Overview Variety programs its own events inside SXSW in Austin, and in 2026 they ran from a full-day True Crime Summit open to every festival badgeholder, with Nancy Grace giving the keynote and MrBallen in a fireside chat, to a cover party for Keke Palmer hours after the world premiere of I Love Boosters. That week also held a creator podcast brunch with Google TV, and the Palmer cover marked Variety's first SXSW issue. SXSW started in Austin in 1987; the Austin Convention Center began a rebuild in 2025, and from 2026 the festival spread across venues in and around downtown. On site The summit ran as a day of panels: Investigation Discovery's Docbuster producers, investigative reporters including Natalie Morales of 48 Hours, a business-of-true-crime session with Sony Music, Audible and Inside Edition, Rider Strong on his podcast The Red Weather, and filmmakers with true crime titles premiering at the festival. The 2026 brunch program opened with a Strictly Business conversation and held the first Variety 10 Creators to Watch roundtable. At the 2025 Podcasting Brunch, the first live taping of Variety's Awards Circuit podcast, guests could record their own soundbites. In 2024 Variety's Power of Comedy played ACL Live as part of the official SXSW Comedy lineup. Audience The summit and Power of Comedy were open to SXSW badgeholders, and Power of Comedy also sold tickets to people without badges. Variety pitched the summit at connecting fans of the genre with its creators and experts. The brunches and the cover party ran by invitation. Talent and Influencers Power of Comedy in 2024 honored Samantha Bee, presented by Brooke Shields, Hannah Einbinder, presented by Jean Smart, John Leguizamo, Nick Kroll and Andrew Rannells, Pamela Adlon, Lilly Singh and Cazzie David. Sean Evans of Hot Ones, Rhett and Link of Good Mythical Morning and Marques Brownlee headlined the 2025 brunch. The 2026 creator roundtable had Sabrina Brier, Mina Le, Eric Sedeño, Julian Shapiro-Barnum and Vinny Thomas, and the cover party celebrated Palmer with Boots Riley and the film's cast. Track record Power of Comedy moved to a much larger venue in 2024 after its 2023 SXSW edition, Variety said. The True Crime Summit ran for the first time in 2026, and Variety published takeaways from its panels afterward. Brand presence Each event takes one presenting partner, who is often on the program. Investigation Discovery presented the summit and its president, Jason Sarlanis, joined the panel on its Docbuster strategy, and SimpliSafe's chief product officer led a session on home security. Google TV presented the 2026 brunch, with a Google content partnerships head in the opening conversation; YouTube presented the 2025 brunch; Neon presented the cover party; Wells Fargo and Liquid Death were official partners of Power of Comedy in 2024.