Four headline speakers with knowledge from different industries are coming to SXSW Sydney this October, bringing the insider info needed for a big career and big future.
Once a year, some of the world’s best thinkers come together to trade ideas for SXSW in Austin, Texas. It’s a city-wide music festival, futurist think tank, game showcase, film and TV world premiere launchpad, technology expo and more.
Well, it used to be once a year.
Now, the creative platform that is SXSW will head to the Asia-Pacific, premiering this October in sunny Sydney.
“South By Southwest (SXSW) is known globally as a key incubator of bold and exciting ideas. A festival like this truly couldn't have come at a better time,” Minister for Jobs and Tourism, Minister for the Arts and Minister for Music and the Night-time Economy, John Graham says.
“The NSW Government is currently in conversation with the creative community to develop the state’s first arts, cultural and creative industries policy."
“The list of internationally renowned tech and creative industry leaders – visionaries in their fields – joining the inaugural SXSW Sydney programme provides a fantastic opportunity to jump start the conversation on how we foster the development of these sectors in NSW.”
The inaugural Sydney event will comprise of more than 1,000 events, speakers and music acts – including four unmissable headline speakers. Each of the speakers highlights SXSW’s foundational pillars: music, tech, and screen.
Coachella CEO Paul Tollett will provide insight on the music side of things, ‘Queer Eye’ Fab Five fashionista Tan France offers wisdom about the screen, and Slack Co-Founder Cal Henderson and futurist Amy Webb front the tech programme.
More than 700 world-leading speakers and industry leaders have already been announced, including Motion Picture Association CEO Charles Rivkin, Netflix ANZ Director Of Content Que Minh Luu, broadcaster Osher Gunsberg, World Surfing Champion Layne Beachley, and more.
Plus, there are more than 300 panels and sessions to keep you at the forefront, and no topic will be left untouched. There’s ethical living with robots, re-imagining news media, First Nations knowledge in design, when music videos meet AI, and more.
Not to mention musical performances, from the likes of USA’s Flyana Boss, Australian up-and-comers South Summit, Chanel Loren and Gut Health, the UK’s Sorry, South Korea’s ADOY, Indonesia’s Isyana Sarasvati and more.
“With just under three months to go, this is the first time we’ve been able to hint at the scope of the inaugural SXSW Sydney,” SXSW Sydney Managing Director Colin Daniels says. “Never before have this many entrepreneurs, artists, futurists, innovators and titans of every industry all been in Sydney at one time. As we pull together over 1,000 events and experiences, our team are still searching for a poster big enough to reveal it all.”
“After 19 visits to SXSW in Austin over the years, I can’t wait to see what we think of as ‘the United Nations of the creative industries’ here in Sydney.”
SXSW Sydney takes place from 15-22 October.
