Last week, we were in Austin, TX watching music videos, recording commentaries, and giving out IMVDb tshirts at SXSW. As one of the biggest events of the year to recognize music videos, and likely the largest to features directors specifically, SXSW is one of the few places to find a significant music video industry presence outside of LA.

The music video showcase at the festival premiered on Tuesday, March 11 and featured nearly 90 minutes of some of the best music videos from the past year (find a full list of the videos here). Despite starting at 11:30am, the theater was full - so full that I had to sit next to some man that I didn't know. Luckily he was a pretty chill dude. The screening also included a Q&A hosted by SXSW short film programmer Claudette Godfrey with filmmakers such as Tallie Medel, Saman Kesh, Isaac Bauman, Brandon Dermer, Isaiah Seret, and Ian & Cooper. Most of them wore their badges on stage, which was neat. 

Saman Kesh talks about "Too Many Friends" by Placebo

Cooper Roberts of Ian & Cooper talks about "Back To Me" by Joel Compass

The next night was the SXSW film awards where Ian & Cooper won the Music Video Jury Award for "Back To Me" by Joel Compass. Ian & Copper must have not thought they were going to win, because they were sitting up in the balcony when their names were announced. Luckily, they were given time to run downstairs and up to the stage to give a surprisingly not out of breath acceptance speech. 

SXSW Film Awards

Ian and Cooper accept the Music Video Jury Award for "Back To Me" by Joel Compass

The music video fun didn’t stop there, because the next day Vimeo senior curator Sam Morrill hosted a Staff Pick screening at the Vimeo Theater where filmmakers like Saman, Isaac, Ian & Cooper, and Abteen Bagheri gave live commentaries for some of their music videos and short films. In a week where several high profile music video directors found some of their Staff Picked videos removed from Vimeo, the screening was a great opportunity for Vimeo to showcase some of the music video work that exists on its platform and to reinforce their desire to highlight some of the music video directors in their community.  

Ian & Cooper at the Vimeo Theater

Ian & Cooper at the Vimeo Theater

Saman Kesh and Isaac Bauman at the Vimeo Theater

Saman Kesh and Isaac Bauman at the Vimeo Theater

Saman Kesh and Isaac Bauman at the Vimeo Theater

Abteen Bagheri and Isaac Bauman at the Vimeo Theater

Abteen Bagheri and Isaac Bauman at the Vimeo Theater

After the Vimeo screening, we round up as many music video folks as we could find in the state of Texas and got them to record some music video commentaries for us. Saman, Isaac, Isaiah, Abteen, Ian & Cooper, Jason Baum, and Michelle Thompson all came down to the Hilton to hang out and talk about their music video in clips that will be released very soon, so look out for those! (Commentary photos by Meredith McKay)

Jason Baum and Isaiah Seret talk about their music videos

Isaac Bauman, Jason Baum, and Michelle Thompson talk about their music videos

Isaac Bauman, Saman Kesh, and Michelle Thompson talk about their music videos

Isaac Bauman, Saman Kesh, and Michelle Thompson talk about their music videos

Isaac Bauman and Saman Kesh talk about their music videos

Isaac Bauman and Abteen Bagheri talk about their music videos

Isaac Bauman and Abteen Bagheri talk about their music videos

Ian & Cooper talk about their music videos

Ian & Cooper talk about their music videos

Our final day at SXSW was spent talking to a bunch of musicians about their music videos. We were able to check out Meg Myers perform an awesome set at Cusp on Rainey, then we chatted with her about her “Desire” and “Heart Heart Head” music videos. We also got the chance to talk to Vance Joy about “Riptide,” and later we met up with Abrina and had her record a few video commentaries on “Fall Back” and "Dat Good.” These interviews are part of our effort this year to feature more musicians talking about music videos from an artist perspective, so look out for those if you like cool stuff!

Meg Myers performs at Cusp on Rainey

Meg Myers performs at Cusp on Rainey

Doug Klinger is the co-founder/content director of IMVDb and watches more music videos than anyone on earth. You can find him on twitter at @doug_klinger.