SXSW winners
March 15, 2011 9:20 PM Subscribe
SXSW is winding down and there are winners! Skateboarding punks and crippling anxiety! But is winning worthwhile? What happened to these guys?
I lived in Austin from 1992 to 1998.
Back then, SXSW was a shitshow for the town, for local bands and artists, and for anybody who didn't want their shaft stroked by PR hussies, showbiz dimwits, and an endless parade of seen-and-be-seensters.
Now, as i understand it, it's just another "thing" you do in order to help your band/label/film.
posted by gcbv at 9:41 PM on March 15, 2011
Back then, SXSW was a shitshow for the town, for local bands and artists, and for anybody who didn't want their shaft stroked by PR hussies, showbiz dimwits, and an endless parade of seen-and-be-seensters.
Now, as i understand it, it's just another "thing" you do in order to help your band/label/film.
posted by gcbv at 9:41 PM on March 15, 2011
What happened to these guys?
I really enjoyed "Marwencol". It was a documentary about an outsider artist, sort of like Henry Darger if he was into adult women.
posted by bobo123 at 9:43 PM on March 15, 2011
I really enjoyed "Marwencol". It was a documentary about an outsider artist, sort of like Henry Darger if he was into adult women.
posted by bobo123 at 9:43 PM on March 15, 2011
Yeah, winding down?
The swarming crowds have only just begun arriving.
Maybe they can do it somewhere else next year.
I'm not a fan of this town, but I remember those halcyon days of SXSW when it was about independent bands and films and the internet was in its infancy.
Now only badges get into anything and it's all about sales, sales, sales!
But they haven't invaded my bar, so I should be thankful.
posted by Seamus at 10:30 PM on March 15, 2011
The swarming crowds have only just begun arriving.
Maybe they can do it somewhere else next year.
I'm not a fan of this town, but I remember those halcyon days of SXSW when it was about independent bands and films and the internet was in its infancy.
Now only badges get into anything and it's all about sales, sales, sales!
But they haven't invaded my bar, so I should be thankful.
posted by Seamus at 10:30 PM on March 15, 2011
The noise has just begun. Heard the thump thump of Foo Fighters from 40 blocks away earlier tonight.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:38 PM on March 15, 2011
posted by a humble nudibranch at 10:38 PM on March 15, 2011
best thing about SXSW for me was the giant torrent of one song by each band playing. do they still do that? gave such a shot in the ass to my iPod
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:54 PM on March 15, 2011
posted by Lovecraft In Brooklyn at 10:54 PM on March 15, 2011
Yeah. The narrative films in competition at SXSW - i.e. the films submitted directly to the festival as opposed to films the organizers specifically seek out -- almost invariably suck and rarely see the light of day. SXSW is good for the high-profile premiers (Source Code was quite good), Sundance holdovers (Sound of Your Voice was amazing), docs (keep an eye out for Fightville), and the midnight films (James Wan's Insidious made me poop my pants repeatedly.
I did see the big winner, Natural Selection, and... it was terrible. One of those self-absorbed, self-indulgent indies that bears no relationship to any sort of reality, but thinks it's saying something profound about religion or religious people or whatever.
posted by eugenen at 11:04 PM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
I did see the big winner, Natural Selection, and... it was terrible. One of those self-absorbed, self-indulgent indies that bears no relationship to any sort of reality, but thinks it's saying something profound about religion or religious people or whatever.
posted by eugenen at 11:04 PM on March 15, 2011 [1 favorite]
As noted above a time or two, SXSW has just about begun now, the warm-ups about over, the town catching its breath for the huge push coming on; it's an absolute zoo from tomorrow through Sunday night. It's been ramping up for a week now, esp with the perfect weather this spring the streets are jam packed, my fave local caffeine emporiums swamped but that's fine by me, lots of fun to watch all these nice people fall in love with Austin. Plus my coffee slinging friends are looking to make fistfuls of bread, I won't see much of them until Monday...
posted by dancestoblue at 11:36 PM on March 15, 2011
posted by dancestoblue at 11:36 PM on March 15, 2011
What happened to these guys?
Tiny Furniture (Narrative Feature winner) made about $400K at the box office -- which is huge for a micro-budget indie drama (it cost next-to-nothing to make and was shot on a Canon DSLR) -- and got its director her own HBO show, produced by Judd Apatow (it's called Girls, and it premieres this year).
posted by alexoscar at 12:40 AM on March 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
Tiny Furniture (Narrative Feature winner) made about $400K at the box office -- which is huge for a micro-budget indie drama (it cost next-to-nothing to make and was shot on a Canon DSLR) -- and got its director her own HBO show, produced by Judd Apatow (it's called Girls, and it premieres this year).
posted by alexoscar at 12:40 AM on March 16, 2011 [2 favorites]
best thing about SXSW for me was the giant torrent of one song by each band playing. do they still do that?
Is this it?
posted by postagepaid at 1:20 AM on March 16, 2011
Is this it?
posted by postagepaid at 1:20 AM on March 16, 2011
I was into SXSW back when it was Right Here, Right Now.
posted by srboisvert at 3:21 AM on March 16, 2011
posted by srboisvert at 3:21 AM on March 16, 2011
When Consumer Reports has a showcase, you KNOW the party's over.
posted by tremspeed at 4:51 AM on March 16, 2011
posted by tremspeed at 4:51 AM on March 16, 2011
I did see the big winner, Natural Selection, and... it was terrible. One of those self-absorbed, self-indulgent indies that bears no relationship to any sort of reality, but thinks it's saying something profound about religion or religious people or whatever.
