SXSW set up camp in London’s East End last year for its first ever UK show. Deadline has been covering announcements and news for this year’s lineup. We were also able to pull Programming Director, Katy Arnander, away from the rigors of getting this year’s festival in shape to take a deep dive into what to expect and how the team plans to put SXSW London on the map.
Deadline: Entering your second year, what did you read the first time that informed this year’s edition?
KATY ARNANDER: The episode is the show and the audience reading, and then there’s the performance reading, which was great. You just don’t know how things are going to work until the people are there and you can see how they interact through all the music, the screen and the conference equipment.
We got great feedback and great data because we had over 25,000 people last year. It gave us an opportunity to understand the types of audiences that come and get the most from a festival like this, which is about what’s new, what’s next and what the future brings, but also about exploring established and well-known creators, artists, business leaders, and visionaries in their fields.
Deadline: What came to the place last time?
ARNANDER: Loud voices with useful and valuable things to offer, heard like Björn Ulvaeus from ABBA, who came to talk about the role of AI and music. And there were many others… there were political speakers, there was Tony Blair in an interview with him [then UK Technology Minister] Peter Kyle talks about how AI will transform government. The King also visited, which was a surprise.
Impromptu interviews with high-profile names are always bullseye moments. We had Ben Lamm in conversation with Sophie Turner, talking about his company Colossal Bioscience and finding the DNA of extinct woolly mammoths. We call it unexpected pairings and ambiguous conversations.
Deadline: How has the conversation about AI progressed from the past?
ARNANDER: It has definitely become more nuanced. Last year, everyone was talking, what is it, what will it do? Twelve months later, it’s amazing how AI is here. Now, what are your applications? How can you use AI to help R&D? Let’s take a look at AI and misinformation in the world of news and media. Let’s look at AI in terms of making music.
Deadline: How much do you want to keep the DNA of SXSW in Austin?
ARNANDER: We want to bring the DNA from Austin, which includes people from technology and business and creative industries. London has all those things, especially East London. What Austin is to Texas, Shoreditch is to London, another melting pot of innovation.
The little bit we added to it, which Austin doesn’t have a lot of, is visual arts. We’ve had the YBA movement through Shoreditch and there’s a whole visual art and street art side to it.
Many of the best, most popular festivals have been going for years. They have built their brand and their foundation over many years, which is exactly what we aim to do, because we have a license for 10 years, at least, here in London.
Deadline: London is very diverse and international, how does your event reflect that?
ARNANDER: A celebration of the future and about what’s new, what’s next, and discovery. The great thing is that we have American companies that want to talk about what they are doing in Europe. Six hours from London means not only continental Europe, but also North Africa and the Middle East. That’s our area, so we have a huge spread of different countries and nations and industries and businesses. We can cover that part of the world, too [SXSW in Austin] it can include America, Central America and South America.
Deadline: Whether we are talking about music, film and TV, technology or art there are many events. Where does SXSW London fit into the jam-packed calendar?
ARNANDER: It’s different, which is the whole point. We are not a sector-specific event. Our main focus is to put our heads together, toss ideas around, to look to the future, and to actually not beat ourselves up.
I think SXSW reflects the reality of how we all work today. In fact, we are becoming more hyphenates and our festival represents that world and the way we live, work and play.
There is also this sense, more than ever, that people need to be together. If you have a group of people in a room who may be from the film industry or who may be from startups, someone may be a geneticist or a technology company, and you find them talking together, then there is a spark of ideas. You can’t reproduce that outside of a real life setting.
Those sad moments are what SXSW is famous for. We’ve really invested a lot of time, effort and thought into how we improve communication opportunities. And now we have a strong mentoring program with over 200 mentors coming to the event. We put together communal tables where you can have 10 people together with the president, and we organize networking parties and meetings.
Deadline: Going into the screenplay and the show, what are some of the highlights?
ARNANDER: We are very happy with the partnership we have with AGBO. The Russo brothers came to talk to them [AGBO CCO] Don Mustard, formerly of Epic Games, which is great. We have Russell T Davies, and Sharon Horgan is also coming and I’m a big fan of her. We’ve already announced a few of our titles at the Barbican, too The Savage House you are one of them.
Deadline: You said you had 25,000 people last time; Can you beat that this year?
ARNANDER: As for how many people we can fit in our spaces, there is a limited capacity, but this year, we are doing a lot of social activities and events. So, we’re doing some events in front of the Truman Brewery in Ely’s Yard, which is a public space. We do some events that may be down at Montacute Yards. There’s a lot more publicity this year, so we’re going to get a lot of footfall. And we’ve made a big deal with Waymo, the autonomous cars coming to London.
Deadline: Maybe stars can make their debuts in self-driving cars?
They don’t have their licenses yet, so they are in the testing phase, but next year they can come to the event in a Waymo car.
