Servus y'all: Strong Bavarian Media Presence at SXSW 2025

South by Southwest (SXSW) in Austin, Texas, has become an integral part of the annual planning of many Bavarian media companies and innovative minds who want to follow the discussions about the future, tech and AI on the conference panels. The location initiative for the Bavarian media industry, XPLR: MEDIA in Bavaria, once again organized a networking breakfast for and with the Bavarian media delegation this year and curated a panel. Also in the luggage was the “Beat Bayerns”, a project that made the Bavarian media industry audible and fitted in perfectly with the tech, film and music conference. After there was no all-German presence at SXSW last year, the states and cities came together again in a German Haus in 2025.

XPLR: MEDIA invited to the Bavarian Networking Breakfast

Together with the City of Munich, XPLR: MEDIA in Bavaria organized a breakfast for the Bavarian delegation, national and international partners and interested parties at German Haus. The morning was opened by Dr. Thorsten Schmiege, President of the Bavarian Regulatory Authority for New Media (BLM), and Manuel Pretzl, Chairman of the CSU parliamentary group in the Munich City Council.

In SXSW style, the musical part of the breakfast was of course not to be neglected. The Bavarian beat, which was created in a competition shortly before the conference, conveyed the best mix of tradition and current beats and painted a modern picture of Bavaria as a media location. Niko Backspin, Chief Cultural Officer at Serviceplan Culture and member of the Beat Bayerns jury, presented the project on the Breakfast stage.

VR and AR in the Bavarian program

Before things really got going with networking over breakfast, Anne Wichmann's, aka She's Excited!, “Luminescence”, a unique project on the border between AR and music, was on the program. While the singer performed on stage, the audience could add their own sounds via an app and let virtual elements float through the room.

Two Bavarian exhibitors also presented their XR projects at the Bavarian Networking Breakfast. K5 Factory, one of the major Bavarian XR pioneers, presented its multiplayer virtual reality game “Oktoberfest” and transported a bit of folk festival flair to Texas. The Munich delegation's startup Caldo Worldwide presented its online gallery at the interface of art, gaming, technology and society.

Bavarian panels on the perennial topic of AI

The panel “Impact of AI on Storytelling in Independent Film Making”, which was co-curated by Kreativ München and HFF Munich and featured a strong line-up with Sven Bliedung, Malte Schulz, Arne Trotz, Cliff Fluet and Joanna Alpe, marked the right transition from networking to the panel program in the German Haus.

In addition, the panel “AI Regulation: Lessons from Both Sides of the Atlantic” curated by XPLR: MEDIA in Bavaria with international experts Kelsey Farish, Luke Nixon, Jeremias Adams-Prassl and Medien.Bayern AI expert and moderator Jim Sengl landed in the official program section of the German Haus.

The beat of Bavaria on the streets of Austin

Bavaria as a media location now has its own sound – but how does it actually reach people outside the Bavarian state borders? We wanted to find out and, equipped with headphones, we threw ourselves into Austin's music scene together with Niko Backspin. You can see and hear how the beat was received at SXSW and what it sounds like when local musicians rap to it on our Instagram channel.

Inspired by the many impressions, good conversations and new acquaintances, the Bavarian delegation is now heading home again. As always: See you next year, Austin!