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2019 South by Southwest Festival: Garbage singer Shirley Manson, Instagram CEO Kevin Nystrom among keynote speakers

September 20, 2018

The following is a press release from the South by Southwest Conference & Festivals:

SXSW kicks off the 2019 season strong with the reveal of our first wave of Keynotes and Featured Speakers showcasing industry titans, creative visionaries, and change-makers working towards a more connected future.

Keynotes announced today include Instagram CEO and co-founder Kevin Systrom, interviewed by TechCrunch Editor-At-Large Josh Constine; and a Keynote Conversation between Shirley Manson, lead vocalist of the critically-acclaimed alternative rock band Garbage, and singer-songwriter Lauren Mayberry of the Scottish electronic pop band Chvrches; and writer, producer, and director Marti Noxon.

“We’re excited about the addition of our Keynotes — Kevin Systrom, who as the co-founder of Instagram has redefined the culture of the modern internet and the way that we connect with others; Marti Noxon, whose prolific career and dedication to her craft has created some of the most beloved and acclaimed series of the past two decades; and Shirley Manson with Lauren Mayberry, two talented musicians whose passion, continued experimentation and career evolution are values we celebrate at SXSW,” said Hugh Forrest, Chief Programming Officer. “As a premier destination for innovation and creative discovery, SXSW is proud to begin our 2019 season by announcing a strong and dynamic group of leaders, storytellers, and visionaries holding important conversations about the challenges and opportunities ahead of us.”

Among the Featured Speakers announced today are Jason Blum in conversation with John Pierson; writer and 2017 Time Person of the Year Susan Fowler; world-renowned architect Bjarke Ingels; artist and musician Amanda Palmer; co-founder of Upworthy and Fellow at the New America Foundation Eli Pariser; New York Times bestselling author Michael Pollan; media theorist and author Douglas Rushkoff; BenevolentAI CEO Joanna Shields; futurist and author Amy Webb; and more listed below.

Get inspired by these diverse thought leaders and fuel your own creativity and career aspirations this March 8-17 in Austin, TX! The only way to take part in this exciting programming is to register to attend SXSW 2019 – do so through Thursday, September 13 for the biggest savings of the season and the best selection of hotel booking options.

And we’ve only just begun – stay tuned as SXSW continues to release programming for the 2019 SXSW Conference & Festivals throughout the season (Hint: SX forecasts a shower of programming in October). Read on to meet the first group of 2019 Keynotes and Featured Speakers.

Keynotes

Kevin Systrom with Josh Constine (Interactive Keynote) — Kevin Systrom is the CEO and co-founder of Instagram, a social networking platform that was acquired by Facebook in 2012. Instagram has grown into a global community of over one billion and a family of apps including Instagram, IGTV, Direct, Boomerang, Layout, and more. The company’s mission is to bring you closer to the people and things you love. Systrom is responsible for Instagram’s overall vision and strategy as well as day-to-day operations. Systrom will be in conversation with Josh Constine, Editor-At-Large for TechCrunch, whose scope of coverage includes social networks, streaming music, and early-stage companies.

Shirley Manson and Lauren Mayberry (Music Keynote) — Join vocalist Shirley Manson and singer-songwriter Lauren Mayberry for a Keynote Conversation in association with PRS Foundation’s Keychange program. Shirley Manson is lead vocalist of critically-acclaimed, alternative rock band Garbage. She has been an active song writer and recording artist for over 30 years. During the course of their award-winning career, Garbage have sold over 12 million records and now run their own independent record label, Stun Volume. Last year they released an autobiographical coffee-table book titled This Is The Noise That Keeps Me Awake and earlier this year Manson won the coveted NME Icon Award in recognition of her long musical career and her general outspokenness. Garbage are currently on tour in celebration of the 20th anniversary of their multi-Grammy nominated record, Version 2.0. They will be spending the first half of 2019 in the studio working on their yet untitled 7th record. Lauren Mayberry is a singer-songwriter and front-woman of the Scottish electronic pop band Chvrches. The band have released three critically-acclaimed and commercially successful albums, and have toured the world numerous times. As an artist, Mayberry has continuously challenged stereotypes and been unafraid to speak out on the role and treatment of female artists in the music industry.

