• by Karl Greenberg , March 7, 2008

Starting this week, the 20th South by Southwest (SXSW) festival brings movies, music, media, and marketers to Austin, Texas. The confab, starting today and running through next Sunday fuses the SXSW Music and Media Conference; Interactive Festival; and Film Festival and Conference into one city-wide event celebrating independent media.

Major sponsors include Dell, Miller Lite, Citi, Microsoft, Fuse, the Independent Film Channel (IFC) and Toyota's Yaris compact sedan. Toyota will reprise "Free Yr Radio," a co-branded program with Urban Outfitters launched at last year's festival.

The program this year includes a launch party on Wednesday at La Zona Rosa, co-hosted by Austin's independent radio station, KVRX. And during each day of the festival, Minnesota independent radio station "The Current" will broadcast live at the venue for Free Yr Radio, called "Broadcast Corner" near the Convention Center.

Toyota will also promote its Yaris car on site with Free Yr Radio Yaris shuttles during the day and evening. Beyond the festival itself, the "Free Yr Radio" concert series will run from April through October. And there will also be a vehicle sweepstakes, in which independent radio stations will award a new Yaris to a listener during fundraising or awareness-boosting activities.

Evan Shapiro, general manager of IFC, which has been a SXSW sponsor for three years, said IFC will be broadcasting and podcasting live on film, music and culture for the duration of the festival via a Web series called Lunch Box, a hosted series serving up daily news, ideas and events in film, music and politics from the show.

"We don't think SXSW is important," Shapiro tells Marketing Daily, "we think it is critical. We pride ourselves on being a voice of independent culture, and if you take a brief look around: every nominee for the Academy Awards and Spirit Awards came from independent film. One third of all music sales are from independent music. And the open-source mentality is defining the Internet now. And going to SXSW is a pilgrimage to altar of independent media."

He says IFC is also creating a multi-media and music event called "Crossroads" on Tuesday, the day the film festival ends and the music festival begins. "I see Austin and SXSW as that beach town or that restaurant or band you discovered, but which more and more people have also been discovering," he says.

Shapiro says the fact that more and more people are attending SXSW virtually has made it into a de facto national event, rather like ComicCon, which, thanks to the migration of superhero properties into studio films and licensed merchandise, has expanded beyond a niche conference for hard-core comic book junkies to the mainstream.

One of IFC's documentaries chosen for screening at SXSW is "At the Death House Door," which examines the death penalty by focusing on a Texas death row chaplain. The film is being promoted during SXSW via a hearing Thursday at the Texas State Capitol on the death penalty. Also, IFC is hosting panel discussions. The docufilm premieres May 29 on IFC.

A spokesperson for Miller Brewing Company says the company, the exclusive beer sponsor of SXSW since 2001, sees SXSW as an opportunity to create "an emotional bond with the Millennial Pack -- one of our target consumers. Music is a key passion group critical to the success of Miller Lite.

"What makes SXSW different from other music 'festivals,' he says, "is that the majority of activities take place in licensed venues throughout Austin. This provides us an opportunity to strengthen our relationships with those owners who appreciate Miller's support of music in the community."