SXSW Seeks Proposals For 2020 Gathering

AUSTIN, TX — South by Southwest® has launched its 2020 season with the opening of PanelPicker® conference programming proposals, Film Festival submissions, and Music Showcasing Artist applications for next year’s event, officials announced on Monday.

SXSW will accept proposals through PanelPicker, an online tool that allows the SXSW community to have a significant voice in programming conference activities through an open proposal and voting process, beginning Friday, July 19. Community voting begins Monday, Aug. 5, and continues through Friday, Aug. 23. The SXSW Conference features 20 programming tracks, each featuring sessions that focus on a specific element of the track’s broad theme and with target audiences ranging from beginner-level to advanced.

Tracks for 2020 will include: Advertising & Brand Experience; Cannabusiness; Climate & Social Action; Connection & Culture; Creating & Monetizing Music; Design; Experiential Storytelling; Fantastic Future, Film & TV Industry; Future of Music; Gaming Industry; Government & Politics; Health & MedTech; Making Film & Episodics; Media & Journalism; Sports; Startups; Tech Industry & Enterprise; Workplace; and XR.

The SXSW Film Festival is now accepting Feature Film, Short Film, Episodic, Music Video, and Virtual Cinema submissions through Oct. 17. The Texas High School Short and Title Sequence categories will accept submissions through Dec. 12. Submit now for the early bird rate. The SXSW Music Festival is now accepting Showcasing Artist applications for 2020. The Music Festival is the destination for all who share a passion for creativity and new music discovery — industry professionals and influencers from the worlds of music, tech, and film, international media, and music fans. The application period closes on Oct. 25.

Apply early for a discounted rate. In addition to PanelPicker proposals for the SXSW Conference and applications to the Film Festival and Music Festival, SXSW is now seeking the best digital creative work for the Interactive Innovation Awards, the most inventive startups to enter SXSW Pitch, creative and persuasive essays and short stories for the David Carr Prize, and nominations for the SXSW Community Service Awards. Proposals for the Art Program are also now being accepted.

SXSW 2020 registration and housing will open Thursday, Aug. 1. For more information, please go here. The 2019 Conference featured more than 2,100 sessions, with speakers including Olivia Wilde, Jeffrey Katzenberg, Meg Whitman, T Bone Burnett, Adam Horovitz and Michael Diamond of the Beastie Boys, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Brené Brown, Stacey Abrams, Neil Gaiman, and more.

The SXSW Film Festival screened 133 features, 131 shorts, and 17 episodics in 8 venues across Austin. Films were selected from 8,495 submissions. The Feature Film slate screened 155 World Premieres, 14 North American Premieres, and 8 U.S. Premieres. More than 73,000 seats were filled at 425 individual screenings, while 26 Virtual Cinema VR/AR projects attracted 14,055 views over 3 days. The SXSW Music Festival showcased 1,964 artists on 94 stages, featuring 612 international acts representing 62 countries. The 7-day SXSW official music showcase attendance totaled over 159,000 at 2,727 total performances. Performers were selected from 7,712 applicants.

SXSW 2020 will take place March 13-22, 2020. For more information, visit sxsw.com. To register for the event, please visit sxsw.com/attendbeginning August 1, 2019.