Voices of SXSW: How ‘Adult Spring Break’ Helps Keep Austin Weird
Cynthia Littleton Business Editor The guests on this week’s episode of Variety podcast “Strictly Business” are about two dozen people I conversed with last week while attending the SXSW conference and festival in Austin, Texas. They are in fact leaders in media and entertainment. As sophisticated and highly engaged consumers, their choices can make or break a streaming platform, a movie, a TV franchise, a tour or an album. I love the spirit of SXSW because it is a gathering that involves so many disciplines — even more than I knew. The weather in Austin was sunny for most of March 10-19 gathering, and so was the mood. Festival-goers making the rounds of downtown were only too eager to stop and talk to Variety about why they wanted to come to SXSW and what impressed them this year.