January 11, 2018

Adult Coloring Books, the Future of Fun and More: Experiential Storytelling Track Sessions at SXSW 2018

Discover how new technology has impacted the world of storytelling and immersive entertainment in the Experiential Storytelling Track at SXSW 2018. Learn how experimental strategies of storytelling are re-shaping the way global audiences digest information and changing a practice as old as time. Check out some of the highlights of the Experiential Storytelling Track with our session recommendations below.

“At a time when everyone can be a storyteller, Experiential Storytelling is an attempt to understand the ramifications,” says SXSW Programmer Jim Kolmar. “Initially concerned with the influence of technology on narrative strategies, this track provides a showcase and platform for storytelling as a living, breathing entity that can move in unpredictable directions, unbound by any one method or form.” For example, the session Provocative Adult Coloring Books delves into the storytelling potential of the hugely popular, yet unexpected medium of coloring books. Sally Eckhoff (F*CK ART (LET’S DANCE)) and Andrea Baker (FAMOUS RAPES) of Water Street Press will explore how they adapted their texts into coloring books, and what they learned along the way.

From reclaiming identity through multi-media, to how interactive audio will change everything, the Experiential Storytelling Track will showcase different sessions that highlight the evolution of storytelling. Dive deeper into the Experiential Storytelling Track from March 12-14 during SXSW Convergence programming. SXSW Convergence programming features a range of topics that straddle the cultural and technological intersection at the heart of SXSW with primary access granted to all SXSW Badges.

Experiential Storytelling Session Highlights

Say What? How Interactive Audio Changes Everything

Speakers: Matt Lieber (Gimlet Media), Patrick Givens (Vaynerchuck Media), Ruth Gaviria (Entercom Communications), and Tracy Garraud (SiriusXM Radio)

Podcasts! Spotify! Alexa! Everywhere you listen, audio is going interactive and on-demand. And as listeners take control entire industries are feeling the heat to innovate and evolve, catapulting us into a new era – The Golden Age of Audio. In this session, leaders from the industries shaping this new landscape will discuss its changing dynamics, how they are experimenting in audio today, and the impact on entertainment, marketing, and culture at large they anticipate in the years to come.

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Black Gotham: Immersive Storytelling & Technology

Speakers: Armando Somoza (Rapport Studios), and Kamau Ware (Black Gotham Experience)

Black Gotham Experience (BGX) is an immersive visual storytelling project that celebrates the impact of the African Diaspora on New York City through a series of walking tours and graphic novels that incorporate photography, design, and fashion. This workshop will lead participants through a sample of the walking tour, history, and culture. Come learn about how we leverage immersive technology including VR/AR to place you in the story so that you experience untold narratives and history.

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Full Body Immersive: The Future of Fun

Speakers: David L. Spigner (Boda Borg Corporation), Lou Pizante (Two Bit Circus Inc), and Vince Kadlubek (Meow Wolf)

Join pioneers immersive entertainment from Two Bit Circus, Meow Wolf, and Boda Borg to explore the future of fun. Find out how they’re working to break the mold of traditional entertainment. Discover the power of story rooms, immersive theater, group gaming, experiential collectives, mixed, and virtual reality. Learn how creativity and technology will combine to engage, entertain, inspire, motivate and activate the body, mind and spirit, from micro-to-macro-amusement!

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Reclaiming Identity Through Multi-Media

Speakers: Jade Begay (Indigenous Rising Media), Stina Hamlin (East Coast Digital), and Alex Simon (Sovereign Sounds)

For centuries, Indigenous Peoples have been systematically taught that their identities are illegitimate or shameful but now Indigenous Peoples are using multimedia like film, podcasts, and VR to show the world our stories of reclaiming identity and culture. In this panel, you will hear from Indigenous digital storytellers and filmmakers on how multi-media is being used by Native Peoples to break stereotypes and to bring more awareness to the Indigenous experience.

