Page 6 - Film Festival Journal + Review Spring/Summer 2020

MARCH 2020...
THE BEGINNING OF THE NIGHMARE THAT WRECKED THE MOVIE BUSINESS

SXSW 2020 Canceled After Austin Mayor Declares 'State of Emergency' Due to Coronavirus
The 2020 SXSW festival was supposed to run from March 13 to March 20. It was scrapped on March 6 after multiple
performers canceled their schedule appearances due to the coronavirus threat. “The City of Austin has canceled the March
dates for SXSW and SXSW EDU. SXSW will faithfully follow the City’s directions,” the cancellation statement read.
“This is the first time in 34 years that the March event will not take place.”

Festival organizers shared the following statement online, adding that they are “devastated,” but will fol-
low the City of Austin’s decision: The City of Austin has cancelled the March dates for SXSW and SXSW EDU.
SXSW will faithfully follow the City’s directions.
We are devastated to share this news with you. “The show must go on” is in our DNA, and this is the first
time in 34 years that the March event will not take place. We are now working through the ramifications of this
unprecedented situation.
As recently as that Wednesday, Austin Public Health stated that “there’s no evidence that closing SXSW
or any other gatherings will make the community safer.” However, this situation evolved rapidly, and we hon-
or and respect the City of Austin’s decision. We are committed to do our part to help protect our staff,
attendees, and fellow Austinites.
“We are exploring options to reschedule the event and are working to provide a virtual SXSW online ex-
perience as soon as possible for 2020 participants, starting with SXSW EDU. For our registrants, clients, and
participants we will be in touch as soon as possible and will publish an FAQ.
We understand the gravity of the situation for all the creatives who utilize SXSW to accelerate their careers; for
the global businesses; and for Austin and the hundreds of small businesses – venues, theatres, vendors, produc-
tion companies, service industry staff, and other partners that rely so heavily on the increased business that
SXSW attracts.”
We will continue to work hard to bring you the unique events you love. Though it’s true that our March
2020 event will no longer take place in the way that we intended, we continue to strive toward our purpose –
helping creative people achieve their goals.
Between that Thursday night and Friday morning, three more cases had been confirmed in Texas. There are
currently 66 confirmed cases in California, where many of the participating media and tech companies are
based.
Prior to the announcement, much of Hollywood and Silicon Valley had already canceled their plans for the
annual festival, which was scheduled to run from March 13 through March 22.
Amazon Studios, Apple, Netflix, Facebook, Twitter, and Starz had been among the companies that had
canceled their SXSW plans, while Starz parent Lionsgate and HBO Max and CNN parent Warner Media had
scaled back their activities.
AMC had pulled its featured session with Jason Segel to promote his new series, “Dispatches From Else-
where.” Meanwhile, NBCUniversal had decided to no longer participate in SXSW this year; NBC News first
reported the news on that Thursday. No panels had been officially announced, but NBCU had intended to once
more set up its Comcast NBCUniversal House, which last year featured immersive virtual reality, gaming ex-
periences and panels.
Additionally, Sony had canceled its panel for AMC’s “Better Call Saul.” Co-creator Peter Gould tweeted
late Thursday that he was “very sorry and disappointed” that the event had been dropped from the schedule.
AMC’s panel for “The Walking Dead: World Beyond” had also been canceled, following the withdrawal of
media hosts IGN and Mashable.

6 FILM FESTIVAL JOURNAL SUMMER 2020