SXSW Community Service Awards Recognition: Vision Maker Media

Event ID: OE46534

Sat, Mar 14, 2026 | 7:15 PM - 7:30 PM

Venue: Salon 1-4 (JW Marriott)

View on Official SXSW

Summary

The SXSW Community Service Awards celebrate leaders and non-profit organizations from Austin and around the world who work tirelessly to improve the standing of the specific groups and causes that they serve. Francene Blythe-Lewis currently serves as President and CEO of Vision Maker Media (VMM), the longest-running Native American media organization, and a cornerstone of Indigenous public broadcasting. As CEO, Blythe-Lewis is an established executive producer on award-winning documentaries and series, including Almost an Island, Searching for Sequoyah, IndigiGenius, Roots of Comedy with Jesus Trejo, Without Arrows, The Bears on Pine Ridge, and She Cried That Day. She emphasizes expanding the thematic range and contemporary visibility of Native stories in public media. Previously, Blythe-Lewis served as Director of Programs at the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and as Director of National Geographic’s All Roads Film Project, where she redirected significant resources toward Indigenous filmmakers whereby cultivating long-term media careers for many that she supported worldwide. She has held visionary leadership roles at the Smithsonian Institution, and her professional impact is defined by building durable Indigenous media infrastructure—ensuring Native stories are created by Native people, supported by sustainable systems, and shared nationally with audiences and for posterity.

Raw Event JSON

Large nested arrays are compacted for page readability. Full payload remains in dataset files.

Open JSON payload
{
  "id": "OE46534",
  "track": null,
  "focus_area": null,
  "category": "Special Event",
  "event_id": "OE46534",
  "event_type": "special_event",
  "format": "Special Event",
  "genre": null,
  "subgenre": null,
  "name": "SXSW Community Service Awards Recognition: Vision Maker Media",
  "presented_by": null,
  "publish_at": "2026-02-10T10:50:00.000-06:00",
  "reservable": false,
  "reservable_id": null,
  "reserved": false,
  "date": "2026-03-14",
  "end_time": "2026-03-14T14:30:00.000-05:00",
  "start_time": "2026-03-14T14:15:00.000-05:00",
  "message": null,
  "image": null,
  "credentials": [
    {
      "name": "Music Badge",
      "type": "music"
    },
    {
      "name": "Platinum Badge",
      "type": "platinum"
    },
    {
      "name": "Innovation Badge",
      "type": "innovation"
    },
    {
      "name": "Film & TV Badge",
      "type": "filmtv"
    }
  ],
  "contributors": [],
  "venue": {
    "accessible": false,
    "age_policy": null,
    "floor": null,
    "id": "V2027",
    "indoor_outdoor": null,
    "name": "Salon 1-4",
    "parent_id": "V0403",
    "parent_venue_name": "JW Marriott",
    "venue_entry_info": null,
    "formats": null,
    "location": {
      "address": "110 E 2nd St.",
      "lat_lon": [
        30.2645713,
        -97.743198
      ],
      "city": "Austin",
      "postal_code": "78701",
      "state": "TX",
      "name": "JW Marriott"
    },
    "root": {
      "accessible": null,
      "age_policy": null,
      "floor": null,
      "id": "V0403",
      "indoor_outdoor": null,
      "name": "JW Marriott",
      "parent_id": null,
      "parent_venue_name": null,
      "venue_entry_info": null,
      "formats": null
    },
    "events": "[omitted 5 venue events]"
  },
  "description": null,
  "accessibility": [],
  "accessible_venue": false,
  "add_bcl_url": false,
  "add_slido": false,
  "age_policy": null,
  "american_sign_language": false,
  "apple_url": null,
  "audio_description": false,
  "caption_url": null,
  "closed_captioned": false,
  "cpe_credit": false,
  "has_subtitles": false,
  "hash_tags": [],
  "high_sensory_experience": false,
  "live": false,
  "long_description": "The SXSW Community Service Awards celebrate leaders and non-profit organizations from Austin and around the world who work tirelessly to improve the standing of the specific groups and causes that they serve.\r\rFrancene Blythe-Lewis currently serves as President and CEO of Vision Maker Media (VMM), the longest-running Native American media organization, and a cornerstone of Indigenous public broadcasting. As CEO, Blythe-Lewis is an established executive producer on award-winning documentaries and series, including Almost an Island, Searching for Sequoyah, IndigiGenius, Roots of Comedy with Jesus Trejo, Without Arrows, The Bears on Pine Ridge, and She Cried That Day. She emphasizes expanding the thematic range and contemporary visibility of Native stories in public media. Previously, Blythe-Lewis served as Director of Programs at the Native Arts and Cultures Foundation and as Director of National Geographic’s All Roads Film Project, where she redirected significant resources toward Indigenous filmmakers whereby cultivating long-term media careers for many that she supported worldwide. She has held visionary leadership roles at the Smithsonian Institution, and her professional impact is defined by building durable Indigenous media infrastructure—ensuring Native stories are created by Native people, supported by sustainable systems, and shared nationally with audiences and for posterity.",
  "meeting_url": null,
  "meeting_url_live": false,
  "mentorly_url": null,
  "mobile_audio_url": null,
  "open_captioned": false,
  "playlist_tag": null,
  "rebroadcast": false,
  "recommended_ids": [],
  "search_conversions": null,
  "short_program": false,
  "slido_url": null,
  "sort": "SXSW COMMUNITY SERVICE AWARDS RECOGNITION: VISION MAKER MEDIA",
  "source": "Affiliate",
  "squad_up_url": null,
  "stream_embed": null,
  "stream_id": null,
  "stream_url": null,
  "strobe_warning": false,
  "subdiscipline": null,
  "summit": null,
  "summit_display_name": null,
  "tags": [],
  "talent_attending": null,
  "title_only": false,
  "track_display_name": null,
  "trailer_id": null,
  "trailer_url": null,
  "video_on_demand": null,
  "vimeo_id": null,
  "vod": false,
  "xr_project_type": null,
  "youtube_id": null,
  "related_sales_client": null
}