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Browse All Experiential Storytelling Sessions

Crossover Track Recommendations

Explore topics outside of your comfort zone and learn from SXSW sessions across all 24 Tracks of Conference programming. These recommended sessions are outside of the Experiential Storytelling Track, but will interest any SXSW attendee.

• Data-Driven Storytelling: Perspectives & Paradigms – Alex Simoes (Datawheel), Amy Yu (Viacom), Renee Lightner (Viacom), and Russell Goldenberg (Polygraph/ The Pudding)
  Track: Design

• Setting the Visual Language of VR Storytelling – Timoni West (Unity Technologies), and Natalie Grant (Unity Technologies)
  Track: Making Film & Episodics

• Illusion Design, Story Craft, and Virtual Worlds – Curtis Hickman (The Void)
  Track: VR/AR

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Purchase your SXSW Badge and reserve your hotel today to experience these sessions along with 10 days of screenings, showcases, exhibitions, networking, and more this March 9-18 in Austin, TX. Take the Tracks Quiz to discover which badge will suit your needs.

Already have your badge? Learn how to upgrade to Platinum for primary access to all of SXSW and then begin building your 2018 SXSW Schedule.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, announcements, and updates.

Teaser Photo by Nicole Burton

The post Adult Coloring Books, the Future of Fun and More: Experiential Storytelling Track Sessions at SXSW 2018 appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film

January 10, 2018

The Future of Filmmaking Is Found at Come & Capture: Apply to Participate

Does your company have a passion for capturing and creating content that changes the lives, ideas, and perspectives of your audience? If you said yes, then Come & Capture is the platform for you.

Come & Capture is a special section devoted to the future of filmmaking in the SXSW Trade Show, which is known for its ability to bring the world’s most trailblazing and innovative creators into one room. The Trade Show is the largest exhibition at SXSW with over 300 exhibitors from all over the world, 74,000 attendees, and countless opportunities for discovery across multiple disciplines.

The nature of filmmaking is transforming and evolving constantly with developing technologies. Come & Capture provides a platform for manufacturers, filmmakers, and app developers to network and showcase their cutting edge practices for creating digital content.

Imagine being at the intersection of technology, creation, and innovation where the most talented digital creators are discussing the future of content development and filmmaking. As emerging technologies change the face of film and digital media, the opportunities for growth in the Come & Capture space are infinite.

Don’t hesitate! Space is limited and the Trade Show will fill up soon. Apply to be a part of Come & Capture today!

Apply Now /a>

Photo by Nicky Lockman

The post The Future of Filmmaking Is Found at Come & Capture: Apply to Participate appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film

January 9, 2018

25 Years of SXSW Film Festival – Jay Duplass

To commemorate the 25th edition of the SXSW Film Festival, we continue our weekly alumni spotlight on careers launched, artists discovered, powerful performances, and more with actor and filmmaker Jay Duplass.

Duplass has acted in, produced, and directed many films that have shown at SXSW, including the short films This is John
(2003) and Kevin (2011). His feature directorial debut The Puffy Chair screened at SXSW in 2005 and won the Audience Award for Emerging Visions. Duplass frequently collaborates with his brother Mark Duplass, and the pair were in a 2016 SXSW Featured Session, A Conversation with the Duplass Brothers. The brothers co-directed the films Baghead (2008), Cyrus (2010), and The Do-Deca Pentathlon (2012). Their most recent production, the series Room 104, is currently streaming on HBO and has been renewed for a second season.

We are thrilled to share his #SXSWFilm25 story with you.

“Because I went to college in Austin and lived there for 12 years, SXSW has meant so many different things to me over the years. But the one consistent thing it’s always meant, and I think it will always mean, is CINEPHILIA.

SXSW embodies that pure love of film that was undoubtedly the starting point for all of us no matter how we get there.”

Stay tuned to SXSW News each week for more 25th edition stories.

Join Us For SXSW 2018

Grab your Film Badge today for primary access to all SXSW Film events including world premieres, roundtables, workshops, and parties. Register to attend by Friday, January 12 and save. Book your hotel through SXSW Housing & Travel for the best available rates.

