Even though the 2020 SXSW Film Festival has been canceled, a group of filmmakers is launching the ‘SXSW 2020 Pilot Showcase’ on Vimeo as a way to show the world all the hard work they put into getting their shorts selected to the festival.
This streaming event previews the diversity-led (more than half LGBT content and creators) pilots from the festival for free to global audiences. It is now live.
So if you're short on thing to watch, you might want to give all this new content a shot!
SXSW Episodic Pilot Showcase and SXSW Shorts Channel have come together to support this lineup.
The line-up includes 6 exclusive online premieres, including 2 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.
This is an epic way to adapt visions to the hard times.
“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.”
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 2020 Pilot Showcase’ to Make Vimeo Debut in April
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
The Dream
Comedy
Director: Ron Najor; Screenwriter: Trevor Fernando, Ron Najor
Homecoming: The Journey of Cardboard
Documentary
Director: Yuko Shiomaki, Anna Thorson Mayer
This Isn’t Me
Comedy, LGBTQ
Director: Adrian Rojas Elliot; Screenwriter: Ben Kawaller
Richard Gere and Uma Thurman in 'Oh, Canada' via Kino Lorber 
Uma Thurman in 'Oh, Canada'via Kino Lorber 