Marti Noxon (Film Keynote) — With hundreds of hours of television under her belt, Marti Noxon is one of the most prolific writer-producers in television today. Noxon’s most recent projects include the high-profile prestige series Dietland for AMC and Sharp Objects for HBO, both of which she serves as creator and showrunner for. Also among her recent television offerings are Bravo’s Girlfriends’ Guide to Divorce, Code Black for CBS, and the Peabody Award winning UnREAL at Lifetime. Over the course of her impressive career Noxon has worked on some of the most beloved and critically acclaimed series of the past two decades, including Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Mad Men, Grey’s Anatomy, Brothers & Sisters, and Glee. Additionally, Noxon made her feature directorial debut in 2017 with the powerful film To The Bone, which she also penned the screenplay for. Loosely based on her own personal experience with eating disorders, the film premiered in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival to strong reviews and quickly sold to Netflix for $8 million, making it one of the highest sales to come out of this year’s festival. Noxon’s previous screenwriting credits include, I Am Number Four and Fright Night.

Featured Speakers

The following speakers represent a blend of Interactive, Film, and Music affiliated Conference Tracks – dive in to learn more.

Jason Blum with John Pierson (Entertainment Influencers) — In 1993, John Pierson — a big shot who helped launch a number of first time American independent filmmakers including Spike Lee, Michael Moore, Richard Linklater, Kevin Smith, Rose Troche and Guin Turner — met Jason Blum, a kid fresh out of college, when they worked on a forgotten feature called My Life’s In Turnaround together. 25 years later, Jason and his company Blumhouse Productions have conquered the universe. Blum is a two-time Academy Award-nominated and two-time Emmy and Peabody Award-winning producer. His multi-media company is known for pioneering a new model of studio filmmaking: producing high-quality micro-budget films. How the hell did he get from there to here and how do these two view that evolution?

Susan Fowler (Tech Industry & Enterprise) — Susan Fowler is the Technology Editor of the New York Times Opinion section as well as a central figure in the #MeToo movement. Named Timemagazine’s Person of the Year 2017 as one of the silence breakers, Fowler is the former Uber engineer whose viral blog post ignited an ongoing, worldwide conversation. The Financial Timesnamed her Person of the Year as well — her actions, the paper writes, hold “the potential to improve the way women are treated at work permanently.” That’s Fowler’s public narrative so far. But her personal story — a homeschooled science nerd, a successful woman in STEM against incredible odds — is equally fascinating. She tackles a variety of topics in uplifting talks, including how regular people can effect positive change on a global and personal scale.

Bjarke Ingels (Design) — Bjarke Ingels is the founder of BIG (Bjarke Ingels Group). Ingels defines architecture as the art and science of making sure our cities and buildings fit with the way we want to live our lives. Through careful analysis of various parameters from local culture and climate, ever changing patterns of contemporary life, to the ebbs and flows of the global economy, Ingels believes in the idea of information-driven design as the driving force for his design process. Named one of the 100 Most Influential People in the World by Time magazine in 2016, Bjarke has designed and completed award-winning buildings around the world.

Amanda Palmer (Making & Marketing Music) — Amanda Palmer is a singer, songwriter, playwright, pianist, and blogger who embraces and explodes traditional frameworks of music, theatre, and art. She emerged as half of the Boston-based punk cabaret duo The Dresden Dolls, earning global applause for their wide-ranging theatricality and inventive song craft. Her solo career has proven equally boundless, including such groundbreaking works as the fan-funded Theatre Is Evil. Palmer is again joining forces with producer John Congleton to release her first solo album in seven years in Spring 2019.