Stay tuned for the 2018 SXSW Film Festival lineup which will be announced in January.

Follow us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and SXSW News for the latest SXSW coverage, announcements, and updates.

See you in March!

Duplass Brothers at the screening of Cyrus – Photo by Scott Melcer

The post 25 Years of SXSW Film Festival – Jay Duplass appeared first on SXSW.

Source: SxSW Film

January 7, 2018

Specialty Box Office Soars with ‘Molly’s Game,’ ‘Darkest Hour,’ ‘The Post,’ and ‘I, Tonya’

Holiday momentum boosted “The Post” (20th Century Fox) as it expanded over the Golden Globes weekend ahead of its national release next week — the best platform expansion in over a year. “I, Tonya” (Neon) also generated a strong response as holdovers “Molly’s Game” (STX) and “Darkest Hour” (Focus Features) went wider to place in the Top Ten. Longer-running “The Shape of Water” (Fox Searchlight) and “Lady Bird” (A24) are still attracting large crowds.

Strong word of mouth is pushing both established titles and fresh players to thrive against other wide release films drawing adult and upscale audience attention. Apart from this revival of interest in specialized film titles, what stands out is the way distributors placed their films for maximum impact against intense peak holiday competition. Their need is to keep the films vital through the looming January 23 Oscar nominations. Most of the awards contenders have been maximized, with few notable stumbles.

Opening

In Between (Film Movement) – Metacritic: 79; Festivals include: Toronto 2016

$5,435 in 2 theaters; PTA (per theater allowance): $2,718

This Israeli drama about the budding feminist movement among Palestinians nabbed by far the best reviews of the week’s limited releases. (It was the only one to report grosses.) This opened at two Landmark locations in Manhattan (the new theater on the Upper West Side will pick up demand after the closure of the Lincoln Plaza). These are minor grosses, but set up the film for national attention at niche locations.

What comes next: A national big market roll out expected to hit most major cities starts this month.

Week Two

Molly’s Game (STX)

$7,000,000 in 1,608 theaters (+1,337); PTA (per theater average): $4,356; Cumulative: $14,220,000

STX’s strategy of limited specialized initial play starting Christmas Day followed by a big national release on a slow week for new films has paid off with a decent if not spectacular second week. Aaron Sorkin’s true story about how an Olympic skier became a private gambling entrepreneur gets credit for breaking through to an audience already saturated with sophisticated releases. The ultimate test will be if the results (again, good not great) can sustain in weeks ahead, with Oscar attention including potential Best Actress and Best Adapted Screenplay nominations critical in this plan. But the timing of the release can only help its cause.

Photo : Laurie Sparham / Focus Features

Phantom Thread (Focus)

$245,000 in 6 theaters (+2); PTA: $40,833; Cumulative: $952,000

Paul Thomas Anderson’s 1950s London fashion world drama added Toronto and a third New York date for its second weekend. The PTA remains healthy even if it falls behind the director’s prior films. This could be another of his niche films to struggle to gain mass appeal. It needs awards nominations ahead to give it a chance in further expansion in upcoming weeks.

Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool (Sony Pictures Classics)

$24,268 in 4 theaters (no change); PTA: $6,067; Cumulative: $83,702

Annette Bening’s turn as actress Gloria Grahame late in life dropped about 30 per cent on its second weekend in limited New York/Los Angeles dates. That’s a fall from an already mediocre start despite major support from SPC.

In the Fade (Magnolia)

$(est.) 13,000 in 6 theaters (+3); PTA: $; Cumulative: $(est.) 36,000

Fatih Akin’s German drama about a woman fighting back after right wing terrorists destroy her family had a small expansion in its second weekend but is still struggling to gain traction. All eyes are on whether this shortlisted foreign-language title lands an Oscar nomination.

Ongoing/expanding (Grosses over $50,000)

Darkest Hour (Focus) Week 7

$6,355,000 in 1,733 theaters (+790); Cumulative: $28,391,000

The near doubling of its theater count led to a 16 per cent increase in gross, providing Joe Wright’s film with another strong weekend. Focus has done a terrific job of timing the release, and a middle-American audience is responding well.

