The world’s most cutting-edge cultural event, SXSW Sydney, is back for 2024!
Fusing creativity with innovation to bring together the brightest minds in the arts, entertainment, and technology, SXSW Sydney is fast becoming a cornerstone event for Australia’s creative and tech industries.This year’s festival is set to outshine the last, positioning Sydney as a global hub for pioneering ideas and cultural movements.
With amazing experiences in the memory books from last year's event, we’re thrilled to announce that JMC Academy will once again play an integral role for SXSW in 2024! Our Sydney campus will come alive as we welcome the world's finest tastemakers and pioneers of thought through our doors in more ways than one.
Here’s where you can find us both inside and outside of our Sydney campus...
SXSW Sydney Studio
In 2023, JMC Academy Sydney came alive with panel discussions and conference sessions. This year, we’re shaking it up by transforming our incredible auditorium space into the epicentre of video content. SXSW Sydney Studio will host short interviews with key SXSW Sydney talent including Johann Hari, Adam Spencer, Lucy Lawless and others. All of the action is set to be filmed by JMC Academy students and will offer behind-the-scenes insights from SXSW Sydney talent!
SXSW Sydney Music Industry Professional Development Sessions
During SXSW Sydney 2024 JMC Academy will play host to the SXSW Music Industry Professional Development Sessions, offering diverse workshops on AI in music, sustainable touring, streaming growth, international collaboration, and creativity enhancement. Featuring industry experts from triple j Unearthed, Kopi Su, Green Music Australia, and more, these sessions provide valuable insights and hands-on experience for music professionals and aspiring artists.
SPECTRUM: JMC Academy Showcase (Thursday 17th October)
Once again we are spreading our wings across the entirety of SXSW, reinvigorating our free 2023 Tumbalong Park sessions with SPECTRUM, a compelling lunchtime presentation at the SXSW Tech Innovation Showcase!
SPECTRUM will be a boundary-pushing showcase of music and digital artistry, featuring alumni bands ALIYA and Maybe in May. Our industry-experienced faculty and talented students across our courses in Design, Film & TV, Audio Engineering and Entertainment Management will demonstrate the practical skills and innovative approaches developed through our future-focused creative courses. Here is your chance to experience first-hand the excellence of our students and alumni who are shaping the future of the industry, all on SXSW’s BIGGEST and most accessible stage this Thursday, 17th October, from 12:50pm.
Avante Garde AI: JMC Academy Lecturers in Conference (Tuesday 15th October)
We are so proud to announce that our very own Senior Lecturer Animation/Game Design (Sydney)/Artist Petr Joura, and Associate Dean Damian Gascoigne will be live on stage at the ICC on Tuesday October 15th from 12pm – 1pm. Moderated by Damian, this incredible lineup of panelists dive into the big question; what does the avant-garde of AI making look like? Let’s thrash out what just happened with the genesis of AI image generation and explain how they are getting ahead of the second wave with exploratory, cross-disciplinary work.
This is going to be an unmissable session, but don’t take our word for it- trust the Head of Programming for SXSW, who listed the session within her top picks for the conference.
Student Games Showcase at SXSW (Thursday 17th October)
Thursday 17th October is going to be a jam-packed day for JMC Game Design students! Student developed games from our Sydney, and Melbourne campuses will present their creations to the best in the industry in an interactive spectacular, hosted by UTS. Head on down to experience the gameplay and check out what our students are capable of creating!
Student Opportunities
Alongside these incredible involvements, we are equally excited to offer exclusive opportunities for JMC students to engage with SXSW Sydney in meaningful ways. Whether it’s attending the music festival, participating in workshops, networking with industry leaders or running the official SXSW media centre (!!), this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to learn, grow, and be inspired by the very best in creative industries.
Hosting SXSW Sydney isn’t just a feather in JMC Academy’s cap—it’s a powerful opportunity to connect our students with the industry’s best and brightest. From visionary filmmakers to chart-topping musicians and trailblazing game designers, the future of entertainment will walk through our doors—and we can’t wait for our students to be part of it.
Let’s put JMC Academy (and Australia) at the forefront of global creative innovation for yet another year!
