South by Southwest (SXSW): Austin film, music and tech festival

Overview

South by Southwest (SXSW) is an annual set of film, interactive media and music festivals and conferences held each March in Austin, Texas (Film Threat). It began in 1987 as a 700-registrant music conference, added film in 1994, and grew into an industry marketplace where distribution deals close during the festival itself: on Thursday, March 8, 2012, Autonomy Pictures finalized its U.S.-rights acquisition of Adam Rehmeier’s The Bunny Game at SXSW (International Documentary Association; Screen Daily).

From Austin music conference to industry marketplace

SXSW started in 1987 as the local Austin music scene’s bid to promote itself nationally — a laid-back alternative to New York’s New Music Seminar, which had become unwieldy and violent; that first edition hosted 172 bands for 700 registrants (International Documentary Association). The film festival and conference joined in 1994, and by 1997 the event showed more than 100 feature films with attendance near 10,000 (International Documentary Association). Growth compounded from there: by 2013 SXSW staged over 2,200 official musical acts and more than 130 feature films, with well over 100,000 people coming to at least one official event — a scale that made the Austin convention a deal floor as well as a showcase (International Documentary Association).

SXSW Film 2012 at a glance

SXSW marker	1987 (first edition)	1997	2013
Musical acts / bands	172 bands	—	2,200+ official acts
Registrants / attendees	700	~10,000	100,000+ at an official event
Feature films	— (film added 1994)	100+	130+
Source	IDA	IDA	IDA

The 2012 film market: The Bunny Game deal

The 2012 SXSW Film Festival ran March 9–17, opening with the world premiere of Joss Whedon and Drew Goddard’s The Cabin in the Woods and screening 132 features — 74 of them world premieres — plus 138 shorts, chosen from a record 5,300-plus submissions (Film Threat). It was the festival’s business that mattered for The Bunny Game: on Thursday, March 8, the new distributor Autonomy Pictures — launched by Derek Curl, David Gregory of Severin Films and Lewis Tice of Danger After Dark to release “uncompromising cinema on a worldwide scale” — finalized its acquisition of the U.S. rights to Rehmeier’s film at SXSW (Screen Daily; Bloody Disgusting). Curl led the negotiations for Autonomy, with Julian Richards of Jinga Films representing the filmmakers; Autonomy planned four films for 2012, starting with The Bunny Game, slated for an uncut U.S. release in July (Screen Daily). The choice was deliberate: Autonomy made the controversial, UK-banned film its launch title, with Curl calling it “the last word on the torture-porn sub-genre” and Richards describing the acquisition as “a bold statement of intent” (Screen Daily).

Frequently asked questions

When and where is SXSW held? South by Southwest takes place every March in Austin, Texas. The 2012 film edition ran March 9–17, 2012; the event as a whole spans film, interactive media and music, with conferences alongside the festivals.

When did SXSW add a film festival? The film conference and festival joined SXSW in 1994, seven years after the music event began in 1987. By 1997 the film side was already showing more than 100 features with total festival attendance near 10,000.

How big was SXSW Film in 2012? The 2012 edition screened 132 features (74 world premieres, 17 North American premieres, 11 U.S. premieres) and 138 shorts — nearly 275 films selected from a record 5,300-plus submissions, a 7% increase over 2011. Fifty-eight of the features came from first-time directors.

What happened with The Bunny Game at SXSW 2012? On Thursday, March 8, 2012, the deal for Autonomy Pictures’ acquisition of the U.S. rights to The Bunny Game was finalized at SXSW. Autonomy planned the film as the launch title of a four-film 2012 slate, with an uncut U.S. release scheduled for July 2012.

Who negotiated the Autonomy–Bunny Game deal? Derek Curl took point for Autonomy Pictures, and Julian Richards of Jinga Films negotiated on behalf of the filmmakers, according to Screen Daily’s report of the finalized deal.

Timeline

• 1987 — the first SXSW music conference and festival in Austin: 172 bands, 700 registrants (IDA).
• 1994 — the film conference/festival joins SXSW (IDA).
• 1997 — the festival shows 100+ feature films; attendance nears 10,000 (IDA).
• 2012-03-08 — Autonomy Pictures finalizes its U.S.-rights deal for The Bunny Game at SXSW (Screen Daily).
• 2012-03-09 to 2012-03-17 — SXSW Film 2012: 132 features, 138 shorts, opening with The Cabin in the Woods (Film Threat).
• 2013 — SXSW draws 2,200+ musical acts, 130+ features and 100,000+ attendees (IDA).

What this profile does not claim

• It does not name SXSW’s current (post-2013) attendance, venues or dates — none were verified from a full-read source in this pass.
• It does not assert that the March 8 deal closed during the film festival’s official program; it reports Screen Daily’s wording (“finalised at SXSW on Thursday (Mar 8)”) and notes the calendar sits one day before the film program’s announced start.
• It does not claim Autonomy Pictures completed its announced four-film 2012 slate.

What we could not verify

• Whether Autonomy Pictures released all four films it announced for 2012, or only some of them.
• Any SXSW market deals beyond the Autonomy–Bunny Game acquisition — other 2012 acquisitions mentioned in general festival histories were not independently verified from full-read sources.
• The current scale, structure or ownership of SXSW (post-2013).

Sources

• Screen Daily — Autonomy Pictures kicks off with US rights deal on The Bunny Game (tier2; the 2012 SXSW acquisition deal)
• Bloody Disgusting — Autonomy Pictures Comes Out Playing ‘The Bunny Game’ (tier2; the deal’s principals and U.S. release plan)
• Film Threat — SXSW FILM ANNOUNCES MORE FILMS AND THE FILM CONFERENCE LINEUP FOR THE 2012 SXSW FILM FESTIVAL (tier2; the 2012 film edition’s dates, scale and lineup)
• International Documentary Association — SXSW Music Docs: Britpop Reunions, Post-Alt Road Trips, Blues Survivors (tier2; the 1987–2013 institutional history)