SXSW Presents: Fantastic Fest @ Midnight, and Panel Lineup announced!

We’re really excited about our latest announcement, and we think you will be too: In a joint venture with Fantastic Fest, we proudly bring you “SXSW Presents: Fantastic Fest @ Midnight”. In addition to the Official SXSW 'Midnighters' we announced previously, we’ll be screening six new premieres, exclusive to SXSW, which will serve as a kind of sampler of the midnight genre programming Fantastic Fest has made its signature.
Details are under wraps for now, but we promise to deliver the goods later this month, so keep checking back at sxsw.com, and find out more about “Geek Telluride” over at fantasticfest.com.

But the good news doesn’t end there! Heck no! Following our previously announced guests, we’re pleased to announce our SXSW 2009 panel lineup. We think this is our best yet, with over 60 panels from Friday, March 13 – Tuesday, March 17, covering a wide range of subjects from across the film spectrum.

We’re delighted that UT Film Clinical Professor John Pierson will be moderating a conversation with indie distribution guru Bob Berney. Berney’s career takes in success stories like Pan's Labyrinth, Y Tú Mama Tambien, The Passion Of The Christ, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding, from early exhibition days at the Inwood Theater, Dallas, through IFC Films, to founder/president of Newmarket and Picturehouse. In A Conversation with Bob Berney & John Pierson, Berney will discuss his career, the state of cinema, and the future of independent distribution in an increasingly diffuse media landscape.

Crash the Server -- How to Market your Movie by Achieving Webisode Awesomeness looks at webisodes as a means of harnessing the marketing and distribution power of the omniscient internet. Longtime Kevin Smith collaborators Chop Shop Entertainment’s Zak Knutson and Joey Figueroa, and View Askew Productions’ Ming Chen lead a workshop exploring how webisodes can build a film’s fan base and generate word of mouth long before opening weekend.

In Marketing Meets New Media: Building Your Audience Online, Scott Kirsner (Editor, CinemaTech/Author, "Fans, Friends and Followers") moderates a discussion exploring how filmmakers, musicians, bloggers and artists are taking matters into their own hands and building their brand online in a crowded New Media environment.
Joining Scott on the panel will be:
Natasha Wescoat - Natasha Wescoat Inc/Artist/Blogger
Jonathan Coulton - Musician
Brett Gaylor - RiP: A Remix Manifesto/Filmmaker
Burnie Burns - Rooster Teeth Productions
Markos Moulitsas - Creator/ DailyKos.com

Film reviewers are in the midst of some turbulent times, with print criticism apparently on the decline, while the internet hosts an ever-expanding multitude of amateur and professional Film journalism. Veteran critic Gerald Peary will be joined by Karina Longworth (Spout/SpoutBlog Editor), Scott Weinberg (Cinematical/FEARnet/Managing Editor) and Marjorie Baumgarten (Austin Chronicle/Film Editor), as they ponder the fate of The Incredible Shrinking (Expanding?) Film Critic Profession.

For the full lineup, head over to our panels page, and don’t forget, if you want to enjoy the panels, you need to pick up a badge, and SOON! Prices go up on Friday February 13, so get ‘em while they’re cheap!

As always, you can follow us on Myspace, Facebook or Twitter, and keep checking back here for our full schedule, short film program, and plenty of other events and announcements.

Stay tuned!