SINGAPORE – SXSW Sydney is shaping up to be one of the most eclectic entertainment and technology events in the Asia-Pacific.
The collection of festivals, as well as a conference and an expo, will take place in Sydney, Australia, from Oct 15 to 22. It is the first spin-off of the famous South by Southwest (SXSW) held every year in Austin, Texas.
Like the original, the inaugural Sydney edition will feature appearances by up-and-coming and A-list names in music, gaming, screen entertainment, and technology and innovation.
Oscar-winning Australian actress Nicole Kidman will headline a session discussing her Hollywood production company Blossom Films, which produced her Emmy-winning drama series Big Little Lies (2017 to 2019).
American hip-hop star Chance the Rapper and British screenwriter Charlie Brooker (Black Mirror, 2011 to present) are both delivering keynote speeches.
And the opening-night film is The Royal Hotel, a thriller starring American actress Julia Garner (Ozark, 2017 to 2022) and British-Singaporean actress Jessica Henwick (The Matrix Resurrections, 2021).
A handful of Singaporeans are also taking part as speakers, many jumping at the chance to attend a “South by”, as SXSW is known, close to home.
Among them are executives from The Secret Little Agency, a home-grown creative company which will highlight its Asian Creators Index, a database showcasing 400 or so under-the-radar Asian artistes, including some 70 Singaporeans.
Ms Eunice Tan is group chief executive of the agency – which does branding, advertising and communications for clients such as the Star Alliance airline group and Marriott Bonvoy Hotels – and will lead a panel discussion about what informs “visual culture”, or the design and look of media, branding and art.
The 39-year-old says: “It’s super important to have diversity and representation in visual culture. As we explore and traverse the region, we find inspirational craftspeople and creators.
“So we decided to compile them in an index that anyone – whether you’re a business or a brand, or someone looking to shoot a film and needing an animator – can dive into.”
The event was also a chance for Ms Tan to attend SXSW without having to go all the way to Texas.
“I have not been to the Austin event, but it’s always been on my radar and I’d always planned to go,” she says. “So when we saw they were doing a satellite event in Sydney, we thought that’s great because it’s a little closer to home.
“We also wanted to see how we can contribute a perspective from South-east Asia and the Asia-Pacific.”
The event is viewed by many as a unique opportunity for trend-spotting.
This is one reason that the keynote address by American futurist Amy Webb, who mines data for insights into emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, is expected to be a hot ticket.
Ms Tan says: “We come from a creative industry, so being able to see what are the interesting trends and patterns in innovation, music or film is important to us.
“We want to be inspired and see how we can take some of that back to our own work, and share it with our clients and show them what’s popping and being discussed globally.
“It’s like having a peek into the future.”
Ms Tan adds that there are no comparable events currently held in the Asia-Pacific.
“There are different things – such as the Busan International Film Festival or Singapore FinTech Festival – but not one event that houses the spectrum of music, film and technology,” she says.
“It’s like a melting pot and meeting of minds all in one spot, and it’s always exciting to see all these ideas converge.”
