SXSW announces keynote, features speakers and artists

PRESS RELEASE: Image from Pretty City’s SXSW 2016 photo diary

SOUTH BY SOUTHWEST ANNOUNCES KEYNOTE LEE DANIELS AND SECOND ROUND OF FEATURED SPEAKERS FOR 2017

SXSW Music Festival Announces Select Artists Performing at 2017 event

Austin, Texas, September 6, 2016 –South by Southwest® (SXSW®) Conference and Festivals (March 10-19, 2017) announces its second wave of Keynotes and Featured Speakers for the 2017 event, with Academy Award-nominated Director Lee Daniels as Film Keynote. Daniels is best knownPrecious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire;thehit TV series Empire;and the 2013 critically aclaimed box office smash,The Butler. His new television series, Star, will premiere on Fox in early 2017.

Once again the Featured Speakers cut a wide swath across the tech, film, music, television, business, and journalism fields, reflecting the cross-collaboration SXSW is known for: multi-hyphenate luminaries and emerging talent working across industries and platforms. Featured Speakers include Cheryl Boone Isaacs, Kate Crawford, Bill Ford & Doug Newcomb, Parag Khanna, Kimbal Musk, Peggy Orenstein, Randall Poster, Vivek Ranadivé and Rachael Ray. The Featured Session “Product Mavericks: Top Tips from Women Who Build” was also announced, with Merci Grace, who leads the Growth team at Slack; Stephanie Hannon, Chief Technology Officer, Hillary for America; Tali Rapaport, Lyft VP of Product; and Fidji Simo, Director of Product at Facebook.

“The SXSW Conference is designed to give creatives the tools they need to achieve their goals, and what better way than bringing together a diverse slate of today’s influencers and making them available to all badge types, fueling the cross-industry creative combustion we’re known for,” said Janet Pierson, Head of Film. “We are particularly excited about Lee Daniels as Film Keynote for his unparalleled talent, passion, continued experimentation, and career evolution. He’s been the driving force behind so much extraordinary work in a number of ways. His artistic leaps and risk-taking are exactly what we love to celebrate at SXSW.”

New for 2017, the Interactive, Film, and Music badges will now include expanded access to more of the SXSW Conference & Festivals experience. Attendees will still receive primary entry to programming associated with their badge-type, but can now enjoy secondary access to most other SXSW events. SXSW’s first registration deadline is September 9th, 2016 at 11:59pm PT. Early registrants benefit from discounted rates.

Announced speakers include:

Keynote:

Lee Daniels (Film) – Daniels is a widely recognized director, writer, producer, and philanthropist in both the film and television space. He is perhaps best known for the 2013 critically acclaimed box office smash The Butler; Precious: Based on the Novel by Sapphire, which was nominated for six Academy Awards including “Best Motion Picture of the Year” and “Best Achievement in Directing”; and for his hit television series Empire. His new television series, Star, will premiere on Fox in early 2017.

Featured Speakers:

Cheryl Boone Isaacs – Boone Isaacs is serving her fourth term as president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. She has represented the Public Relations Branch as a governor for 24 years. She produced the Academy’s 2012 4th Annual Governors Awards;

Kate Crawford – Kate Crawford is a leading researcher, academic and author who works on the social implications of data, machine learning and AI. In 2016, she co-chaired the White House symposium AI Now, and wrote about AI and discrimination in The New York Times;

Bill Ford & Doug Newcomb – As Executive Chairman of Ford Motor Company, William Clay Ford Jr. is leading the company that put the world on wheels into the 21st century. He joined the Board of Directors in 1988 and has been its chairman since January 1999. He will be in conversation with C3 Group President and Co-founder Doug Newcomb, a respected journalist who has covered automotive technology for nearly three decades (Forbes, Wired, Popular Mechanics, Automotive, etc.) and is a leading authority on connected car and mobility;

Parag Khanna – Khanna is a leading global strategist, world traveler, and best-selling author. He is a Senior Research Fellow in the Centre on Asia and Globalisation at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore;

Kimbal Musk – Musk is on the boards of Chipotle, Tesla Motors, and SpaceX. His personal mission is to strengthen communities through food. Musk is a cofounder of The Kitchen, a growing family of restaurants that sources directly from local farmers;

Peggy Orenstein – Peggy Orenstein is the author of The New York Times best-sellers Girls & Sex, Cinderella Ate My Daughter and Waiting for Daisy among others. She has written for dozens of prestigious magazines and newspapers, with her articles anthologies many times;

Randall Poster – Renowned music supervisor, perhaps best known for his long-term collaboration with director Wes Anderson, as well as directors including Harmony Korine, Todd Haynes, Richard Linklater, Todd Phillips, Martin Scorsese, and Sam Mendes;

Vivek Ranadivé – Entrepreneur, technology visionary, The New York Times best-selling author and philanthropist, Ranadivé is recognized for his outside-the-box thinking. He is the owner and chairman of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings;

Rachael Ray – Television host, bestselling author and Austin enthusiast, Rachael Ray, has hosted her annual Feedback food and music events in Austin during SXSW for the last nine years which have played host to the likes of The Districts, J. Roddy Walston & The Business, Shovels & Rope, JEFF The Brotherhood, Blondie, Raekwon and over 150 other acts.

