I spent Sunday afternoon exploring the Interactive side of SXSW. First stop: the Interactive Keynote Conversation with Adafruit Industries’ Limor Fried and Phillip Torrone, Sr. Editor, MAKE Magazine. Billed as covering a “variety of fascinating topics including open source, hacking and the do-it-yourself (DIY) technology movement”, I thought it would be a good opportunity to stretch my brain a bit.

Torrone and Fried began the conversation by taking a look at some of their favorite recent projects, including:
-The bacon alarm clock – it actually warms up bacon for you. Ick.
-Gummy bear chandelier –The maker swears you can eat them for up to two years after it’s done. Don’t they melt from the heat?
-Plant project – the plants call you when they need water. And they’re pissed when they call.
-Deathstar subwoofer – need I say more?

[So far so good – I am understanding everything. The Deathstar subwoofer is now on the gift list for my brother, and the plant thing actually sounds like something that might save some of my greenery…]

The duo then went on to talk about how people are building their own technology and sharing it. At the most basic level, people share mechanics, i.e. they tell one another where to build the holes in the case. The next level of sharing is circuit board design, followed by sharing the software that runs inside microdevices. Fried also suggested that people may want to release data sheets and parts lists so that people can figure out where to get them. Apparently, Radio Shack is about to stop carrying all electronic components, so it’s really helpful to have info about where to get things.

[I have to admit – this panel is now officially over my head. I’m a film chick working for an online outlet. I took the SXSW guide’s suggestion to go to a panel out of my area and I have firmly landed outside of my comfort zone. Lots of talk of computer hardware and software I’ve never heard of. But this is the way you learn.]

Other tidbits I think I (correctly?) picked up:
-There’s a linksys router that you can tinker with to turn a $75 router into a $500 router. Now if only I’d spent the big bucks on a degree that taught me how to tinker…
-There is a lot of tension between various technology companies and their maker-savvy users. Apparently, the phone companies haven’t been the friendliest when it comes to letting people tinker with the software inside their devices. Not a surprise.
-Limor was working on an open source cell phone jammer, which is illegal in the United States. With open source projects, showing how to make the device is OK; building it and using it is not. Limor’s jammer fits it into a cigarette box. She did a demo of it during the panel…Verry sneaky, sis.
-Current debate: City-wide wifi debate. It’s an interesting concept that you can own property but not the airwaves above that property. Do you have the right to turn off city-wide wifi if you don’t want it in your school or your store or your company?

ONLINE FAN BASES & BLOGEBRITIES
Decided to continue my day of interactive panels at “Building an Online Fan Base”, where a group of experts and filmmakers talked about how to go about taking advantage of the web to promote one’s projects.

Top tips for indie filmmakers:
-If you take the time to listen & communication with your audience, you build what could be a community that has a vested interest in what you do.
-The very first step in building an online fan base is keeping it personal. Reach out to friends and family – call the 50 people you know. Then it will spread from there.
-Figure out what your hook is and the reach out to communities who would find that interesting, and get them talking about it. Look at the sliver of influential audience out there who can create awareness for your project.
-Don’t just get people’s emails – get their zip codes as well so that you can target screenings.
-Basic courtesy goes a long way. Keep in touch. Return emails in a timely way.

Afterwards, I stopped by “The Rise of the Blogebrity” panel. Lots of spirited debate about just what a “blogebrity” was, how web popularity is measured and creating online personas and brands.

WHAT WOULD JESUS BUY? was one of the most-talked about docs at SXSW and was received by an incredibly enthusiastic audience at its premiere at the Paramount. Produced by Morgan Spurlock (Super Size Me), the film follows the larger-than-life Reverend Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping gospel choir on their unorthodox national tour of consumer responsibility during the Christmas season.

We sat down with both Morgan and Rev. Billy to chat about the making of the film, spreading the word through humor and the impending "shopacalypse." Oh, and there's some singin', too!

PLAY VIDEO.

Made it to the airport just in time to fitfully sleep through my flight to Austin. Word of advice: if you're flying American, expect a lot of air conditioning and very few blankets.

The Austin airport is small and cute and easy to navigate. I always get a small thrill out of arriving in a new city. I suppose it's the residual, ancestral drive for exploration that resides somewhere deep in our genetic matter. As I drove from the airport into Austin, two things stuck out: the land is very, very flat and the sky is very, very blue. Suddenly, all the songs I've heard that reference the wide skies of Texas made a lot of sense.