Eli Pariser (Social & Global Impact) — Eli Pariser has dedicated his career — as an author, an online organizer, and a co-founder of Upworthy — to figuring out how technology can elevate important topics in the world. Currently, Pariser is an Omidyar Fellow at the New America Foundation, studying how platforms can effectively promote civic good.

Michael Pollan (Health & MedTech) — Michael Pollan is the author of eight books, including most recently How to Change Your Mind, a number one New York Times Bestseller. Previous books include The Omnivore’s Dilemma; The Botany of Desire; and In Defense of Food. Pollan teaches journalism at Berkeley and Harvard. In 2010, Time magazine named him to its list of the 100 Most Influential People in the World.

Douglas Rushkoff (Intelligent Future) — Douglas Rushkoff is a media theorist, author, documentarian, and world-renowned public intellectual. Rushkoff has spent his prolific career thinking about how new media and technology are impacting culture, business, and the economy. Named one of the world’s 10 most influential thinkers by MIT, Rushkoff has written 15 bestselling books and coined such concepts as “viral media,” “social currency,” and “digital natives.”

Joanna Shields (Intelligent Future) — Joanna Shields is a digital entrepreneur, experienced executive, and prominent leader in the global technology industry with a track record in helping to grow some of the world’s best-known transformational companies. She is currently CEO of BenevolentAI, the global leader in the development and application of AI for scientific innovation. Most recently, Joanna served as the UK Minister for Internet Security & Safety, a Special Advisor to the UK Government on the Digital Economy, and Chair & CEO of TechCityUK.

Ari Paul, Kyle Samani, Linda Xie with Robert Hackett (Blockchain & Cryptocurrency) — Join Kyle Samani (Managing Partner, Multicoin Capital), Linda Xie (Managing Director, Scalar Capital), Ari Paul (CIO, Blocktower), and moderator Robert Hackett (Editor, Fortune) for a conversation with managers from Scalar Capital, BlockTower, and Multicoin Capital as they elucidate their investment approaches and predict the future of blockchain for users around the world.

Amy Webb (Tech Industry & Enterprise) — Amy Webb is a quantitative futurist. She is a professor of strategic foresight at the NYU Stern School of Business and the Founder of the Future Today Institute, a leading foresight and strategy firm that helps leaders and their organizations prepare for complex futures. Webb will deliver her Emerging Tech Trends Report, where she’ll provide a data-driven analysis for the emerging tech trends that need to be on your radar in 2019 – and she’ll draw on those trends to show you scenarios for the future of business, governing, and society.

Join Us at SXSW 2019

Explore new opportunities during 10 days of sessions, screenings, showcases, exhibitions, networking, and beyond at SXSW 2019. With expanded access to events for all registrants, attendees will receive primary access to programming associated with their badge type but also enjoy secondary entry to most other SXSW events. Register before Thursday, September 13 at 11:59pm PT for the biggest savings of the season.

SXSW Conference programming is organized into 25 Tracks divided between Interactive, Film, Music, and Convergence, presented in a variety of session formats. Take the Tracks Quiz to generate the perfect badge for you.

Make your hotel reservations through SXSW Housing & Travel for access to the best available rates and locations. SXSW attendees using SXSW Housing’s contracted hotel rates save between 35%-50% compared to online travel agencies and direct bookings.

To stay in the SX know, sign up for SXSW Event Updates and follow us in all the usual social spots for daily updates – Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram.

Get ready to help us write the next chapter of SXSW during March 8-17, 2019.

Beauty influencer meltdowns: How scandals and gossip are damaging the careers of Laura Lee, Manny MUA and other makeup gurus

August 28, 2018

by Yvette Thomas

The year 2018 will be remembered as a dramatic turn in the industry of social-media beauty influencers who became famous for their postings, usually about makeup, on YouTube and Instagram. As a result of offensive posts on the Internet, beauty influencers Laura Lee and Manny MUA have lost thousands of YouTube subscribers and have taken a temporary break from social media.

