Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW to screen at SXSW Film Festival

Arts+Labor announced that their new film, Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW, will have its World Premiere at its natural home, the 2011 South by Southwest Film Festival. Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW chronicles the origins and early evolution of the SXSW Music Festival, from breakthrough performances to fights over how to handle growth. It follows the four founders as they navigate through the successes, backlash, criticism and even arson to become the biggest music industry event in the world. The film will play in the 24 Beats Per Second Category on the following dates/times:

Wednesday, 3/16 at 4:30 PM at The Paramount (World Premiere)

Saturday, 3/19 at NOON at Vimeo theater

Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW has been over 15 years in the making. Alan Berg, co-founder of Arts+Labor, started the project as a short film, the Emmy® Award winning South by Southwest: The Business of Music in 1994. Since then, Berg and his team at Arts+Labor have had unprecedented access to the SXSW archives. In conjunction with the Austin History Center, the film’s producers mined the SXSW vaults to uncover two-and-a-half decades of archival film, video, and print coverage about the conference. The resulting project tells the complete story of the SXSW music festival, from its creation and struggles to becoming the gold standard of independent music festivals.

Roland Swenson, Co-Founder/Managing Director of SXSW says, “Alan Berg and his crew found footage we didn't know existed. The story they tell about the people involved with the birth and growth of SXSW as a cultural phenomenon is complex, nuanced and entertaining.”

The documentary tells the story of the art-driven, non-commercial movement and the challenges faced by its founders. Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW showcases rare footage of legends including Johnny Cash, Iggy Pop and dozens of others. It’s a love story to Austin, Texas, and all of the factors that make it the hub of the indie music lifestyle; the film captures the outsider communities, the bohemian creativity, the passion, and the individuality of the people that populate it.

For screening schedule, check the SXSW website at: www.schedule.sxsw.com/

About Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW
http://www.outsideindustrymovie.com
In 1980, four guys living on next to nothing started a regional music conference in Austin, Texas. They had no money, little experience, and low expectations. South by Southwest has grown from 700 attendees in its first year as a music-only festival to over 36,000 participants in 2010 for its expanded music, film and interactive festivals, achieving a global significance far beyond what the founders had dreamed. The festival’s massive and rapid success also drew backlash, criticism, and even arson, as the outsiders became the insiders. Outside Industry: The Story of SXSW goes backstage to show how this unprecedented music phenomenon became the most important music industry event in the world. The film features rare footage of rock legends such as Iggy Pop, Johnny Cash and Lucinda Williams and interviews with the four founders and key players in the history of SXSW.

Filmmakers’ Bio
Alan Berg, co-founder of Arts+Labor, is the film’s director. Berg won his first Emmy for the documentary short South by Southwest: The Business of Music in 1994, and he directed two additional feature-length documentaries that were distributed nationally by PBS. On this latest film, Berg leads a creative team that collectively has won international industry awards and screened at major festivals including Cannes Film Festival, Venice Film Festival, LA Film Festival, Tribeca, and Sundance. Joining Berg as Producers are Jason Wehling and Dawn Johnson. Wehling is a winner of the John Cassavetes Independent Spirit Award for August Evening. Johnson is an Emmy Award winning producer with fifteen years experience producing independent documentaries, as well as network series for PBS and A&E.

About Arts+Labor
http://www.arts-and-labor.com/
Founded in 1999 by Alan Berg and Kristin Johansen-Berg, Arts+Labor is a creative content company specializing in film, video, motion graphics and documentaries. Craig Parks joined the firm as Partner in 2009. The company has experienced significant growth over the past two years, and has produced a wide range of videos, films, online content and TV commercials.