After checking into the Hilton, I headed across the street to the convention center to pick up my badge and get situated. Despite the long line, everyone was incredibly friendly and in good spirits.

SUFFERING MAN'S CHARITY
Had barely enough time to make it over to the Paramount Theater to catch a screening of SUFFERING MAN'S CHARITY, directed by Alan Cummings. Mr. Cummings is known for making big, bold character choices and this black comedy provides ample opportunity. He plays Jonathan Vandermark, a music teacher with operatic aspirations, who takes in a writer named Sebastian, played by David Boreanaz (aka "Angel"). Alas, Sebastian is really a hustler, and when Vandermark finds out that he’s been played, he goes to extreme measures to get payback.

Cummings said that it was quite a challenge juggling his dual roles as actor and director. He joked, "It was hard to be splattered with blood and weeping and suddenly have to talk about camera angles." A theme for the piece was acting with abandon, and Cummings said that he asked everyone to approach their roles as if "jumping off a cliff."

Karen Black clearly took these instructions to heart in the role of, in her words, "a drunk nympho" that Sebastian brings home one night. Her special moment on a chair is a joy to watch.

Also a joy to watch - David Boreanaz clad in lingerie and Christmas lights. We interviewed Boreanaz on Saturday afternoon, where he filled us in on his unique wardrobe for SUFFERING, as well as his thoughts on independent film (video goodies coming soon).

OPENING NIGHT FILM: THE LOOKOUT
I exited the Paramount only to turn around and make my way right back inside for Oscar-nominated writer Scott Frank's directorial debut THE LOOKOUT. Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as Chris Pratt in this small town crime drama. A former high school athlete, Pratt suffers both physical and mental impairments from an accident he caused several years prior, and all he wants is to feel like he used to.

What sets the film apart is its focus on character and moral choices. Frank has done a good job in casting the film. Gordon-Levitt's sympathetic performance pulls the audience in, urging them to root for him to make the right choices. Supporting roles are strong, notably, Jeff Daniels’ as Pratt's blind, cantankerous caretaker and the effervescent Isla Fisher as Luvlee, the lady who lures Pratt into taking part in a bank heist.

OPENING NIGHT PARTY
Following the screening, I headed off to 401 Guadalupe for the Opening Party for the Film program. Sponsored by A&E IndieFilms, there were fajitas on the grill, port-o-potties, and an open bar - the perfect way to kick off a festival.

Spent some time talking with producer Corey Marr, director Matt Bissonnette and his wife Molly Parker, who stars in Bissonnette's WHO LOVES THE SUN (Special Screenings). As luck would have it, the pair is in town for the month while Parker is shooting the CBS pilot SWINGTOWN, so they were easily able to show up at the fest to support the film. iklipz interviewed the WHO LOVES THE SUN team at AFI FEST earlier this year – click here to watch red carpet & clips from the film.

My lack of sleep finally kicked in around 1:30, at which point I excused myself and made my way back for a night of glorious sleep...

The Dobie's tech set-up and our new NTSC HD copy has got to be the crispest we have ever seen our movie!

I can't say enough about LOL, directed by Joe Swanberg. The film is innovative in so many ways and though it may be a little rough around the edges at times, that adds to its charm and its revolutionary new genre: internet-love romantic-tragedy. Kevin's music is brilliant, Tippur's acting is fantastic, the story is frightening and funny, and the crew behind and in front of the camera are brave and true. Good luck with the film, guys.

Went to the closing night party last night at a grocery warehouse that doubles as a nightclub. Sleater-Kinney played... never heard them before (I'm a music retard), but they were great. But I must be getting old because the thought that kept running through my head was, "how come it's so f*#king loud?! If they just turn everything down just a little bit, I'd be able to listen to the nuance within the melody, etc etc." Then someone pointed out that everyone who goes to these concerts is either deaf or has cotton in their ears, so the band HAS to play loudly. I'm the idiot who forgot his cotton.

Porta-Potties are communal. You wait in line with friends that have to pee like you. But nobody talks about that. It's the white elephant in the room who's taking a dump on the coffee table and yet nobody wants to bring it up. Or maybe everyone's talking about it and I just can't hear them because the band is so fucking loud.

-Jake
Director, The Cassidy Kids

I always feel really nervous and actually sometimes rather sad when I have to sit through a screening of the film with an audience. No matter how hard you try you are continually distracted by anyone who moves or looks uncomfortable or worse still leaves (!) even though in most cases here they're just going to the loo due to the amount of enormous drinks (not to mention food) consummed during screenings!

