The Seven Network has officially partnered with SXSW Sydney and will host its 2024 Upfront during the October festival.
The partnership also includes ‘Seven House’ within the SXSW precinct in the inner city, which will feature a week-long program of events, special partners and guest speakers, to be announced in the coming months.
Sunrise will also stage live crosses during the festival, with the 7NEWS team to also be based at the event.
“Seven is a passionate champion of mass cultural experiences and we create those experiences like no one else. We’re also passionate about the Australian media and creative industries, and about bringing the latest tech and creativity to our viewers and partners,” Seven West Media chief marketing and audience officer Melissa Hopkins said.
“SXSW Sydney is the perfect fit for Seven and we’re very excited about being part of the week. The Seven Upfront 2024 and the week-long program at Seven House will be an incredible experience that no one will want to miss. It’s going to be massive.”
SXSW Sydney 2023 will be the first South by Southwest held outside Austin, Texas, in the festival’s 37-year history, lured here by by TEG, the NSW Government, and Destination NSW. It is secured for Sydney for the next five years. The event will have a “walkable footprint” around the CBD and Tech Central district of Haymarket, Darling Harbour, Ultimo and Chippendale.
There are more than 1,000 events, speakers and music acts, including more than 300 panels and sessions and over 400 artist performances, planned for this year. In addition to its partnership with Seven, SXSW Sydney has also so far partnered Prime Video.
The film and TV section of the festival will include red carpet premieres at the ICC’s Darling Theatre and cinemas across the inner city (encompassing features, shorts, TV premieres, music videos and a competition); an XR showcase, conference sessions, activations, parties and meet-ups, mentoring sessions and ‘Minimart’, a market for investors, buyers, producers, creatives and industry. There will also be a First Nations Screen Festival programmed by Pauline Clague.
Speakers confirmed for the conference include writer and director Alana Hicks, Binge executive director Alison Hurbert-Burns, futurist Amy Webb, Anonymous Content Bec Smith, journalist Brooke Boney, Made Up Stories producer Bruna Papandrea, chairman and CEO of the Motion Picture Association Charles Rivkin, Screen NSW head Kyas Hepworth, filmmaker Larissa Behrendt, Bluey creator Joff Bush, director Jub Clerc, writer Kodie Bedford, multi-hyphenate Leah Purcell, Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor, Marc Fennell, Osher Günsberg, American music promoter and Coachella co-founder Paul Tollett, Netflix ANZ’s Que Minh Luu, Korean film critic Sung Eun Youn, Queer Eye‘s Tan France and Yoomin Yang, CEO of Korean production company Wow Point.
Programming will put a spotlight on the Asia-Pacific region. The first titles to screen at the festival were announced late last month, including Australian indie You’ll Never Find Me, directed by Josiah Allen and Indianna Bell, which premiered earlier this year in Tribeca and is currently screening at the Melbourne International Film Festival.
The line-up include:
Anita (US), about Rolling Stones muse Anita Pallenberg
Cypher (US), a fictional pseudo- music documentary about the artist Tierra Whack
Gagaland (China) A rags-to-riches, boy-meets-girl story, set against a viral Chinese dance craze flooding streets and social media feeds.
Jamojaya (US), Indonesian rap star Brian Imanuel (Rich Brian) stars as an up-and-coming musician.
Plastic (Japan), teenagers Juna and Ibuki set out to find the psychedelic rock band Exne Kedy.
Knit’s Island (France) ‘DayZ’ is survivalist fiction in the form a videogame. Knit’s Island documents some of the 963 hours the directors spent in there in an at times unsettling blurring of the real and the virtual.
The Last Year of Darkness (US/China) Bass-heavy and neon-coloured portrait of alternative Chinese youth.
You’ll Never Find Me (Australia) A lonely mobile home resident has an unexpected visitor on the night of a relentless thunderstorm.
Tokyo Uber Blues (Japan), an in-debt graduate film student turns to Uber driving to make ends meet.
SXSW Sydney runs October 15-22.