South by Southwest
Conferences and Festivals

Only two days left to cast your vote for the 5th Annual SXSWclick Festival. In addition to the Popularity Contest Award, jury winners in each of the five categories, including the Grand Jury Prize winner, will be announced August 1st.

Another summer of Hollywood blockbusters is winding down. Cars will stop exploding and super heroes will take the night off. Yes, this is the little window in the movie season that’s a bit more up my alley. I’m definitely excited for a couple of upcoming screwball comedies.

STEP BROTHERS
This Friday, Will Ferrell and John C. Reilly are back in “Step
Brothers.” Did you happen to catch them on the ESPYs last night?
Hilarious!

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS
Then James Franco has ditched the summer blockbuster and gone
back to his “Freaks and Geeks” roots with “Pineapple Express". A
much better choice, James.

TROPIC THUNDER
I didn’t see “Iron Man", but I’ll definitely watch Robert Downey
Jr. in “Tropic Thunder".

BURN AFTER READING
And the last comedy on the list is from my favorite directors,
The Coens. “Burn After Reading” has a stellar cast. Frances
McDormand is always great and I can’t wait to see Brad Pitt work
with that witty Coen dialogue.

AMERICAN TEEN
This one doesn’t fit in this genre, but “American Teen”
is another flick I’ve been anxiously anticipating. I sadly
missed the screening of this A&E IndieFilms production at SXSW.
I regrettably missed it at LAFF. Lucky for me, I can catch it in
the theater this Friday. Hey, maybe I’ll make it a double
feature!

Now that’s a concept that hadn’t occurred to me until I read an article the other day about the partnership between VideoJug and Kiva. As their motto says, “Life Explained. On Film.”, VideoJug produces professional shorts made up of informative “how-to” videos and “ask the expert” films. I learned about Kiva about a year ago on a PBS special. Kiva is a person-to-person micro-lending site that helps entrepreneurs around the world. It’s a unique partnership - one you don’t see every day - in that VideoJug is offering Kiva free video production services to encourage the micro-finance movement. I think my heart grew three sizes that day. - Hiliary Kerby, SXSW Film

We are thrilled to announce the fifteen finalists in the five SXSWclick categories. The finalists have been posted here for your viewing pleasures.
Don’t forget to vote for your favorite finalist to win the Popularity Contest Award.
In addition to the Popularity Contest Award, jury winners in each of the five categories, including the Grand Jury Prize winner, will be announced August 1st. You can vote once daily for your favorite finalist until midnight on Friday, July 27th. Happy Viewing!

The final submission deadline for the 5th annual SXSWclick competition is today, Friday, June 13 (postmark deadline). If you want a chance to get your cool online video seen by the SXSW audience and our influential panel of judges,
then don’t delay and enter today! This year’s winners will receive a plethora of prizes and software from our amazing sponsors and a screening slot at SXSW 2009.