March 22, 2018

Announcing the 2018 SXSW Hackathon Winners

The SXSW 2018 Hackathon is a wrap! Over 100 hackers from the US, Japan, Germany, Belgium, Romania and more spent 24 hours furiously collaborating, coding and creating new solutions in the music, tech, VR, AI and blockchain world. The three winning teams were awarded $12,000 in prizes and then spent the next three days working with industry mentors to fine-tune their creations.

The Winners

• First place: scalpV, which leverages emerging technology to solve a major problem with fraud in the live event space.
• Second place: Practice Hero, which uses Amazon’s Alexa to make practicing easier with voice commands.
• Third place: Focus, which increases signal quality by teaching computers to hear like people.

“This was the year SXSW’s Hackathon and Incubator came into its own, with the winning teams all going on to becoming real startups after five days of rapid prototyping and incubation,” said Travis Laurendine, who has facilitated the event for the last five years.

“Only during the magic of SXSW could the stars align for Capitol Music Group to launch its innovation lab and announce its own hackathon series at the Capitol Tower alongside industry-leading tech like Amazon Web Services and Alexa, Facebook Live and Messenger, blockchain powerhouse Consensys, and the cloud power of Cloudinary. We tip our hats to USAA for for being such a great presenting sponsor (they matched the cash prizes so the winners prizes were doubled!) and to our grand prize winner, who happens to be a veteran and card carrying USAA member! Also, shout-outs to our artists-in-residence Mark Martin and Kaila Mullady, the reigning North American and World Beat Box Champions!”

Photo by Randy & Jackie Smith

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Source: SxSW Film

March 22, 2018

The SXSW Creative Experience “Arrow” Awards – HBO and Giant Spoon, Sony Brand Design Platform, and Meow Wolf

Announcing the winners of the inaugural SXSW Creative Experience “Arrow” Awards, celebrating creativity and innovation from agencies and activations at SXSW 2018.

“SXSW has long been a destination for cutting edge agencies and brands to bring their most inventive ideas to life,” said Roland Swenson, CEO of SXSW. “In the lead-up to this year’s event, we were excited to hear what some of our partners were planning, and we wanted to recognize that creative spirit in some small way.”

“We consider the three inaugural awards to be the groundwork for a larger awards program at SXSW 2019, rewarding creative work by both brands and agencies.”

The initial SXSW Creative Experience “Arrow” Awards selection was comprised of select SXSW staff, and leaders at Austin-based creative agencies.

SXSW 2018 Creative Experience “Arrow” Winners

Best Immersive Experience

HBO and Giant Spoon for Live without Limits Weekend, an immersive Westworld experience

HBO and Giant Spoon created an immersive theatrical experience for Westworld. Attendees were shuttled to a remote location where a recreation of the town of Sweetwater awaited them. The experience included actors trained for months in advance to create a fictional story that came to life on the two-acre set.

Best Use of Technology

Sony Brand Design Platform for Sony Wow Studio

Sony’s Wow Studio showcased 11 projects and prototypes that blended art and technology. The ambitious installation included VR, robotics, a super high speed sensor, and 3D audio technology. One example within the installation used motion tracking projectors that allowed visitors to interact with virtual objects while small 3D-printed musical instruments came to life under the system’s sensors.

Spirit of SXSW

Meow Wolf for Fractallage (a pop-up installation) and The Atrium (VR experience)

Meow Wolf, a Santa Fe-based art collective whose documentary film, Meow Wolf: Origin Story was accepted into the SXSW Film Festival, expanded their Austin presence with a pop-up installation, Fractallage and a VR experience, The Atrium. The collective’s DIY outsider spirit came to life in their wide-ranging SXSW participation.

Top of page – Westworld “Sweetwater” at SXSW 2018 – Photo by Merrick Ales

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Source: SxSW Film

March 22, 2018

LUNA Awards Artist Grants to Two Films by Female Filmmakers at 2018 SXSW

There’s always more room for women in film. And last week in Austin, two incredible female filmmakers — Alexandria Bombach and Olivia Newman — received $10k artist grants to help them share their unique perspectives and stories through film.

LUNA, the first nutrition bar for women, is committed to enhancing the representation of women in the film industry. In 2000, LUNA created LUNAFEST, a traveling film festival by, for, and about women. Now in its 17th year, LUNAFEST continues to give female filmmakers the spotlight and the platform to break through in a male-dominated industry.

“Women fill less than a third of the directing pipeline,” said Ritu Mathur, LUNA brand director. “Women still struggle to secure finance or interest for female-oriented movies. As champions of women, we are thrilled to announce these awards and continue to fulfil the promise we originally made to women filmmakers in 2000 when we founded LUNAFEST.”

For the SXSW LUNA Gamechanger Award in Narrative and the SXSW LUNA Chicken & Egg Award in Documentary, LUNA and SXSW are proud to be partnering with Chicken & Egg Pictures, a nonprofit devoted to supporting women nonfiction filmmakers whose artful and innovative storytelling catalyzes social change, as well as with Gamechanger Films, the first equity fund established exclusively to finance films directed by women.

THE SXSW LUNA CHICKEN & EGG PICTURES AWARD IN DOCUMENTARY

LUNA and Chicken & Egg Pictures are honored to award the 2018 SXSW LUNA/Chicken & Egg Pictures Award in Documentary to Alexandria Bombach’s film On Her Shoulders.

On Her Shoulders demonstrates the power of documentary storytelling for social change. The film tells the story of Nadia Murad, a 23-year-old Yazidi survivor of genocide and ISIS sexual slavery. Noted documentarian Alexandria Bombach follows Nadia’s tireless efforts to tell her story, efforts that lead her down paths of advocacy as she becomes the voice of her people. On Her Shoulders is a remarkable film that spurs the audience honor Nadia’s courage not simply with empathy, but with real action.

THE SXSW LUNA GAMECHANGER AWARD IN NARRATIVE

LUNA and Gamechanger are proud to award the 2018 SXSW LUNA Gamechanger Award in Narrative to Olivia Newman’s film First Match.

Olivia Newman took bold risks with this inspiring and complicated underdog story about 15-year-old Monique, who joins an all-boys wrestling team in an attempt to connect with her estranged father. A beautifully crafted film (which also won a SXSW Audience Award), First Match showcases a range of well-drawn characters and exemplifies the ability to tell a story that empowers women without vilifying men. We commend Olivia’s hard work in sticking with her story throughout the seven years it took for her film to go from a short that toured with LUNAFEST back in 2014 to a fully-realized feature.

SPECIAL RECOGNITION AWARDS

The films submitted for both categories were all strong, thought-provoking, stimulating, and stylistically varied. They demonstrated the breadth and the strength of women’s voices and vison in the field of nonfiction and narrative filmmaking today.

Because of that, two additional films have been singled out for Special Recognition Awards: Jenny Murray’s ¡Las Sandinistas! and Suzi Yoonessi’s Unlovable.

In Documentaries, we salute Jenny Murray’s ¡Las Sandinistas! for spotlighting the incredible women who fought on the front lines of Nicaragua’s Sandinista revolution to bring about social and political reform for their country, and how their battles for equality continue to the present day.

In Narrative, we recognize Suzi Yoonessi’s incredible musical comedy Unlovable, which brings to life a story of a young women coming to terms with her sex and love addiction. We also salute the film’s star, Charlene DeGuzman, for co-writing this story based on her own life experiences.

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Source: SxSW Film