The Shape of Water (Fox Searchlight) Week 6

$3,100,000 in 804 theaters (+48); Cumulative: $21,653,000

Guillermo del Toro’s romantic fantasy continues to thrive, down only slightly after a strong holiday weekend and looking to add much more ahead. Searchlight has played this perfectly so far.

I, Tonya (Neon) Week 5   49  /2868

$2,426,000 in 242 theaters (+193 theaters); Cumulative: $5,295,000

A strong result for the first broadening of the Tonya Harding story. The theater average of some $10,000 is around the level of similar results for breakout successes like “Lady Bird” and “The Shape of Water.” Neon’s gamble of a slower release and  timing their still wider exposure in January is working.

The Post  (20th Century Fox) Week 3

$1,700,000 in 36 theaters (+27); Cumulative: $3,850,000

We’re looking at an over $47,000 per theater average for the significant limited expansion of Steven Spielberg’s Pentagon Papers drama. That’s significantly bigger than either “Lady Bird” or “The Shape of Water” at a similar number of theaters early in their respective runs. As it breaks out wide next weekend, “The Post” will get a strong box office push alongside an expected awards crescendo that could reach wide popular interest.

Lady Bird (A24) Week 10

$1,559,000 in 562 theaters (+170); Cumulative: $34,115,000

A small uptick in gross from the holiday weekend (with more theaters) builds on a strong total. Greta Gerwig’s comedy has now grossed far more than “Moonlight” in total last year, and is ahead of what recent Oscar winners “Spotlight,” “12 Years a Slave,” “Birdman” and “The Artist” each had taken in at this date in their runs. With a bounty of awards attention ahead, expect it to surge ahead of all those totals even if it doesn’t win.

The Disaster Artist  A24) Week 6

$781,530 in 478 theaters (-29); Cumulative: $19,467,000

A big drop from last weekend as James Franco’s film looks like it has taken in most of its still impressive total prior to its potential awards attention.

“Call Me By Your Name”

Call Me By Your Name (Sony Pictures Classics) Week 7

$758,726 in 117 theaters (+2); Cumulative: $6,085,000

Though it has not yet shown the appeal of other rival recent releases, early in its slower release Luca Guadignano’s period gay romance is holding well in initial limited dates. With a wider release timed to parallel its expected significant Oscar nomination haul, it has already reached a significant gross in its early stages.

Three Billboards Outside of Ebbing, Missouri (Fox Searchlight) Week 9

$705,000 in 310 theaters (+44); Cumulative: $25,393,000

Martin McDonagh’s black comedy is alive and kicking after a strong run. This could have plenty of steam left. With a theater total increase, the gross climbed a little from last weekend.

Hostiles (Entertainment Studios) Week 3

$310,000 in 46 theaters (+41); Cumulative: $435,192

Scott Cooper’s festival launched and initially platformed western with Christian Bale hit top markets this week in advance of its national expansion this week with a performance a bit better than its initial two city holiday dates. It still faces a struggle to gain a foothold, but at least this weekend shows it has some life in it.

Loving Vincent (Good Deed) Week 16

$64,397 in 58 theaters (+3); Cumulative: $6,381,000

The film that will not die still adds to its impressive totals, with a shot at an Oscar Animated Feature nomination just ahead.

The Florida Project  (A24) Week 14

$60,734 in 37 theaters (+4); Cumulative: $5,410,000

Sean Baker’s long-running acclaimed Orlando motel drama keeps its presence alive again in its fourth month with hopes for further attention still alive. This could pop up for more play ahead.

Also noted:

The Man Who Invented Christmas (Bleecker Street) – $21,449 in 70 theaters ; Cumulative: $5,653,000

Jane (Abramorama) – $20,405 in 19 theaters; Cumulative: $1,540,000

Happy End (Sony Pictures Classics) – $14,044 in 6 theaters; Cumulative: $83,637

Source: IndieWire film