First round coming at ya! SXSW Sydney delivers the first Guest Speakers and Events for 2024
SXSW Sydney is back for its second year, and by all accounts it’s bigger and better than ever.
From insightful talks to the best in music games, and cinema, this year’s SXSW Sydney has almost too much much awesomeness packed into one event.
Geoff Jones, SXSW Sydney Chair and TEG Group CEO, has shared “After the success of the inaugural SXSW Sydney in 2023, we are once again inspired by the overwhelming response from the creator communities to participate in the 2024 program.”
The first round of announcements introduces a stellar cast of speakers, including familiar faces like Rohit Bhargava and newcomers like Sofia Hernandez and David Warner. They’ll be diving into topics as diverse as AI and robotics, the future of work, and everything in between.
The Music lineup includes Heartbreak High star Ayesha Madon, boundary-pushing triple j Unearthed alumnus Nick Ward, dreamy Colombian psych-rock trio BALTHVS, Eora/Sydney artist Total Tommy, 21-year-old vocal prince SAHXL, rising Marranunggu rapper brothers J-MILLA & Yung Milla, genre-defying instrumentalist Joel Sunny, Manila-based Japanese-Filipino electronic-pop artist Ena Mori, indie-rock four-piece Smol fish from Boorloo/Perth, UK-based duo HighSchool, rising Sydney R&B sensation Maina Doe, and electronic artist 404 from Seoul, Korea.
The SXSW Sydney Games Festival Showcase, happening from October 17th to 20th, 2024, has unveiled its initial lineup of games. Titles include Blood Reaver by Hell Byte Games (Australia), Curiosmos by Céline and the Darlings (Belgium), Demon Spore by DinoBoss (UK), DICEOMANCER by Ultra Piggy Studio (China), FRUITBUS by Krillbite Studio (Norway), Hyper Light Breaker by Heart Machine (USA), Mystiques by Lemonade Games (Australia), No Case Should Remain Unsolved by Somi (South Korea), Rose and Locket by Whistling Wizard (New Zealand), and Window Garden by CLOVER-FI Games (Philippines).
The Screen Festival has dropped a stellar selection of handpicked short films, featured works include Fishtank by Wendi Tang (China/USA), Meat Puppet by Eros V (UK), Vivie by Hweiling Ow (New Zealand), and Make Me a Pizza by Talia Shea Levin (USA).
Here’s a taste of what you can expect for the Featured Speakers just announced for the SXSW Sydney Conference:
- Australian astronaut at the Australian Space Agency, Katherine Bennell-Pegg
- World-renowned futurist and authority on global business, politics and corporate governance, Ryan Patel
- Global Head of Business Marketing at TikTok, Sofia Hernandez
- Trend curator and founder of Non-Obvious, Rohit Bhargava returning after his popular session in 2023
- Australia’s eSafety Commissioner, Julie Inman Grant
- Award-winning Australian filmmaker and director of Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat 2, Simon McQuoid
- Gomeroi and Torres Strait Islander writer, actor, director and publisher, Nakkiah Lui
- Boy, Girl, Artist, Advocate, global queer icon, Australian entertainer and television personality, Courtney Act
- Founder of POPS Worldwide, revolutionising Vietnam’s digital music landscape, Esther Nguyen
- Vice President of Product – AI Platform at IBM, Armand Ruiz
- Australian human rights lawyer and barrister, Jennifer Robinson
- Tennis Australia CEO and Director of the Australian Open, Craig Tiley
- Vice-Chancellor and President of the Australian National University, Professor Genevieve Bell AO
- CEO and Founder of multi-million dollar production studio Spawnpoint Media, Jordan Barclay (AKA EYstreem)
- Group CEO of leading Singapore-based creative agency, The Secret Little Agency, Eunice Tan
- Vice-Chancellor and President of the University of Sydney, Professor Mark Scott AO
- Co-Founder of Metaphysic.ai and Codec.ai, Martin D. Adams
- Founder and Chief AI Officer at the AI Leadership Institute, Noelle Russell
- Filmmaker, 2019 Australian of the Year, and Lieutenant Governor of South Australia, Dr Richard Harris SC OAM
- Founder and CEO of Silicon Quantum Computing, Professor Michelle Simmons
- Host of the hit podcast, The Psychology of your 20s, Jemma Sbeg
- Ass. Dean Indigenous, Faculty of Information Technology, Monash University, Professor Christopher Lawrence
- Co-Founder, Andromeda Robotics, Grace Brown
- Resident architect-councilor, HY William Chan
- Mathematician, comedian, raconteur, and conversationalist, Adam Spencer
The first round of Sessions to be announced provide a taste of the thought-provoking discussions to come:
- 36 Months: Raising the Threshold for Social Media Citizenship (Hamish Blake, parenting specialist Maggie Dent, Michael “Wippa” Wipfli, Nova, and Felicity McVay, former Global Head of Entertainment at TikTok)
- A New Playing Field: Opportunities to Monetise Athlete IP and Expand Sport Globally (Australian Cricketer David Warner, sports advisor David Gallop, Olympian Tillie Kearns, and Nicholas Saady, Pryor Cashman)
- AI and You: What You Need to Know Next (Dr Sandra Peter and Professor Kai Riemer, University of Sydney)
- Designing with Country: Cultural Design as Driver of Extraordinary Contemporary Places (Ros Moriarty, MD, Co-Founder and Creative Executive, and Ngunnawal man Johnny Bridges, Indigenous Creative Lead, Balarinji)
- Beyond the Big Screen: Film Tech in the Real World (Aaron Corera of XM2, Filmmaker Gregory Read, Duncan Jones, CEO of Myriad Studios)
- For News Media, Digital Transformation Isn’t a Process – It’s a State (Lucy Blakiston, founder of Shit You Should Care About; Duncan Greive, founder of The Spinoff; Gaven Morris, Bastion Transform, Lee Lowndes, CEO Daylight)
- The Digital Fashion Experience: In Conversation with Jere Calmes, CEO, The Iconic (Jaana Quaintance-James, CEO of the Australian Fashion Council)
- Meet: Nature – Your Actual CFO. How Nature Impacts Every Organisation and Will Dictate Your Future (Moderated by Atlassian’s work futurist Dom Price, with climate and ecological experts Chris Ewing of Taronga Conservation, Guy Williams of Pollination, Dr Rachel Marshall of Accounting for Nature, and Cr Bradley Widders, National Parks Wildlife Service)
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SXSW SYDNEY
14 – 20 OCTOBER 2024
NSW, AUSTRALIA
Check out the announce in full here. This is just the first wave of announcements, so stay tuned for more!
Tip: Early Bird Badges on Sale Now! Don’t miss out on the chance to be a part of this incredible event.
