SXSW Unveils New Keynotes, Adds Stephen Colbert, Samantha Bee, ‘Little Fires Everywhere’, ‘Supernatural’ To Featured Speakers And Sessions

Dino-Ray Ramos

South by Southwest (SXSW) unveiled a new roster of Keynotes as well as additional featured speakers and sessions for the 34th edition of music-film-tech confab which will take place in Austin March 13-22.

Among the new Keynotes announced were Grammy-winning musician Diplo as well as award-winning immersive artist Gabo Arora and Emerson Collective founder and president Laurene Powell Jobs. They join previously announced Keynotes include Erin Lee Carr (Film), Reggie Fils-Aimé (Convergence), Kim Gordon (Music), Roger Waters (Music), and Whitney Wolfe Herd and Jon Korngold with Gayle King (Interactive).

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For the featured speaker slate, SXSW has added a slew of names including Samantha Bee, Stephen Colbert, #metoo founder Tarana Burke, CEO of Twitter and Square Jack Dorsey, Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness and more. For featured sessions, Little Fires Everywhere showrunner and executive producer Liz Tigelaar will be joined by directors Lynn Shelton, Nzingha Stewart, Michael Weaver, and fellow executive producers Lauren Neustadter and Pilar Savone to talk about the forthcoming Hulu series based on the Celeste Ng novel. In addition, Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins will be in attendance for the long-running CW sci-fi series Supernatural, which is set to celebrate its final season.

Read the new additions below.

Newly-announced SXSW 2020 Keynotes include:

  • Award-winning immersive artist, professor and former UN diplomat Gabo Arora (Convergence)

  • Grammy-winning musician, DJ, producer, and cultural figure Thomas Wesley Pentz, better known as Diplo (Music).

  • Emerson Collective founder and president Laurene Powell Jobs (Convergence)

Newly-announced Featured Speakers include:

  • Full Frontal with Samantha Bee host, comedian, writer, producer, and actress Samantha Bee (Media & Journalism)

  • Researcher and #1 New York Times bestselling author Dr. Brené Brown as part of the launch of her new weekly podcast, Unlocking Us, in conversation with activist and #metoo founder Tarana Burke, on the topic of empathy (Social & Global Impact)

  • Veteran industry executive and River House Artists founder Lynn Oliver-Cline (Creating & Monetizing Music)

  • Award-winning executive producer, writer and host of The Late Show with Stephen Colbert, best-selling author, actor, producer and comedian Stephen Colbert (Film & TV Industry)

  • Patreon co-founder, musician, and filmmaker Jack Conte (Future of Music)

  • Co-founder and CEO of Twitter and Square Jack Dorsey in conversation with Axios business editor Dan Primack (Tech Industry & Enterprise)

  • Investor and bestselling author Tim Ferriss in conversation with neuroscientist, philosopher, and bestselling author Sam Harris in a live version of The Tim Ferriss Show podcast, where they will discuss dangerous ideas, meditation, psychedelics, and more (Connection & Culture)

  • Center for Humane Technology co-founder and design ethicist Tristan Harris (Design)

  • Thirty Five Ventures co-founder and partner, and Kevin Durant’s manager Rich Kleiman in conversation with ESPN Host, former basketball player, and entrepreneur Jay Williams in a discussion about The Boardroom: the innovative content platform that showcases the new way athletes & executives engage off the court and at the intersection of sports, business, tech, entertainment and culture (Sports)

  • Global adventurer, TV host, motivational speaker, and best-selling author Leon Logothetis (Connection & Culture)

  • Founder of music management company Monotone, Inc. and co-founder of the media and production group LBI Entertainment Ian Montone (Creating & Monetizing Music)

  • Researcher and #1 New York Times bestselling author, Dr. Brené Brown as part of the launch of her new weekly podcast, Unlocking Us, in conversation with Queer Eye’s Jonathan Van Ness, on the topic of vulnerability (Connection & Culture)

  • Professional speaker and storyteller Dan Nevins, Yoga instructor Gioconda Parker and Wanderlust Yoga Austin founder Ashley Spence in conversation about Rising Voices, a training platform that provides healing and authentic connection through storytelling (Climate & Social Action)

  • NSA Director of Cybersecurity Anne Neuberger with WIRED editor-in-chief Nicholas Thompson (Tech Industry & Enterprise)

  • Mycologist and author Paul Stamets (Health & MedTech)

  • Writer, journalist, editor and science fiction novelist Bruce Sterling (Fantastic Future)

  • Amazon.com Chief Technology Officer Dr. Werner Vogels (Tech Industry & Enterprise)

  • Reddit Chief Operating Officer Jen Wong (Advertising & Brand Experience)

Newly-announced Featured Sessions Include:

  • Less Trust, More Truth: The Web 3.0 Thesis (Tech Industry & Enterprise): A presentation on trust, truth and the new internet with Ethereum co-founder and CTO Dr. Gavin Wood with a Q&A by Austin Blockchain Collective Executive Director Pete Harris

  • Sparking Female Stories: Hulu’s Little Fires Everywhere (Making Film & Episodics): Join the powerhouse production team behind Hulu’s upcoming adaptation of Celeste Ng’s 2017 bestseller, Little Fires Everywhere, for a conversation around the changing dynamics of the entertainment industry today. Showrunner and executive producer Liz Tigelaar, directors Lynn Shelton, Nzingha Stewart, Michael Weaver, and executive producers Lauren Neustadter of Hello Sunshine and Pilar Savone of Simpson Street will discuss the importance of using storytelling as a means of charting a new path forward for women and how they are working with stars Reese Witherspoon and Kerry Washington, who are leading the charge in female-driven productions, to transform gender and ethnic representation in film and television.

  • Supernatural: 15 Years of Fandom (Making Film & Episodics): From the series launch in 2005 on the former WB Network to the current 15th and final broadcast season on The CW, Supernatural is a case study in how a little “series-that-could” beat the odds to become the longest-running American sci-fi series in television history. Produced by Warner Bros. Television, series stars Jared Padalecki, Jensen Ackles and Misha Collins will join a panel of Supernatural experts, including Samantha Highfill from Entertainment Weekly and Alice Jester from The Winchester Family Business, to discuss how a series with more than 300 episodes continues to trend on social media, sell-out magazine covers and merchandise, pack fan conventions around the world, and be a force for social good — all while trying to make a positive and lasting impact.

  • Technology + Storytelling = Magic (Experiential Storytelling): Today’s technological revolution is changing the game when it comes to experiential storytelling, and Disney is staying ahead of the curve by leveraging emerging tech to revolutionize the Guest Experience. In this conversation, Bob Chapek, Chairman of Disney Parks, Experiences, and Products, will be joined by Disney Imagineers to give attendees a behind-the-scenes look at some of the incredible innovations Disney uses to bring stories to life at destinations around the world

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