SXSW Film Announces First Keynote and Oodles of Panels

Mark Duplass, the prolific actor and filmmaker, is the first of the four keynote speakers to be announced by SXSW Film. Beginning last year, the festival moved to a format of daily keynote speakers. The three other speakers are yet to be announced.

The Duplass announcement joins other news released today about confirmed conversations, panels, mentor sessions, and workshops, many of which came about through SXSW’s trademarked PanelPicker proposal process that invites contributions from the public. Another exciting announcement is A Conversation With Shekhar Kapur, the Indian director of Elizabeth and Bandit Queen, who also works in Hollywood.

A quick scan of other panels and workshops that stand out include, So You Want to Make a Midnight Movie?, Secret Is Out! Distributors Reveal Their Numbers, Studio Star Power: How Casting Really Works, VHS: Never Forget, Alfred Molina’s Shakespeare Workshop for Everyone, and What’s the Value of Your Digital Rights? For the complete list, visit sxsw.com/film. For the complete list of Convergence offerings announced yesterday see sxsw.com/convergence. One of the big changes in the Convergence programming this year is their availability to more than one badge type. It’s convergence in action.