Rapid Rise of Subscription Services – 2019 SXSW Programming Trends

Each year at SXSW, prominent trends emerge from Conference programming that provide insight into the future of tech, entertainment, and culture. From the 10 significant trends identified by the SXSW Programming Team for the 2019 event, the Rapid Rise of Subscription Services Trend explores the rise of content subscription services and the ever-growing demand for original content.

A practice as old as human history; the art of storytelling has evolved in recent years through the rise of streaming giants. Streaming services have heavily impacted pop-culture today by spreading the affordable monthly model, kick-starting the cord-cutting movement, and creating the binge-watching culture. With consumers demanding more and more original content, media companies are left to compete with one another in order to produce an endless amount of content.

Subscription services have been able to adapt to the on-demand mobility of today's consumers more so than traditional companies. But how has this on-demand ecosystem affected industries like TV? The Rapid Rise of Subscription Services Trend dives into the ripple effect created by streaming services.

Rapid Rise of Subscription Services Trend

Get in on the conversation at SXSW this March and be the first to know how the rise of subscription services is affecting the TV and film industry. The rise of streaming and binge-watching has allowed for plenty of content discovery but it has also caused artful title sequences to be skipped over. Lisa Bolan of Elastic, Paul Kim of Stealth Startup, Lola Landekic of Art of the Title and John Likens of Method Studios will discuss best practices for title sequence design in the session Designing Binge-Worthy Title Sequences for TV. Join Suzanne O’Malley of Law & Order UK and Roshan Sethi of The Resident as they share their remarkable stories on how they landed their own network series in the session From Zero to Showrunner in Five Years.

Now, more filmmakers are turning to television and raising the question, how do you independently produce TV, distribute it and make your money back? Find out the answer by joining Brian Brooks of SeriesFest, Nick Morton of Whitewater Films, Evan Shapiro of eshapTV and Miranda Sherman of OBB Pictures in their session Funding and Pitching Your Indie Episodic.

Due to the extensive amount of content on streaming services, viewers are often left watching a series outside of the marketing “launch” phase. Kadrian Alvarenga of FX Networks, Stephanie Gutierrez of Art Machine and Amy Shelby of The CW will address the question; how are we embracing delay-watchers?, in the session Live Long and Prosper: Marketing to Bingers. News organizations have learned to love the subscription model. Hear from Nick Cohen of Reuters, Mark Douglas of SteelHouse, Emilio Garcia-Ruiz of The Washington Post and Vivian Schiller of Civil Foundation on what it takes for news and media executives to push their organizations forward in the session The Media’s New Game:Revenue Roulette.

Rapid Rise of Subscription Services Session Highlights

• Designing Binge-Worthy Title Sequences for TV
• From Zero to Showrunner in Five Years
• Funding and Pitching Your Indie Episodic
• Live Long and Prosper: Marketing to Bingers
• The Media’s New Game:Revenue Roulette

Join Us for SXSW 2019

The SXSW Conference includes 10 different programming trends ranging from Music and Blockchain Hopes Over Hype to Conquering an Era of Digital Distrust. Learn and collaborate with others during this one-of-a-kind conference and get your SXSW 2019 Badge while there's still time! Join us to explore new opportunities over the course of 10 days filled with screenings, showcases, exhibitions, networking and more this March 8-17, in Austin, TX.

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Teaser Photo by Steven Snow