SXSW 2009 has come and gone, and with that, here are some of the things that I experienced at this year’s film + interactive festival. I had missed out on SXSW 2008 but I told myself that I would not miss SXSW this next year! I arrived at the Austin Convention Center Friday afternoon and picked up my badge and goodie bags.  The trade shows and panels that I wanted to attend wouldn’t be until Saturday so I made my way back home to drop off my bags.  Since I live only 2 miles from downtown Austin, I decided to walk to my first destination, the Paramount Theater where I got the chance to catch a sneak peek of the new movie “I Love You Man!” The whole cast was present at the screening and stayed afterward for a great Q&A.  If you haven’t seen this movie yet, then you are missing out!

I also ran into my old friend Deborah McIntosh.  I haven’t seen her since we graduated from UT-Austin back in May of 2007.  She has since moved to LA and now works as a sales agent at the William Morris Agency.  Saturday came and it was time for a one-on-one mentorship regarding my new indie film “Hands of God”.  Deborah happened to be one of the mentors and I made my appointment with her.  We caught up with one another for a moment and told each other some of our experiences since graduating back in 2007.  I gave her a copy of the trailer for Hands of God and she told me that the moment I finish the movie (all post-production work) to send her a copy right away.  I’ve heard from many filmmakers that you should always have a sales agent before submitting your movie to film festivals.  Hopefully things will go well for us when I finish the movie later on this year.

Later that night, I went to the premiere of Ben Steinbauer’s new documentary: Winnebago Man, starring the legendary Jack Renbey.  This was by far my favorite movie at SXSW this year.  Let me give you all just a quick little info about the film. Jack Rebney is the most famous man you’ve never heard of.  After cursing his way through a Winnebago sales video, Rebney’s outrageously funny outtakes became an underground sensation and made him an Internet superstar.  In case you have never seen Jack Renbey’s famous outtakes, .  There was something special about the journey Ben took when he sought out Jack Renbey in the mountains of northern California.  The film really touched me when Jack finally revealed himself to his fans at a screening of his infamous outtakes in San Francisco, CA and finally came to terms with his fame.  Not only does he make so many people laugh with his outtakes, but in a way represents every one of us on a bad day and shows our frustrations and anger through everyday normal life.  Bravo to this Gem of a film at this year’s SXSW Film Festival.

Sunday! Sunday! Sunday!  I checked out some of the interactive panels as well as the SXSW arcade room.  I ran into the Videogame Hour Live crew and even played a few classic videogames with them.  I also got to play Left 4 Dead in 3D!  Yes, you read that right, Left 4 Dead in 3D!  NVIDIA has a new 3D feature with some of their brand new video cards and the results are phenomenal.  I may actually upgrade my old PC with this new video card just so I can go back and experience all of my old PC games in 3D.

I made my way over to the film panel “Building Your Team.”  Making your movie is only step one. The panelist shared all of their secrets and experienced when it came to selling and marketing an indie film. I’m glad I’ve made 2 other features before; otherwise I doubt I would have gotten this far. I met Dina Kuperstock, a sales agent from CAA at the panel. I gave a copy of the Hands of God trailer and she told me to also send her a copy of the film when it is complete.  Woohoo!  The Hands of God trailer is now in the hands of CAA and Will Morris sales agents as will be the completed film very soon.  I ended the day at the Paramount theater watching the new film from Focus Features titled “Sin Nombre” Great movie!

On Monday, I arrived early to the convention center to catch the panel “Get your P2 off my RedCode.” Ah, a panel where we could all speak geek.  I met panelists Don Downie and Justin Noto, and both shared their experiences in the freelance business.  Don explained how and why he chose the Panasonic P2 workflow while Justin explained why he went with the Sony EX workflow.  Since I hope to be buying a new HD camera later on this year, I was curious as to what they had to say.  Both gave great arguments for each side but I’m still undecided on what to go with.

Later that day, Robert Rodriguez and Henry Selick had a panel addressing their films and how they were now becoming part of the Third Dimension.  Since Spy Kids 3D, several other films have adopted the 3D form.  Henry Selick, director of the new film Coraline, talks about how they were able to shoot the movie in 3-D using stop motion animation.  .

All in all, I had a great time this year at SXSW and hope to do it again this year.  During my time at the festival, I met several other filmmakers which included: Justin Noto, Don Downie, Suezean Matarazzo, Randalldark, Andrew Roger, Chris Carrillo, Melissa Swanepoel, and my old friend from TSTV, Rey Garza.  If you haven’t been to SXSW before, then get down here to Austin TX next year and attend.  It will be one of the best decisions you will ever make, especially if you are in the video/film/web/design industry.