Wednesday, March 4, 2020

Amazon Studios Cancels SXSW Plans

Amazon Studios, the content production arm of Amazon--which has most of its operations in the Los Angeles area--has cancelled its plans to attend next week's SXSW, over concerns of the novel coronavirus outbreak which is making its way into the United States. According to Variety, the company has dropped plans for two screenings and panels, and consumer marketing. The cancellation comes as a diagnosed case of the deadly disease was confirmed in an employee at Amazon's headquarters on Tuesday, not far from the center of the outbreak in the United States, in Kirkland, Washington, where a nursing home has been linked to multiple deaths. Washington State--home of Amazon--has seen nine deaths so far from the virus, which originated in Wuhan, China sometime in December. Amazon's exit follows a withdrawal by both Facebook and Twitter from participating in the annual conference.