I didn't think it was terrible. I really liked the lead actress. I thought she was able to rise above the lousy script and a terrible wig.
posted by donajo at 6:48 AM on March 16, 2011
I didn't think it was terrible. I really liked the lead actress. I thought she was able to rise above the lousy script and a terrible wig.
posted by donajo at 6:48 AM on March 16, 2011
Marwencol is really good, but I thought the end was heartbreaking. It'll be on PBS' Independent Lens next month.
PBS also aired NY: Export Jazz last year. It's Jerome Robbin's 1958 "ballet in sneakers" set in NYC. When it works, it's strikingly gorgeous but there are times when the camera angles and cuts were too distracting.
posted by zix at 6:51 AM on March 16, 2011
PBS also aired NY: Export Jazz last year. It's Jerome Robbin's 1958 "ballet in sneakers" set in NYC. When it works, it's strikingly gorgeous but there are times when the camera angles and cuts were too distracting.
posted by zix at 6:51 AM on March 16, 2011
I'm not really an industry insider, not a big film buff, nor do I follow the festivals, however I was in a low-budget movie that's been shown and won awards at two local film festivals. The production company has been courting distributors for over a year now and as of today just released a limited run of DVD's in hopes of generating enough sales that distributors want to pick it up. What I have learned from this experience is that the industry seems to be quite different from what it used to be. Our film Hitting the Nuts has been generating quite a bit of buzz in Poker blogs and lots of great buzz at the festivals, but so far the perfect distribution just hasn't happened.
What happened to these guys?
I suspect that most of them are probably still searching for the perfect deal that gets them the widest distribution, while continuing to work on newer projects.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 7:01 AM on March 16, 2011
What happened to these guys?
I suspect that most of them are probably still searching for the perfect deal that gets them the widest distribution, while continuing to work on newer projects.
posted by TuxHeDoh at 7:01 AM on March 16, 2011
I miss Fuck By Fuck Y'all.
Wish that were still happening.
From the sounds of it, the organizers of SXSW have been calling local bands to tell them that there will be repercussions if they play at any Non-SXSW events.
For the past few years, they have been calling the police on all non-SXSW parties and events, whether they have a license or not. They figure better to let the police sort it out than to allow unlicensed events draw people away from their crowded schlock parties. This creates unecessary trouble for many people.
They have a long way to go to win back the love of this city.
posted by Seamus at 8:16 AM on March 16, 2011
Wish that were still happening.
From the sounds of it, the organizers of SXSW have been calling local bands to tell them that there will be repercussions if they play at any Non-SXSW events.
For the past few years, they have been calling the police on all non-SXSW parties and events, whether they have a license or not. They figure better to let the police sort it out than to allow unlicensed events draw people away from their crowded schlock parties. This creates unecessary trouble for many people.
They have a long way to go to win back the love of this city.
posted by Seamus at 8:16 AM on March 16, 2011
I saw, "SXSW is winding down and there are whiners!" as I scrolled by... Then I reread it correctly and figured I'd take a look - but I discovered I was right the first time.
posted by OneMonkeysUncle at 10:42 AM on March 16, 2011
posted by OneMonkeysUncle at 10:42 AM on March 16, 2011
RE: Seamus, item
That is so ridiculous. The capitalism of "culture." http://wevegotours.org/
posted by defenestration at 1:45 PM on March 16, 2011
That is so ridiculous. The capitalism of "culture." http://wevegotours.org/
posted by defenestration at 1:45 PM on March 16, 2011
I lived in Austin for twelve years, moved away four weeks ago. I am missing the hell out of SXSW right now.
Last year through a rather fortunate series of events I ended up carting a punk band from England around town. Three really cute girls in a really great band. I introduced them to Kerbey Lane and Breakfast Tacos. Life was good. Now I'm lonely, wet and cold.
Sigh.
Hating on SXSW is so obvious, so hip, please don't be that person, LOL
posted by roboton666 at 2:06 PM on March 16, 2011
Last year through a rather fortunate series of events I ended up carting a punk band from England around town. Three really cute girls in a really great band. I introduced them to Kerbey Lane and Breakfast Tacos. Life was good. Now I'm lonely, wet and cold.
Sigh.
Hating on SXSW is so obvious, so hip, please don't be that person, LOL
posted by roboton666 at 2:06 PM on March 16, 2011
Not hating on SXSW. Hating on a SXSW policy.
posted by defenestration at 2:34 PM on March 16, 2011
posted by defenestration at 2:34 PM on March 16, 2011
Is it too late to chime in as a too-hip trendy nimby mefi'er Austinite? I totally remember SXSW when it wasn't cool and The Man.
Wait, no I don't. Also this week is pretty sweet traffic-wise around here if you're not downtown.
posted by BurnMage at 2:36 PM on March 16, 2011
Wait, no I don't. Also this week is pretty sweet traffic-wise around here if you're not downtown.
posted by BurnMage at 2:36 PM on March 16, 2011
I've seen 19 films or something ridiculous, with maybe another 5 to go. Seen some bands, amused at all the chaos, eaten some great food, and just generally had a lot of fun pumping a bit of money into a welcoming economy. I'll be super tired out when I head home (the 6 am pickup won't help) but I'll be glad I came and sad to go.
posted by stevil at 8:20 AM on March 19, 2011
posted by stevil at 8:20 AM on March 19, 2011
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