Yesterday morning pre-screening I was beginning to feel a little like I'd been back on the Bata-ville bus, the combination of parties and jetlag is reproducing the eye-bag and blisters combo I've previously only experienced on the trip. We had a pretty good audience turn out and they seemed to laugh in all the right places - although how much of the Maryport dialogue came across remains a mystery. It was quite odd to watch something we've made so intimately with people from Britain in the US ... it makes you really aware of how specific to Britain but more importantly the current regeneration climate in Britain the film is. I found myself trying to imagine watching something about a village in Texas and how I'd see that. It somehow felt more anthropological than when I've seen it with a UK audience ... where there's always a real intimacy with the film and the characters. I'm certainly not saying that the audience didn't enjoy it or find it interesting but it did maybe feel less intimate.

That said Lya from the festival has been such a fan of the project that it has obviously touched her in some way that can cross a UK/US divide ... hopefully we'll get to catch her again before we leave as now we've seen it here there are lots more questions I'd like to ask her about how it comes across away from 'home'.

Straight afterwards we went into a screening of Danielson: a Family Movie and I felt a palpable sense of relaxing into the film and enjoying someone else's hard work! It's a hard won film made from 4 years of footage following the fascinating Danielson Family ... I actually can't wait to get back and do some more surfing on the film's site but also Danielson's own site - hand crafted artworks as well as songs. The director is our new festival friend and we talked most of the evening until Sleator Kinney cut through all conversation with an impressively wild set.

The four or five hours of sleep I've been getting every night since last Friday finally caught up with me. I'm back at my day job nodding off at my desk. Sitting still makes my eyelids very, very heavy. Last night I made the mistake of going to the Austin Chronicle Party instead of going to sleep. I looked for my people ... the Zellners, Heather Courtney, Bryan and Jake, but nothing. So I ate more appetizers, drank more Diet Coke and got stupid silly with Stacy, Tracy and Leslie. Tonight it's the Awards Ceremony, I think. I was hoping I might steal a nap beforehand, but I don't think that's gonna happen.

We're anxiously awaiting reviews. I've been on pins and needles. This is the part of the process that makes my belly ache. Well, shit, actually the whole process makes my belly ache.

A few of the bands/musicians from the film will be in town to play for SXSW ... Jose Gonzalez, Bosque Brown and Jeff Hanson. My music supervisor, Daniel Gill gets here tomorrow. Usually it's the music part of SXSW that draws all of my friends to Austin. I'm excited to show them the movie. No more tears on Thursday. I might be too tired to cry this time around.

We get to hang out with Alan and Eunhee from Inner Circle Line Thursday night. We met at the IFP Rough Cuts Lab last September and have been swapping stories, advice, experiences with each other ever since. I can't wait to see their film. I hear it's pretty wonderful.

Well we had our World Premier on Sunday and it was an amazing experience. Check these photos out. It looked and sounded great and the audience seemed to really get into it and enjoy it. Afterward we went over to the Karma Lounge and soaked in some music and friends. There were at least 2 more parties after ours, but I couldn't muster the energy to go out. I had to go home and crash.

Yesterday I saw a great film called LOL, directed by Joe Swanberg. I had seen his previous film, Kissing on the Mouth, and was impressed. LOL though is a huge step up/forward for him, I think. The music is great, the characters and their experiences hit very close to home, and the themes that Joe tackles are relavent and universal. The thing that struck me the most about Joe's film is the way in which he portrays our email life/communications as compared to our real lives outside of the internet. He reveals the way that we lie to ourselves about the reality around us. I think Joe is on to something here and I hope that he pursues it further.

Just did an interview in the plexiglass booth at the trade show with Mocha Jean Herrup. Mocha did a great job, though I think I was a little 'off' in my game. Not enough coffee I guess.

Going to The Last Romantic at 4pm. The Brothers Nee -- what a cool name.

