SXSW 2009 in review

SXSW interactive was a disappointing clique fest this year, but luckily I opted for the Gold pass which gave me access to the film side of the festival. Instead of focusing on the same old social media stories and speakers - let's talk movies.

My SXSW adventure started before I reached Austin.  I was done with air travel and packed up my convertable for a multi-day roadtrip to Texas. I made it to Phoenix, and then my story became one challenge and plot twist after another. The best Hollywood writers couldn't come close to what I experienced and surmounted. But your humble narrator did surmount each and every challenge culimnating in her arrival in Austin. The universe had gave me the best gift I didn't ask for - the inspiration for my first film.

Cleaned up from several days without sleep and covered in road grime, I picked up my badge to hit the panels. Fresh with the inspiration of my adventure, I hit up the Script to Screen Panel - which delivered on it's promise: explain what a script goes through from inception through writing, getting actors, producers, directors involved, shooting, production and finally the premier. I was impressed with Catherine Hardwicke, director of Twilight, who I knew from her independent film Thirteen. The top five things I learned from here are

1. You have to have a passion for the issue. The script was written as a project between Catherine and Nikki as a way to focus Nikki's teenage energy in a positive way (instead of becoming like the character in the movie).
2. "It wasn't something we _wanted_ to do, we _had_ to do this. You have to feel this about your movie. You have to be willing to to do anything to make your movie."
3. Catherine created a mood book, that had pictures and colors to express the mood of the movie. She had a 5 minute teaser that included music. She said you have to make your project as solid as possible. You don't want it to be just a screenplay.
4. She practiced giving her pitch until it was perfect. "You only get one shot. Don't take it out before you are ready."
5. Hardwicke said it's important to listen to your actors and as a writer be willing to rewrite or add scenes for the character. She told about her experiences working and listening to Holly Hunter who suggested some modifications that gave depth to her characters.

Suzanne Weinert, producer of ExTerminators (which I later caught at the festival) had the best story about finding financers. She originally planned to have her film set in NYC, but when her funding came from Texas, changed the location to the Lone Star State. "Texas businessmen are some of the most comfortable people about risk. Their attitude is, if you drill a dry hole - just drill another one."

I indulged my inner scifi geek by joining Robert Rodriguez and Henry Selick's conversation from the Third Dimension. When I think of 3D neither of those names come to mind, but the one I do think of was mentioned - Ray Harryhausen. I was fascinated to learn that Rodriguez wanted to do several of his films in 3D - but it was prohibitively expensive. With new 3D technology, a film shot in 2D can be converted to 3D in post-production, so there may be some Rodriguez 3D versions eventually made. Henry Selick, director of Coraline, talked about his challenges shooting it in 3D. "Since we are shooting puppets, they can stay in one position for as long as we need them. So we used one camera, did a shot for the left eye, moved the camera over to the right and then took the shot for the right eye."

I was primed for some SciFi, so I popped over to the Alamo Lamar for some lunch and to catch SXSWs Official Selection Winner, Monsters from the Id, a documentary about SciFi Films and the architype of the College Professor in the 50s. Science Fiction usually tells us more about the writer's time, than the time in which the story is set. Monsters from the Id, tells just this story: the American romance with science. These movies inspired an entire generation of young scientists who discovered the answers to hard questions which advanced math, physics, biology and chemisty. This same inspiration is needed today. Beautifully told with color interviews and black and white movie clips, Monsters from the Id is a call to arms as well as homage to the future of the 50s.

Stay tuned for more SXSW coverage about Mushrooms, Remixing and Living in Public.