Showtime is taking the “south” in South by Southwest literally as it prepares to descend on Austin’s annual pop-culture fest for the sixth consecutive year, featuring three shows that are all based in rough south sides: The Chi and Shameless, set in Chicago, and SMILF, set in Boston.

“South by Southwest offers a high concentration of really important targeted audience,” says Don Buckley, CMO, Showtime Networks. “People who go to SXSW tend to be hyper social in terms of how they share their experiences on social platforms. And it’s a subscriber acquisition opportunity as well, so we’re going there to proudly showcase some of our key shows.”

To kick things off, on Monday, March 12, The Chi creator and executive producer Lena Waithe will appear on a panel about the show with executive producer Common and actors Jason Mitchell and Jacob Lattimore.

“The Chi is our best premiering show since Billions,” says Buckley. “We want to keep the momentum going.”

The Chi premiered on Showtime on January 7, 2018, and it has been renewed for season two.

The network will then hang out in Austin from March 15-17, headquartered for the third year in a row at Clive Bar, renamed Showtime House for the weekend, on the city’s famed Rainey Street, home of bars, clubs and restaurants galore.

Each day of the weekend will feature a different show and accompanying musical acts.

On Thursday, March 15, The Showtime House will showcase SMILF, created by, written, directed and starring Frankie Shaw as a single mom from Boston’s Southie neighborhood. A diverse line-up of female-fronted bands — including teenage indie rocker Snail Mail and experimental violinist and vocalist Sudan Archives — will perform. Shaw be on hand to introduce headliner Princess Nokia, whose music has been featured in the Golden Globe-nominated series.

On Friday, March 16, The Chi will takeover the house, with food served from South Side staple Harold’s Chicken Shack as well as a custom sneaker gallery and Chicago graffiti art. Chicago-based Joey Purp will perform, along with Lee Fields & the Expressions, whose music appears on the show. Run-DMC’s Darryl DMC McDaniels will headline the evening, introduced by Lattimore.

On Saturday, March 17, also known as St. Patrick’s Day, Showtime will celebrate Shameless, which follows a dysfunctional family, the Gallaghers, and stars William H. Macy as the family’s alcoholic patriarch, Frank. The series is Showtime’s longest-running ever, having been renewed for a ninth season.

Shameless stars Shanola Hampton and Steve Howey will make special appearances at the house as bartenders, while musical acts such as Low Cut Connie, Tank and the Bangas and headliners Wavves will perform.

Across all three days, pop-culture commentators Betches will set up shop at The Showtime House, offering a custom “Basic Betch” cocktail, free swag and live social-media commentary, while posting across social media.

While all-day parties will be going on at The Showtime House, the network also is papering over Austin’s buses and bikes as well as again sponsoring the SXSW Go app where users can sign up for a free trial of Showtime’s streaming service. Besides the app, Showtime is the official sponsor of the festival’s buses and bags.

“There’s an ecosystem that exists down in Austin during SXSW and we’re trying to check off as many components of the eco-system that we can,” says Buckley.

Throughout SXSW, art inspired by Showtime series will plaster the buses and appear at more than 60 bike-share locations across the city. Each poster is an interpretation of a show from Austin-based art collective Mondo and their featured artist Oliver Barrett.

Finally, Showtime is one of two presenting sponsors of the official SXSW Snapchat filter.

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