Featured Session:

Product Mavericks: Top Tips from Women Who Build
From leading video on Facebook to the CTO for the first woman presidential candidate, there’s no question that there are a group of female leaders taking over in the space of product development and they’ve without a doubt made it to the top. Hear from the women who are defying the numbers, building the products we’re all using each and every day, and are both figuratively and physically shaping our future. Panelists: Merci Grace leads the Growth team at Slack; Stephanie Hannon, Chief Technology Officer, Hillary for America; Tali Rapaport, Lyft VP of Product; and Fidji Simo, Director of Product at Facebook.

Music Festival:

The SXSW Music Festival is pleased to announce a small sample of artists scheduled to perform at the 2017 event. To whet the appetite, SXSW presents: Akina Adderley & The Vintage Playboys (Austin, TX), Agosto (San Isidro, Argentina), Alex Napping (Austin, TX), Rocky Banks (Houston, TX), Vera Blue (Forbes, Australia), BOOHER (Austin, TX), Cory Branan (Nashville, TN), Allysen Callery (Bristol, RI), Alex Cameron (Sydney, Australia), Laura Carbone (Mannheim, Germany), Chain of Flowers (Cardiff, UK – England), Chain Wallet (Bergen, Norway), Chelou (London, UK-England), Crater (Seattle, WA), Creepoid (Philadelphia, PA), Diet Cig (New Paltz, NY), Dubfire (Washington, DC), Forth Wanderers (Montclair, NJ), FOXTRAX (Los Angeles, CA), Colin Gilmore (Austin, TX), Henry Hall (New York, NY), Hard Proof (Austin, TX), Hoops (Bloomington, IN), Jain (Paris, France), Tameca Jones (Austin, TX), King Cayman (Madrid, Spain), Alex Lahey (Melbourne, Australia), Lazyeyes (Brooklyn, NY), Carlo Lio (Toronto, Canada), Demi Louise (Boronia, Australia), Elizabeth McQueen (EMQ and Psiplay) (Austin, TX), Misimplicity (Austin, TX), My Education (Austin, TX), Never Young (Oakland, CA), Agnes Obel (Berlin, Germany), Pastel Ghost (Brooklyn, NY), Sara ∏ (Barcelona, Spain), Polarheart (Sydney, Australia), The Quebe Sisters (Dallas, TX), Ratboys (Chicago, IL), Running Touch (Melbourne, Australia), San Fermin (Brooklyn, NY), Oscar Key Sung (Melbourne, Australia),S U R V I V E (Austin, TX), Tasha the Amazon (Toronto, Canada), Throttle (Melbourne, Australia), Trudy and the Romance (London, UK-England), Wafia (Brisbane, Australia), Miss Lavelle White and the L Men (Austin, TX), Yoke Lore (Brooklyn, NY), Jesse Colin Young (Aiken, SC), and Yung Gordon (Miami, FL). Please note: This list is subject to change. For more information on the SXSW Music Festival, please click here.

SXSW is accepting entries for the best digital creative work for the Interactive Innovation Awards, until December 2, 2016, video game projects for the SXSW Gaming Awards until December 2, 2016, inventive startups for the SXSW Accelerator competition until November 11, 2016 and a special pitch competition in Startup Village called ReleaseIt at SXSW until January 13, 2017.

SXSW Film Festival is accepting Feature Film, Short Film & Music Video submissions until October 20, 2016. Submit now for a reduced rate.

SXSW Music Festival is accepting Artist Applications through Sonicbids until October 21, 2016. Apply early for a discounted rate.

SXSW dedicates itself to helping creative people achieve their goals. Founded in 1987 in Austin, Texas, SXSW is best known for its conference and festivals that celebrate the convergence of the interactive, film and music industries. The event, an essential destination for global professionals, features sessions, showcases, screenings, exhibitions, and a variety of networking opportunities. SXSW proves that the most unexpected discoveries happen when diverse topics and people come together. SXSW 2017 will take place March 10-19, 2017.

SXSW 2017 is sponsored by Esurance, Mazda, Monster Energy, Anheuser-Busch, The Austin Chronicle, and Sonicbids.