Within a period of two weeks, Laura Lee had her Laura Lee Los Angeles business terminated by Ulta, Morphe, Diff Eyewear, ColourPop Cosmetics and BoxyCharm after racist comments that she tweeted in 2012 were exposed. In the racist tweet, she said, “Tip for all black people if you pull ur pants up you can run from the police faster.. #yourwelcome.” She also made several fat-shaming tweets in 2013 that were exposed in mid-August 2018.

Before the scandal, Lee had 5 million subscribers on YouTube. After the scandal, she lost approximately 533,000 subscribers from August 15 to August 28, 2018, according to Social Blade. When the racist tweet was first exposed, Lee did not address the matter for a few days and continued doing her usual videos about makeup. After the scandal became too big to ignore, she temporarily deactivated her Twitter account, and deleted thousands of tweets, and then posted an apology on Twitter. When companies started dropping her, Lee then posted an emotional apology video on August 19. However, the apology video seems to have done more damage to Lee’s reputation than done any good because people have blasted her for being insincere in the video. For example, she insisted that the offensive comments were retweets from other people, not tweets she actually wrote. Screenshots taken of the comments show that they were actually tweets from Lee’s account.

In addition, Lee received a lot of criticism for her demeanor in the apology video, with many commenters on the Internet calling her remorse “fake” and her tearful wailing “bad acting.” Her apology video currently has a 92 percent “dislike” disapproval rating from people on YouTube.

Lee’s close friend Manny MUA has also felt the sting of a massive public backlash. His association with Lee and his refusal so far to publicly comment on her offensive remarks have caused him to lose more than 313,000 subscribers (from August 15 to August 28, 2018, according to Social Blade) and announce that he is taking a break from social media. His YouTube subscriber base is barely hanging on to a range of 5 million.

Lee’s scandal came on the heels of Manny MUA making an apology video after old footage surfaced of him seeming to mock a female fan by rolling his eyes and laughing at her when she walked past him at a meet-and-greet. The fan, who happens to have a form of autism, had posted a video detailing how hurt she was by the alleged insult. In his apology video, Manny MUA explained that he was not mocking the girl but was embarrassed because she had bypassed him to hug fellow makeup guru Jeffree Star. Manny MUA’s apology video also has a majority of “dislikes” on YouTube.

Manny MUA also lost a lot of goodwill in July 2018, when his company Lunar Beauty botched sales of its first palette, Life’s a Drag, by mistakenly giving refunds to some PayPal customers after the customers received what they purchased. In an embarrassing PR move, Lunar Beauty then sent an email to those customers to inform them of the error, and asked them to send the money back. It’s unknown how many of the customers actually complied with that request, but the mistake was no doubt a costly one for Lunar Beauty.

Lee isn’t the first social-media beauty guru to have been hit by a scandal over offensive remarks made years ago. In 2017, Jeffree Star (a former friend of Lee and Manny MUA) was slammed when videos from 2009 showed him making racist comments, including using the “n” word and a video where he suggested throwing battery acid on a black woman’s face so her skin would be light enough to match shades of foundation.

Star, who owns his own eponymous makeup company, made an apology video where he said, in part: “In these videos, I say some really disgusting, vile, nasty and embarrassing things … I look at them and I see them resurface and it makes me sick to my stomach because I do not know who that person was . . . the person that said those horrible vile things, that person was depression, that person was just angry at the world, that person felt like they were not accepted, that person was seeking attention.”

Star, whose makeup is sold worldwide and at U.S. retailers such as Morphe and Beautylish, did not suffer any significant damage to his career, as his business partners continued to work with him. The difference between what happened to Star and what happened to Lee comes down to timing and the perception of sincerity.

In Star’s case, he addressed the scandal right away, and the feedback that he got from most people who commented on his apology video was that his apology seemed sincere, and people believed that he had evolved into a better person since those racist videos were made. Star has also gotten ahead of any other potential scandals by teaming up with with fellow YouTube star Shane Dawson to do a series of confessional videos where Star reveals secrets from his past, including his history of self-mutilation.