-Jake
The Cassidy Kids, Director

Greetings from England - we're in town for the US premiere of 'Bata-ville: We are not afraid of the future' which we wrote, produced, directed, 'star' in and - ahem - distribute! Its playing at Dobie on Tuesday at 2pm and Thursday at 4.30 but we're also doing a Monday Studio SX interview at 5:30 with Lya Guerra and the Austin Movie Show the same day. Bata-ville's a leftfield road movie doc feature about a bus trip to the Czech Republic with some old folks - BUT its so much more interesting than that sounds. For starters we wear costumes throughout (and we'll be donning those for our TV appearances too). But one thing that makes it interesting for US audiences is that the target of the trip is the city of Zlin, the 1930's modernist town and shoe factory complex in the CR begun by one Mr Tomas Bata. Bata was one of the worlds first multinationals, starting from nowhere and founding a global corporation - in fact he is the Henry Ford of Eastern Europe.
So far in Austin we've done nothing more but have dinner and crash out at the lovely La Quinta (top marks for location but zero for broken toilet & cranky broadband connection in room!). Jetlag is fair to moderate at the mo, so we're looking forward to a pretty relaxed day doing a few of the seminars, getting the lie of the land and getting rid of the bags under our eyes. An expat friend have put us in touch with some folks involved with another doc feature here 'Summercamp' so we'll try and hook up with them too at some point. Say hi if you see us - one's blonde, ones a redhead!

Hi everyone. The reason that I'm in Austin for SXSW is that two of the films that I had a hand in producing (with Lars Knudsen and Anish Savjani) are screening here: OLD JOY and GRETCHEN. Which is super exciting. OLD JOY screened yesterday and will be screening again on Thursday, GRETCHEN will have her world premiere tomorrow afternoon at the Paramount. So for the first few days of the festival, I don't expect to see too many other films. Will be catching many of them on their second or third screenings. Looking forward to seeing as many as I can, including the short films.

Today, Kelly (director of OLD JOY) and I took a drive around Austin to check out some sights, thrift stores, record stores, and the LBJ Library/Museum. We had a pretty nice time, although it seems there are less and less record stores. As anyone who is here can tell you, the weather was warm today. As I write this, Kelly's at a film. BROTHER'S OF THE HEAD is playing tonight. I saw this film in New York, and loved it and have a bunch of friends that are heading over there now. I'm about to go meet up with Steve Collins, who directed GRETCHEN. Should be a fun time tomorrow at the Paramount, 1:30pm.

Anyway, today, Kelly and I snapped a few photos that I would like to share with you. The first two pictures, Kelly and I took of each other in masks at a thrift store on South Congress. These are the creepiest masks that I have ever seen/worn in my life, from the Order of Odd Fellows. . . indeed! We had fun, scared each other a little. (The effect is something like the Butthole Surfers Hairway to Steven album.) Then, a snapshot of a regular Austin treasure whose hand might wag out and scare you! LBJ Animatronic, at the time of this photo LBJA was telling a joke about a boy that told a lie to his momma about seeing a lion in the backyard, and was ordered to say prayers for an hour.

I officially finished post-production on The Cassidy Kids yesterday morning after an all night sound mix. I laid back the final sound onto the final picture HD tape and then breathed a huge sigh of relief. I spent the rest of the day making clip reels and then I headed over to the very strange, and yet incredibly profitable, Texas Film Hall of Fame. All I know is that this event is the single largest fundraising evening that the Austin Film Society puts on. It's a brilliant idea -- pull together a $10,000 per table event, have an auction, give out a few awards, and go home with $300K in grant money to distribute to struggling filmmakers. Snap!

After that I headed over to The Whiskey Bar to congratulate Heather Courtney on her successful screening of Letters from the Other Side. Then I went over to the opening night party and waited in line to go out onto the balcony. Who ever heard of waiting in line for half an hour to go out onto a silly balcony?!

-Jake
Director, The Cassidy Kids

At an SXSW film panel over the weekend, insiders talked about the social side of the biz: parties, networking, drinking... Karina over at the re-launched Cinematical.com reported on the session:

Intended, as [Allen] Bain put it, as "a brief anthropological study of [the behavoirs of] people who work in film," the most comprehensively covered theme seemed to be "how to behave at a party if you want someone to read your script."

Meanwhile, "Four Eyed Monsters" filmmakers Susan Buice and Arin Crumley's latest videoblog dispatch from Austin gives a first hand look inside a film party, as a group head to an after-party at the Hilton and then stumble across a tipsy woman chatting on her cell phone with a guy she is interested in...

If you've seen "The Devil and Daniel Johnston" no doubt you know about Laurie, the woman that the film's director Jeff Feuerzeig calls artists/musician Johnston's muse. Pictured after the screening of the film at SXSW is Laurie (right) with the Jeff Feuerzeig (center) and the film's producer Henry S. Rosenthal.

Film subject Daniel Johnston was also at the screening and the filmmakers tried to get him on-stage. After the surprise appearance by Laurie, he walked out of the Paramount, muttering that the woman was an imposter. [photo by Brian Brooks/indieWIRE]