SXSW Director of Film
SXSW Online March 16-20, 2021

Daily SXSW Film Club Hangouts
Tue 3/16 - Sat 3/20 @ 7-8pm CT

Daily SXSW Conference Hangouts
Tue 3/16 - Sat 3/20 @ 5-7pm CT


Responsible for the vision, programming, and 
execution of the SXSW Film Festival and the film and episodic 
focused content within the SXSW Conference. Before joining 
SXSW for the 2009 event, Janet spent over 30 years championing 
independent films and filmmakers in a variety of roles including 
exhibitor, producer’s rep, executive producer, and segment 
director of the IFC cable TV series Split Screen. She appears in 
Steve James's Documentary, Reel Paradise, and Andrew 
Bujaski’s Beeswax. She loved curating In The Dark: Filmmakers 
Illuminate, Stories from the Film World for The Moth in 2001.
Pierson made The Guardian’s Film Power 100 list in 2010 and 
2013’s Indiewire Influencers. She regularly serves on panels and 
juries for other festivals and agencies such as the NEA, ITVS, BFI, 
and Creative Capital. She is currently a member of the Austin Film
Society Advisory Board and UT Press Advisory Board.
Many of the films and careers nurtured by Pierson are highlighted 
here:https://www.sxsw.com/tag/sxsw-film-25/ and 
here: https://www.sxsw.com/tag/film-alumni-stories/


Tuesday, March 16-Sat March 20
7-8pm: SXSW Film Club Hangout