As if there wan’t enough overlap among the three arms of South by Southwest, they’ve now announced Convergence programming. What it all boils down to is that your badge is going to be more useful than ever. Your Interactive badge gets you into some films and music programming. And that’s just the start.

Here’s a quick breakdown: Your Interactive and Film badge will get you into various tracks within both festivals including Entertainment and Immersion Programming, SXsports, Digital Domain, SXSW Comedy Sessions, the Future of TV, and the Startup Village. In a fit of common sense, the films that focus on music which are part of the 24 Beats Per Second programming will be open to Film and Music badge holders. Oh, but there’s more.

On Tuesday, March 17 – known as Convergence Day – any badge holder will be able prance around the fest like they have a Platinum badge, kinda. That means the Music conference, most of the Interactive panels at the Convention Center, comedy programming, and more will be open to anyone with any badge. It’s going to be anarchy!

The panels involved with this crazy cross-pollination include an interview with comedian and firebrand Russell Brand, a chat with Imagine Entertainment’s Brian Grazer about creativity, and Morgan Spurlock on hyper-reality TV. And that’s just a tiny portion of the info and fun available to you. Check out the full Convergence schedule and prepare for Interactive, Film, and Music commingling.

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James graduated from Columbia University in 2000 and moved to Austin a year later. Ever since, he has followed the arts and video game scene in ATX, editing and writing stories for the Chronicle along the way. Over his more than 20 years with the paper he has climbed the "corporate" ladder from lowly intern to managing editor.