Kiwi stars make a splash at SXSW festival

Kiwi Stefania LaVie Owen with Isla Fisher at the premiere of The Beach Bum at SXSW in Austin, Texas. Photo / Getty Images

It's been a big week for Kiwis at the South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference in Austin Texas.

SXSW celebrates the convergence of the interactive, film and music industries. Taika Waititi and Jemaine Clement were there, as was young Kiwi actress Stefania LaVie Owen. Events maestro Hamish Pinkham of Rhythm and Vines fame made his annual pilgrimage to find the best new things in popular culture, while PR power house Gemma Ross was there to network with her client, the dating app, Bumble.

Waititi and Clement were there as executive producers of the US TV version of their 2014 Kiwi movie What We Do in the Shadows. Waititi addressed the crowd last Friday night saying: "This is going to be one for the ages," ahead of the screening of the pilot episode for the new series.

Jemaine Clement (left) and Taika Waititi. Photo / Jason Oxenham

He may be right. Entertainment press have widely praised the mockumentary as being true to the original's fresh take on vampire culture, with Waititi and Clement's dry sense of humour staying blood-suckingly true — all this taking place with new jokes and plots, on New York's Staten Island instead of Wellington. The show will screen on SoHo 2 from March 28th.

LaVie Owen, 21, famous for her roles in The Lovely Bones and the Sex and the City spin-off, The Carrie Diaries, shone on the red carpet with co-stars for the premiere of her new movie, Beach Bum.

The film stars Matthew McConaughey, Snoop Dogg and Isla Fisher, in a star-studded cast including Zac Efron, Martin Lawrence and Jonah Hill. McConaughey plays Moondog, an uber-wealthy pothead and the unofficial poet laureate of the Florida Keys.

Fisher plays his wife Minnie and LaVie Owen plays Heather, his soon-to-be-married daughter. The movie is out on March 27.

LaVie Owen's acting coach was legend Miranda Harcourt and she is managed in NZ by Imogen Johnson, both of whom have congratulated her on the movie.

LaVie Owen is currently filming in the new Netflix series Messiah.