However, the #MeToo movement has ushered in sweeping changes in how people are punished for offensive comments and behavior, so if Star’s racism scandal had happened in 2018, he might not have recovered as quickly, even with the best apology.

Star has famously feuded with other beauty gurus such as Kat Von D and Too Faced co-founder Jerrod Blandino. But Star’s videos that show him self-exposing his vulnerabilities have endeared him to fans, and what appears to be his sincere ownership of his flaws has apparently made him more “forgivable” than the beauty gurus who are more reluctant to own up to their mistakes.

Kat Von D, who became famous as a tattoo artist on reality shows “Miami Ink” and “LA Ink,” started her Kat Von D Beauty company in 2008. In June 2018, she faced major backlash when she posted on Instagram that she and her husband would not be vaccinating their son because they believe that vaccinations are dangerous. Von D lost thousands of subscribers on Instagram, the social-media platform where she has the most followers (about 6.6 million), but she held firm and did not make an apology. According to Social Blade, in recent weeks she hasn’t been losing Instagram followers, but she hasn’t made any significant gains either.

Social media’s influence in the beauty and fashion industries cannot be under-estimated, as numerous beauty influencers have become multi-millionaires based on how they market themselves on social media, not from having any experience or training in the industry. The biggest example is reality TV star Kylie Jenner of Kylie Cosmetics, who has a net worth of $900 million, according to Forbes.

Beauty influencers with millions of followers on YouTube and Instagram usually command “sponsorship” fees to give positive reviews or recommendations of products. Those fees can be upwards of $60,000 to $80,000 for a YouTube video or $20,000 to $30,000 for an Instagram post. A typical beauty influencer posts hundreds of videos and photos a year, so it’s easy to see why people want a piece of the action to get rich.

With all that money to be made and with competition so fierce to gain new followers/subscribers, the gossip that has swirled around social-media beauty influencers has exploded and spawned a growing number of YouTube channels specifically created to cover the drama around these beauty influencers. The need to expose these influencers’ pasts in a tabloid-like manner is a sign of how much things have changed in how people react to YouTube stars.

In August 2018, a group photo of social-media beauty influencers Lee, Manny MUA, Gabriel Zamora and Nikita Dragun showing their middle fingers with the caption “Bitch is bitter because without him we’re doing better” caused an uproar on social media because people speculated that it was an insult aimed at Star. All of this “drama” over one photo actually caught the attention of several media outlets such as Cosmopolitan, Teen Vogue, Vox and Clevver News. Zamora also came under fire after it was exposed that he used the “n” -word racial insult in a past tweet. In an apology video on YouTube, Zamora said he was sorry for his past racial slurs. Zamora also admitted to adding the derogatory caption to the group photo without the other photo subjects’ knowledge, and that the caption was meant as an insult to Star, who accepted Zamora’s apology in a separate video. In the video, Zamora publicly ended his friendship with Manny MUA, whom he called “toxic.”

The apology worked for Zamora. After he posted his video on August 21, he gained 341,000 YouTube subscribers in one week, with more than 204,000 gained on the day after the video was posted, according to Social Blade. In the week before posting the apology, he lost more than 6,700 subscribers. As of this writing, Zamora has 778,700 subscribers on YouTube.

Reality TV has spawned its share of “15 minutes of fame” stars, but YouTube stars are a different breed. The biggest difference between today’s YouTube stars and today’s reality TV stars is that YouTube stars don’t have to rely on being cast in TV shows to keep their fame going. Unless they do something that gets them kicked off of YouTube and kills their careers, YouTube stars will have their YouTube channels, which they control, as their way to get the fame and money that most people don’t have. But as Lee, Manny MUA, and others have learned, with that fame comes the scrutiny of people who can’t wait to expose more scandals.