscar nomination, and Channing Tatum, for the screening of the highly anticipated 21 Jump Street. They arrived dressed in their police uniforms, including short shorts, much to the pleasure of the hundreds of screaming fans outside the cinema. The film went down a storm with the Austin audience, and looks set to be a huge Box Office hit in the US. It won't take a rocket scientist to guess the surprise cameo in the film!
On to Day 3...
DAY 1 - Sunday, 11th March 2012
The first day of SXSW for the Irish Film Board started with a breakfast engagement with Minister Sean Sherlock, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA. An Irish networking reception had been held the previous night at Fado Irish pub which provided 30 Irish start-up companies the opportunity to network with client companies and guests. The event was full to capacity and a lot of new connections were made.
After breakfast, it was time to get registered for the festival and trade show in the Austin Convention Center, and have a quick check at the preparations for the Ireland @SXSW stand, hosted by Enterprise Ireland, the IDA and the IFB. The stand is due to open tomorrow morning.
Once done, it was on to IAC Chairman, ex head of Paramount Studios, and media mogul Barry Diller's interview with Ali Veshi from CNN. Fascinating insights in to the state of the content industry and his views for the evolution of web TV and internet search. Diller spoke firmly against net neutrality legislation, and is a big supporter of digital freedom and innovation.
http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP100203
Next was the ever inspiring Lance Weiler @lanceweiler, and his panel entitled Prototyping The Future, which launched his innovative new participatory storytelling project co-produced with Future States, Wish For The Future http://futurestates.tv/interactives/wish-for-the-future, an immersive online environment where users are invited to make wishes for the future on any axis by generating multimedia stories based on their wishes, and then collectively prototype the creation of actual future artifacts such as artwork, hacks, models, robotics, etc.. The panel was driven by the audience participation, with involvement from hackers, activists, entrepreneurs, writers.
http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_FP990305
Irish filmmaker Lorcan Finnegan's short film FOXES screened in the Narrative Shorts competition at Alamo Lamar cinema in the afternoon.
Next up was the keynote by Cyborg Anthropologist Amber Case @caseorganic - Ambient Locatoin and the future of the Interface. The auditorium was full to capacity with over 3,000 people. Amber gave us a brief history of cyborg technology, and informed the audience that all smartphone users are now cyborgs! Using technology to interact with their surroundings and enhance interaction and communication. Amber went on to introduce her new location based software - Geloqi. http://schedule.sxsw.com/2012/events/event_IAP992057
After this, it was time for a meeting with Tribeca Enterprises. The distribution arm of Tribeca are currently on an Irish film buzz, having recently acquired Stella Days and Death of a Superhero (which will also screen at the Tribeca festival next month) for North American distribution.
Now for some down time. I got the chance to bag a ticket for the US premiere of JDIFF winner, The Raid, a kick-ass Indonesian martial arts film, introduced by it's Welsh director Gareth Evans. Great fun, and an amazing reaction from the crowd. I'm not sure what martial arts they used, but it seems to entail a lot of picking guys up and throwing them off the nearest floor/wall/piece of furniture until something breaks, be it human, wood or cinder block!
IFB-funded film CITADEL directed by Ciarán Foy had its world premiere at the renowned Alamo Drafthouse theatre at midnight. The psychological horror sees an agoraphobic father team up with a renegade priest to save his daughter from the clutches of a gang of twisted feral children. Not for the faint hearted, the film went down extremely well. Director Ciarán and cast members Aneurin Bernard and Wumi Musako were in attendance for a Q&A afterwards. The cinema was packed with many badgeholders refused entrance.
Well, that was it for day one for the IFB.