Watch SXSW shorts for free courtesy of new Mailchimp platform #SupportTheShorts

Mailchimp has teamed up with distributor Oscilloscope Laboratories to provide a “digital home” for the slate of short films that were due to be shown at SXSW 2020, before the Austin festival was cancelled due to the ongoing Coronavirus pandemic. Designed by New York-based studio Code and Theory, #SupportTheShorts can be accessed though Mailchimp's streaming platform, Mailchimp Presents, here for free.

For many filmmakers, getting their work shown at SXSW is a serious career goal, with showcases often leading to films getting picked up for further festival screenings and commissions. Because the festival had to be cancelled this year, many filmmakers that had been accepted into the programme missed out on the opportunity to show their hard work to top industry movers.

Code and Theory had just a week to design and build the site, inventing five iterations in that time before selecting the final design. Sarita Alami, director of programming at Mailchimp Studios explains in a statement about the project: “We wanted to get the films up as quickly as possible, so the timeline we came to Code and Theory with was outrageous. But, one of the amazing things about this frightening and uncertain moment we’re living in is that people seem really eager to help each other solve problems creatively.”

Code and Theory’s approach was to let the films shine, so the team chose a “minimal, brutalist aesthetic” with “remixed core brand elements allowing viewers to dive right in, says Katie Potochney, senior director of brand design at Mailchimp. “The rawness of the site also represents the speed at which the teams worked to get these films online to support these creative filmmakers,” Potochney adds. The design mixes sparse sans serif typography with stills from the films, and uses Mailchimp’s bold Cavendish Yellow and Peppercorn (black) colour palette.

Chris Anderson, Code and Theory’s senior frontend developer says, “Our team carried that new project buzz through the entire process, which made this work a lot of fun. We’ve all watched this evolve daily, and Mailchimp was extremely flexible in letting us just go for it.” CTO Dave Dicamillo adds, “In these difficult times, we’re grateful for the opportunity to help bring awareness to small filmmakers, and use our skills at Code and Theory to quickly launch a site that will do just that.”