Located at Fourth & Co in downtown Austin, inaugural South Asian House aims to connect and celebrate community thought leaders from seven different South Asian countries
(AUSTIN, TEXAS – Feb. 22, 2023; source: Juice Consulting) – Austin welcomes South Asian House, premiering for the first time ever at South By Southwest (SXSW) 2023. Created in partnership with The Auntie Network, One Minute Saree, The Partnership Inc., URL Media, IndieMeme and Sway with Pray, South Asian House will take place at Fourth & Co located at 208 West Fourth St. Unit D in Austin, Texas during the first weekend of SXSW on Saturday, March 11 from 11 a.m. – 2 a.m. and Sunday, March 12 from 11 a.m. – 2 a.m.
Featured speakers for the initiative include industry professionals from various sectors such as business, tech, film, TV, theater, music and fashion. South Asian house will also provide a networking brunch and happy hour each day, as well as live music entertainment and a DJ set each night. To conclude the weekend, South Asian House will host a Red Carpet Awards Ceremony at 5:30 p.m. and a live Oscar Viewing Party at 7 p.m. on Sunday, March 12.
South Asian House attendees can also look forward to several partnership events with innovative companies from the region. On March 10, The Slashie Summit team with BrownGirl Magazine will co-host an event at the iconic Claypit (located at 1601 Guadalupe St, Austin, TX 78701) from 6 to 9 p.m. where Sway with Pray will be launching a Bollywood dance pop-up. Women in Film and Television, Austin will present the Pilot reading hour, and The Partnership’s Leadership Program, a nationally-recognized organization supporting the leadership development for professionals of color, will be facilitating a program led by Anjali Worah, Chief Transformation Officer at the Partnership, that will help to develop potential South Asian future leaders. The leaders participating in this program are Pooja Kumar (Actress/Producer Miss India USA), Milan Chakraborty (Head of Film/Marginal MediaWorks), Sid Shah (Founder/Trackmind) and James A. Mathew (CEO/The Outer Voice Company).
South Asian House programming will also include two noteworthy panels on Saturday, March 11. The first, starting at 2:30 p.m., is “Creating South Asian Content for a Global Audience,” which will be an hour-long discussion with actor Rizwan Manji (“Schitt’s Creek,” “Peacemaker”), Emmy-award winning executive producer for ViceTV, Falguni Adams, and Emmy-award winning producer of the hit TV series “Dehli Crime” Apoorva Bakshi, moderated by CEO of Jingo Media and producer of South Asian House Jitin Hingorani. The second panel, “Investing in the Future of Our South Asian Stories,” will be from 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. Panelists for this important conversation will include CEO and Co-founder of URL Media S. Mitra Kalita and actress Kausar Mohammed (“4400,” “The Flash”), moderated by co-founder of Box Office Guru Media Gitesh Pandya.
“We are so excited to have these fantastic panels that explore topics which are often overlooked when it comes to the contributions of South Asians in the media and entertainment worlds.” states Rohi Mirza Pandya, producer of South Asian House and co-founder of Box Office Guru Media.
“It has been so exciting working with these panelists, given the vast experience they will be bringing to SXSW and what will surely be enlightening conversations,” adds Kirtana Banskota, producer of South Asian House and founder of Banskota Productions.
See below for the official South Asian House SXSW Schedule:
SOUTH ASIAN HOUSE WELCOME
Saturday March 11, 11 – 11:30 a.m.
Who: Neil Minocha (SXSW) and Rohi Mirza Pandya (Box Office Guru Media) Jitin Hingorani (Jingo Media) and Kirtana Banskota (Banskota Productions)
Location: Fourth & Co
BRUNCH FIRESIDE CHAI & CHAT
Saturday March 11, 11:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Who: Surprise Speaker – TBA SOON
Location: Fourth & Co
CREATING SOUTH ASIAN CONTENT FOR A GLOBAL AUDIENCE
Saturday March 11, 2:30 – 3:30 p.m.
Who: Falguni Adams, Rizwan Manji, Apoorva Bakshi, Jitin Hingorani
Location: Fourth & Co
HAPPY HOUR
Presented by BROWNGIRL
Saturday March 11, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Location: Fourth & Co
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF OUR SOUTH ASIAN STORIES
Saturday March 11, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Who: S. Mitra Kalita, Kausar Mohammed, Gitesh Pandya
Location: Fourth & Co
TEA TIME with Kola Goodies
Presented by URL Media
Saturday March 11, 5:30 – 6:30 p.m.
Location: Fourth & Co
PILOT READING OF REHANA LEW MIRZA’S “DON’T HATE”
Presented by Women in Film and Television, Austin
Saturday March 11, 6:30 – 7:30 p.m.
Location: Fourth & Co
REVERSE HAPPY HOUR
Presented by IndieMeme
Saturday March 11, 7:30 – 8:30 p.m.
Location: Fourth & Co
COMEDY HOUR
Presented by The Auntie Network
Saturday March 11, 8:30 – 9:30 p.m.
Who: Vick Krishnan
Location: Fourth & Co
STORYLOUNGE
Saturday March 11, 9:30 – 10:30 p.m.
Who: Samrat Chakrabarti
Location: Fourth & Co
SOUTH ASIAN LIVE MUSIC SHOWCASE
Saturday March 11, 10:30 – 11:30 p.m.
Who: Meetu Chilana, Nagavalli, Aditya Rao
Location: Fourth & Co
DJ SET
Saturday March 11, 11:30 p.m. onwards
Who: DJ Anupi
Location: Fourth & Co
DESI DRAG BRUNCH
Presented by One Minute Saree
Community partner: KhushATX
Sunday March 12, 11 a.m – 1 p.m.
Location: Fourth & Co
THE PARTNERSHIP’S LEADERSHIP PROGRAM
Sunday March 12, 1 – 2 p.m.
Who: Milan Chakrabarty, Pooja Kumar, James A. Mathew, Sid Shah and Anjali Worah
Location: Fourth & Co
HAPPY HOUR
Presented by Catalyst Media
Sunday March 12, 3:30 – 4:30 p.m.
Location: Fourth & Co
SOUTH ASIAN SHORTS
Curated by Jitin Hingorani
Sunday March 12, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Location: Fourth & Co
PREMIERE OF MUSIC VIDEO
What: AAPI feature film based in Austin – Where The Stars Are (A Banskota Productions Film)
Location: Fourth & Co
UNIQUELY SOUTH ASIAN RED CARPET AWARDS
Sunday March 12, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Location: Fourth & Co
OSCAR WATCH PARTY
Sunday March 12, 7 – 10 p.m.
Location: Fourth & Co
DJ SET
Featuring DJ Kiss Nuka
Sunday March 12, 10 p.m. onwards
Location: Fourth & Co
About South Asian House:
South Asian House is an initiative that aims to connect a thriving community of thought leaders from various sectors in the business, tech, film, television, fashion, music and theater industries in seven different South Asian countries including Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Pakistan, Maldives, Nepal and Sri Lanka. The initiative was created by veteran producers, curators, and programmers Rohi Mirza Pandya (Box Office Guru Media), Jitin Hingorani (Jingo Media), and Kirtana Banskota (Banskota Productions). For more information on South By Southwest’s first ever South Asian House please see here.
