# EP044 - SXSW Chaos Coordinator w/ Claudette Godfrey

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/doc-walks-7327673/ep044-sxsw-chaos-coordinator-w-claudette-godfrey
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/doc-walks-7327673/ep044-sxsw-chaos-coordinator-w-claudette-godfrey.md
Podcast: [Doc Walks](https://stenobird.com/podcast/doc-walks-7327673)
Published: 2026-03-12T12:00:00+00:00
Episode link: https://docwalkspod.com/ep044-sxsw-chaos-coordinator-w-claudette-godfrey
Audio file: https://traffic.libsyn.com/secure/769d52a5-d399-4750-a0ce-f637076f16a6/DW_EP044_CLAUDETTEGODFREY_FINAL_FIX.mp3?dest-id=4997995
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/doc-walks-7327673/episodes/ep044-sxsw-chaos-coordinator-w-claudette-godfrey
Duration seconds: 3837

## Resource

If you ever wanted to get into the head of a premier festival programmer, this is your chance! Meet SXSW VP of Film & TV, Claudette Godfrey, a self-described Chaos Coordinator and all-around boss. Keith's flyin' solo while Ben's off shooting commercials (allegedly) and you won't want to miss the chance to walk & doc with Claudette today, on the 40th anniversary SXSW kickoff. An ADHD/OCD whirlwind of ideas and observations, Claudette is a trip—and she's ready to talk all things SXSW and highlight this year's best of the fest… But first we'll check-in on Claudette's origin story: native Austinite, UT film student, SX intern in the Matt Dentler days, shorts programmer-extraordinaire under Janet Pierson, and now ascendant head of all things film & television at Austin's far-reaching culture fest. She's got intel to share—everything that's different now that the fest is 7 days instead of 10. She breaks down what actually gets a short film into a festival (pro tip: make an animated or a doc short—there's just a 0.4% acceptance rate for narrative), why docs are getting "more samey by the day," and why the overnight success myth is a comfortable lie filmmakers have been telling themselves since the early days of Quentin Tarantino. All that in preparation for the main event as Claudette rapid-fires through the 2026 doc slate with obvious glee: Sea Monkeys, classified Bigfoot footage, penis injections, NDA whistleblowers, the world's first extinct glacier, and a film about Kentucky weed farmers. Keith confesses he's in development on seven projects and none of them are close to done, so it'll be a few years before he's submitting to the fest. But Claudette supports his idea of making a short… Plus: thoughts on Ben's role as Claudette's film prof; shout out to Trey Edward Schults…

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## Transcript

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