We’ve been lucky to have some amazing weather lately, despite our one day of boiling heat. I’ve been biking into SXSW every day from my home in east Austin, and this morning was particularly crisp. I got here earlier than normal because I’ve been so eager to get into the This Is Us cast panel that was held this morning at the Austin Convention Center. I spent the rest of the day enjoying the weather outside, eating at Fareground Austin, and seeing some panels at the JW Marriott.
This Is Us cast panel
From the moment I saw the preview a couple of years ago, I knew this show would pull at my heart strings. Now that they’re in their second season, I can confidently say that I have honestly never cried so hard while watching a tv show. The character development with the characters’ past and present selves is phenomenal, and each episode promises an intense flow of feelings from both viewers and characters. Creator Dan Fogelman started the panel off with saying how proud he was of the cast, because they have all been through some seriously difficult moments while filming. Their hard work has definitely paid off though, because they recently won a SAG award for the best ensemble in a drama series, which was voted on by their peers.
What might come as a surprise to most people is that Fogelman originally wrote This Is Us as a movie before ultimately deciding to write it as a tv series. It was set to be about six or seven children instead of just triplets. Everyone on the cast and crew are thrilled with how the season has caught on, especially in a world where people may feel like there are a lot of negative things happening. Fogelman stated that the show brings people from all walks of life together who are connecting with the show in similar ways, and that he hopes it instills hope and optimism within their viewers.
I try to be as honest as I can, and [we try] to make these people as real as we can.” – Milo Ventimiglia
Creating Fearless Design Through Street Art
Shana Berry of Anheuser-Busch spoke with Zuzu Perkal and Heath “Mouf” Speakman of SprATX and Brandon Breaux of Know Good LLC to talk about how to create fearless design in the realm of street art. Zuzu and Heath were given the opportunity to design this year’s Bud Light bottle for SXSW, and the creative process for that was, in their words, very simplified. The two compiled sketches and pitched their first design to Bud Light, and they immediately loved it. The artists were able to include their names on the bottle and really have full creative control over the design, which was exciting for them.
Brandon Breaux is the artist behind three of the iconic Chance the Rapper‘s album covers. He enjoys being heavily involved with the city of Chicago, because that’s where he’s from and he wants to bring more attention to the people and the city. He also had a heavy hand in the Lollapalooza promotional items. To get participation from the people of Chicago, he also held an art show called “Our Chicago”, hosted by Bud Light. His idea was to bring the neighborhood together with common elements in a space that everyone could enjoy.
All three artists have a lot of exciting things going on in the near future, and they are all excited to have had opportunities to work with Anheuser-Busch.
The World’s Longest Cheeseboard
My finale for the day was visiting the world’s longest cheeseboard, brought to us by Wisconsin, of course. The board was specifically built for SXSW, and took up an entire room in the JW Marriott downtown. Each section was separated by cheese type, and they really covered all the categories. They had hard cheeses, soft cheeses, blue cheeses, spicy cheese, and so many more!
You could tell everyone was a little overwhelmed, with plates piled high with cheese and crackers, but it was such a great experience to be a part of. I went with a couple of classmates, and we met people from all over the country as various people stood at the same table we were using. My personal favorites were the soft cheeses. Overall, this was a great way to close out the fifth day of SXSW!