Monday afternoon I arrived in Austin, Texas for the annual South by Southwest Film Festival. The film festival is in full swing, the interactive festival just ended and the music is just starting. Basically Austin is the place to be this week! I have dreamed of attending SXSW for about 10 years. I first acknowledged how awesome the festival is after I read an article about John Stamos attending with a film, and I do love him from the Uncle Jesse years. During the fall I started researching the process for receiving press credentials so I could cover the festival for the WIP. Now it’s March and I’m here! I’ve heard that SXSW is a week-long party with great films and awesome shows, and my first day at the festival was straight up bananas!
The festival started on Friday, but I didn’t arrive until yesterday as I was busy driving from my home in the Bay Area to Austin. I stopped along the way in Palm Springs; baseball’s spring training in Phoenix, Arizona; and the jewel of east Texas, Marfa. Each day brought a new adventure and lots of time in the car. Once I arrived in Austin I was exhausted and exhilarated!
• The director and cast of Win Win. •
I wanted to make sure I saw a film last night, so I picked a screening in the largest theater just to be safe. The Paramount seats 1,200 people so I easily secured a seat to see Win Win. The film stars Paul Giamatti and Amy Ryan as a married couple who befriend a troubled teen who happens to be a wrestling prodigy. To further complicate the interpersonal relationships, Giamatti takes over the kid’s grandfather’s guardianship under shady circumstances. During Sundance I had the chance to see Win Win, but just wasn’t that enthused. The description in the film guide just didn’t grab me despite Director Tom McCarthy’s impressive resume (The Visitor and The Station Agent). Having low expectations is sometimes the best thing ever. A quarter of the way into Win Win I realized it was so good! I do love sports movies, and Win Win was well done and touching. Giamatti and Ryan (who were at the screening) had fantastic onscreen chemistry, and Alex Schaffer – who is an accomplished high school wrestler in real life – was impressive in his acting debut.
After the movie, I stopped by the Oscilloscope party for their film Bellflower as they are one of my favorite distribution companies. There were donuts served out of a vintage airstream trailer and plenty of keg beer. While munching on donuts, I watched a cricket eating contest (a reference to Bellflower). I then met up with some of my tech friends at the Zenga (as in the Farmville creator) party. The venue was huge, the crowd was the enthused, the well drinks were free, and TV on the Radio was playing on stage. The party Farmville money can buy! Around 1 a.m. I realized that I was too tired to keep dancing and headed back to the hotel to rest before day 2.
Oh, jealous! Sounds like a great time, Jessica. I am glad to hear about Win Win. I saw the trailer and the film did pique my interest. Now I will be sure to see it. Too bad I’ll miss the crickets, donuts and kegs of beer! Have fun. Please keep up the updates. Its fun to vicariously attend SXSW through you!