Summer deRoche at SXSW – day one

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SXSW Summer DeRoche 1.jpgSceneOn, Melbourne filmmaker Summer deRoche, who uses modern media platforms to engage with audiences, is covering SXSW exclusively for Campaign Brief

I considered writing my first post on an amazing moment during A Conversation with Ryan Gosling and Guillermo Del Toro. When an audience member asked how Gosling thinks we should change female representation in film, Del Toro turned to Gosling and said “Don’t say hey girl.” But plenty of people have that story to tell.

Instead, I want to tell you about my “gentle rear ending” (I think I saw an R-rated film with that title once). I had been in Austin thirty minutes when my cab got rear-ended by a Hummer. I can only assume the Hummer Guy was preoccupied watching the latest season of House of Cards on his iPad.

GOSLING-SXSW.jpgTERRY-BLACKS-SXSW.jpgI came to SXSW to investigate how technology is changing the way we tell stories. Nowadays, people can watch anything, anywhere (even in traffic). There’s video games, podcasts, webseries, virtual realty, blog posts. The times, they are a-changing, and it’s getting harder and harder to stay on top of the digital age. But these emerging platforms also give us new ways to tell our stories.

My mission in Austin (along with eating BBQ… lots of BBQ) is to get a good grasp of what’s trending in entertainment technology, and to understand how different stories work on different platforms.

When the cab driver got back in the car – yes, the meter was running the whole time, just in case you were wondering – I asked him if this happens a lot. “No,” he stated casually. “Just twice.” Then he paused, scratched his face, and changed lanes. “Twice in this car,” he added. His last car had been hit four times before it was written off completely.

I clung to my chair, took a deep breath and wondered: what’s the best platform to tell this story?