AUSTIN – Two days. Three Info Sessions. Two Networking events. Two World Premieres. A combined eight hours of sleep. And a nuclear fallout-ravaged wasteland. That has been my experience these past two days...and I loved every moment of it.

This is probably time to address the fact that not every blog post covering this trip’s events will come out on the day they happen. This is mainly because of how late events run and the time I get back home. Point in case, I didn’t get home until 4 a.m. last night. It became apparent to me that while we were out, we lost an hour of sleep. Thanks, daylight savings time.

So, let’s jump right in with...

Day 2:

When we last left off, Jacob and I turned in at around 2 a.m. early Saturday morning with our alarms set for 4 hours later. The early morning was to prep for a mentor session we were having with Breven Warren, the Founder and Executive Director of the arts and ecology organization, “Angaelica”. The goal was to have her look at what we had to see if we were on the right track and hopefully earn a connection.

We got to the Austin Convention Center with thirty minutes to spare. We ran through the pitch and the plan before going in to see the mentor. We had 15 minutes to speak to her, so we tried to keep it concise. That’s when we ran into a problem. Since Jacob signed up for the session in the name of the company, only he could go in!

Brand new sci-fi horror podcast aiming for SXSW

Since he is one of the show’s creators, we weren’t all too worried. I’m not going to lie though; I was still pacing myself. When Jacob came outside, he filled us in on how we stood. To sum it up, Ms. Warren said we were doing everything right! She said our budget looked about normal for a narrative podcast and she would be in touch! A big win for “Team Highwayman”!

To celebrate, we jumped the river to see one of the attractions I had been looking forward to. You see, I am a nerd. A proud one at that. I’m really into video games, one of which is called “Fallout” which revolves around surviving after a nuclear war turning everywhere into a ravaged wasteland. Recently, Prime Video announced they would be adapting the game into a show of the same name. To celebrate the announcement, they held an event immersing visitors into the world of “Fallout”.

During our time there, we went on a scavenger hunt, spoke to the locals, I was singled out as a thief (in my defense, I was just trying to help), and tried irradiated food. I was fully engulfed in the universe, letting the inner kid in me loose.

After we finished up, we went to a workshop called “Plotting the Polycrisis: Post-Collapse Storytelling” where we learned about the hidden grey area between a story taking place in a utopia and a dystopia. It was led by Potreality Labs founder, Jesse Damiani, and Multiverse Design executive director, Leah Zaidi. I appreciated how they did not spoil any of the shows and movies they used as examples During the workshop, we came up with examples of our original crises. Mine involved a fully underground civilization after solar storms wiped out resources on land so people had to dig underground and live off the thermal energy of Earth.

We also took the chance to go to a set of networking events, one being for the entire convention to attend. The other one was for anyone in the podcast field.

From there, we tried the confessional experience promoting the newest horror movie, “The First Omen” before making our way to the world premiere of “Azrael” at the Alamo Drafthouse. The film stars Samara Weaving as seen in “Scream 6″ and “Ready or Not”. The fun thing about world premieres at South By is that the cast and crew of the film hold a Q&A after the credits wrap.

After the showing, I got to speak to the director, E. L. Katz, writer Simon Barrett, and Ms. Weaving herself! I promised them I wouldn’t reveal anything about the movie, but I must warn you, do not go unless you have a strong stomach.

Everyone was super awesome and I’m not going to lie, I was on cloud 9 the entire night and it wasn’t even from the free drinks. Sidenote: You get so many free drinks at South By.

We finished out the night jumping forward in time and stumbling to bed. And just like that, we were onto...

Day 3:

Once again, we got about 4 hours asleep, and I was not feeling great AT ALL (most likely from the free drinks I was bragging about). We started the early morning to get to a session talking about how to sell intellectual properties to be made into a TV Show.

It was led by the creators of a new podcast called “Natural Selection: Scott v. Wild Bill” which tells the true story of a millionaire enjoying an early retirement in Panama until he’s framed for murder and charged with running a ruthless international crime syndicate. The guests included the co-founder of Treefort Media, Lisa Ammerman, the executive vice president of Village Roadshow Entertainment Group, Alix Jaffe, and the host of the podcast and former FBI profiler, Candice DeLong. The show releases this summer so definitely keep an eye out!

By the way, be sure to take a break and drink some water. This isn’t just a tip for the experience but right now. Stay hydrated!

We stopped by a Creative Industries Expo which featured new cutting-edge tech, design, social goods, health, wellness, and more than I could visit. After talking up some of the STEM presenters to let me try some of the tech they brought, we had to run to the shuttle bus to catch another movie premiere.

This film, which we saw at the lovely Zach theater was called “We’re All Going to Die”. I know, very bleak. It’s a story that touches a lot about depression, anxiety, suicide, and loss while also being one of the funniest films at the festival. It was written by YouTube legends and creators, Freddie Wong and Matthew Arnold, who I also got to speak to. It is a fun road trip film and I highly recommend you go watch it if you have been facing any of the themes I listed above.

Over the past two days, I was faced with many versions of the end of the world. Some give through to our worst desires. One that tells the coming of a new age of evil. And some that tell us to appreciate and cherish the ones we love before they are gone. It’s something we all can relate to as people who feel deeply.

Taking “Project Highwayman” to SXSW - Day 1: “Here’s my card!”

Tomorrow is a mixed day where we can either be doing some more of what we have already done or maybe take a break. I’ll be sure to let you know on my social media pages.

Until next time, love deeply and be safe!