‘SXSW 2020 Pilot Showcase’ to Make Vimeo Debut in April

Los Angeles- In the wake of the cancelled 2020 SXSW Film Festival, a group of filmmakers officially selected for the 2020 SXSW Episodic Pilot Competition are launching a ‘SXSW 2020 Pilot Showcase’ on Vimeo, a streaming event to preview diversity led (more than half LGBT content and creators) pilots from the festival for free to global audiences, starting on April 14th, 2020.

The line-up includes six exclusive online premieres, including two documentaries, hailing from all over the world — from the US to Australia to Japan to the UK — introducing audiences to the clever voices behind edgy comedies Bored, Cooper’s Bar, The Dream and This Isn’t Me, and engaging documentaries Bananas and Homecoming: The Journey of Cardboard.

After last month’s SXSW cancellation people across the industry are struggling to find ways to adapt, but episodic filmmakers whose work was set to debut there are now facing a particularly tricky challenge. With no festival premiere, these creators — many of them early in their careers — have suddenly found themselves without a platform to launch or promote their potential breakout series.

“We saw a need to pivot on the cancellation of SXSW and open up conversations with online platforms about how to now connect with an audience — at a time when connection feels more important than ever,” said Coral Amiga and Nicole Hartley, co-creators of the pilot Bored. They reached out to Vimeo and set out to create a special showcase of select SXSW 2020 Film Festival episodic pilots available to the public, which perhaps in normal circumstances wouldn’t be.

“Vimeo is proud to offer creators of all kinds a platform to share their stories, now and always,” said Courtney Horwitz, Head of Brand and Content at Vimeo.

“This sampling of our Episodic Pilot program showcases diverse perspectives using comedy and heart to tackle the complexities and joys of human connection,” said Claudette Godfrey, Senior Film Programmer. “In this time of uncertainty, we love seeing these filmmakers forging a path for their work to connect to the audience who we know could use some laughs.”

So with Vimeo providing a digital home for this exciting slate of pilots, now you can sit back and enjoy them from wherever you are. The unique SXSW experience cannot be recreated, but by watching the pilots, audiences are supporting the artists and, in turn, helping them along their journey during these uncertain times.

Please enjoy a selection of the SXSW 2020 Official Episodic Pilot Competition. The pilots will remain available for at least one month with a virtual Q&A with the creators on Thursday, April 23, 2020 (more details to come):

SXSW Episodic Pilot Showcase: vimeo.com/showcase/sxsw2020episodicpilots

SXSW Shorts Channel: vimeo.com/channels/sxswshorts

Below are the select titles with links to vimeo:

Bananas

Documentary, LGBTQ

Director: Rachel Anderson; Screenwriter: Rachel Anderson, Mary Duong

Bored

Comedy, LGBTQ

Director: Georgia Oakley; Screenwriter: Coral Amiga & Nicole Hartley

Cooper’s Bar

Comedy

Director: Alfredo de Villa; Screenwriter: Nick Morton, David Conolly