When brands become frats, TV’s takeover, and news from elsewhere

Good morning, South by Southwesterners!

SXSW kicked off in earnest yesterday, and if you took us up on any of our party recommendations, you’re probably in dire need of some Gatorade and breakfast tacos this morning (more on that later).

Most of the keynotes in the festival’s Interactive tract take place today, and after a delayed start, many of the branded lounges will also open. Rainey Street and others have been converted into veritable frat-house rows, but instead of Sigma Alpha Epsilon and Pi Lambda Phi, it’s Facebook, Google and… Peru?

Most of these houses feature free drinks, food, and other goodies, so be sure to swing by early. Hydration will be necessary, as today is likely to be a scorcher, with a high of around 88°F (31°C). Don’t forget your sunscreen, and maybe alternate those Shiner Bocks with pints of water.

What to watch for today

TV and film take the stage. Stars from the big and small screens will grace Austin today. Mother! director Darren Aronofsky is giving a keynote presentation (to be livestreamed). Girls creator Lena Dunham will speak on authenticity and media (🙄). Westworld‘s showrunners are set to take the stage with cast members Evan Rachel Wood, Thandie Newton, James Marsden, and Jeffrey Wright (to be livestreamed). Black-ish creator Kenya Barris will speak with CNN’s W. Kamau Bell. And indie producer Jason Blum, fresh off the Oscar-acclaimed Get Out, will sit on a panel about the new generation of horror on film, TV, and streaming.

Premieres. SXSW has been the launchpad for comedies that include Bridesmaids, Sausage Party, and Neighbors, so anticipation is high for this year’s buzzy new comedy, Blockers, which premieres at the festival tonight. The movie comes from freshman female director Kay Cannon (known for writing Pitch Perfect), and stars Leslie Mann, Ike Barinholtz, and John Cena.

Crowdsourcing morality. Researchers from MIT and the tech company Unanimous AI will discuss the future of technology and culture at a panel at the JW Marriott. As part of the discussion, audience members will field moral questions around what self-driving cars should do in various situations. Swing by if you want to decide how good or evil tomorrow’s robots are.

Fake News Media. The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates will discuss journalism in the age of Trump during a keynote presentation (to be livestreamed). Coates is also the writer of Marvel’s latest Black Panther comic-book series, and is working on a Captain America series.

Sex & love. International correspondent Christiane Amanpour will discuss her new CNN show, Sex & Love Around the World, with Recode’s Kara Swisher. The Anthony Bourdain-produced series explores the changing global attitudes toward, well, sex and love.

🎉 Party planner 🎉 There’s another heavy night of partying ahead. Some of the shindigs we’re monitoring: Facebook Messenger and iHeartRadio’s silent disco at Garage Bar (9pm), and BuzzFeed and The CW’s “It’s Lit” party (which will apparently be lit). Millennial production company Rooster Teeth is also hosting a party for its new film, Blood Fest, at Speakeasy on Congress Ave (7pm).

⏰ Don’t forget! Daylight Savings Time ends tonight (well, technically 2am Sunday). If you have panels bright and early tomorrow, remember that you’ll be getting an hour’s less sleep. ⏰

What everyone is talking about

Tardy for the party. On Rainey Street, many of the “houses”—bars and restaurants converted into “activations” by brands like AT&T, Bose, Nerdist, and Starz—were running behind schedule on Friday. Case in point: AT&T’s experience for its new show Condor, inspired by 1975 political thriller Three Days of the Condor, ran into some technical difficulties, although it eventually opened to a line of people (ostensibly hoping to be recruited by the CIA). Attendees were also overheard complaining about the SXSW GO app not being updated to reflect the delays.

Yesterday’s highlight reel

Austin felt the Bern. Vermont senator Bernie Sanders spoke with Jake Tapper about the need for respectful political dialogue, Trump’s proposed talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, and the possibility of running again in 2020. Sanders dodged that last question, but said that Americans “are, by and large, not divided.”

“I do not believe that in Texas, or anyplace else, that most people who supported Trump are racists or sexists or xenophobes,” Sanders said. “I think they are people who are hurting, who want real change in the way our government works.”

Bad foodie tech jokes. While many of the activations are as corny as they are high-tech, some of the pitches we’ve received are also… half-baked. A few of our favorites include “Cooking BBQ in the cloud,” “Initial Taco Offering,” and “BBQ as a Service.”

A Quiet Place. The horror thriller, a directorial debut for The Office actor John Krasinski, premiered last night. Lines stretched around the block to get into screenings. A Quiet Place stars Krasinski and his wife Emily Blunt as parents raising two children in silence for fear of a monster that hunts by sound.

“Activation” station

Starz is promoting two of its new shows—Vida and Sweetbitter—at The Starz Sensory House, which has free goodies like champagne bubble gummies, custom scents, and screen-printed shirts tied to each of the five senses.

Nerdist took over Banger’s Beer Garden, which was staged with pinball machines, an artist creating “alter-ego” silhouettes, and live music that included covers of the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song. (Warning: No free drinks.)

Dropbox offered SXSW attendees the opportunity to literally watch paint dry. Its activation was live mural-painting on Cesar Chavez St.

Quartz eats

While we’re in town, the hunt is on for amazing breakfast tacos and barbecue. Yesterday, Mike had the migas tacos from the Veracruz All Natural food truck in east Austin, and they did not disappoint:

Ashley dug the Princess Leia—potato, cheese, and egg on a flour tortilla—at Tyson’s Tacos.

Seen and heard

Overheard by a woman rocking a SXSW tote bag: “It’s all about finding the free stuff.”

Twitter, Facebook, and Pinterest set up shop next door to each other on Rainey Street, but Pinterest’s house far outshines those of its larger competitors. Maybe the social network, which is about 10 times smaller than Facebook, is compensating for something? Or maybe it just has better taste.

Meanwhile, HBO and Showtime are duking it out for attention all over Austin. Both have their names on official SXSW tote bags, and HBO has branded the rickshaws available around town. Showtime is sponsoring Austin’s bike-share system, and focusing most of its promotional efforts on The Chi (currently winding down its first season), Shameless, and Smilf, though we also saw a bus ad for Billions, whose second season premieres March 25.