Emerson Students Explore Film, Media, and Innovation at SXSW

Emersonians are creators and innovators.

And there’s no bigger or better place for convening creative minds from around the world than the annual SXSW Conference & Festivals in Austin, TX.

This year, students and faculty from the School of Communication (SOC), School of Film, Television, and Media Arts (SOF), and student organizations including WEBN and the National Broadcasting Society participated in SXSW—some attending the Innovation Conference, while others covered and participating in the Film & TV Festival, which ran from March 12-18. 

“The intent is for participating students and faculty to explore, observe, and practice the types of thinking and experience that reflect the ‘creative literacy’ that we seek to advance and enhance in the Emerson College curriculum and experience,” said Paul Pegher, director of SOC Operations & Communications. 

Additionally, this year’s festival featured 40 films, shorts, videos, series, and XR experiences that were written, directed, shot, or otherwise brought to life by nearly 60 Emerson alumni. And on March 14, the Alumni Relations Office hosted Emerson@SXSW for Emersonians to connect and celebrate with each other.

Marketing Communications major Samantha Otridge ’26, who participated in the Innovation Conference, looked forward to connecting with professionals in the tech startup world. 

“SXSW has been rewarding, serendipitous, and motivating,” said Otridge. “I set high expectations for SXSW. Over the past few days I’ve had the privilege to network with tech founders, other college students, and executives at some of my favorite brands. This has motivated me to throw myself into my personal projects and I now have a larger network of like-minded individuals I can collaborate with.”

Journalism major Payton Zagacki ’26,  an executive producer for WEBN-TV, valued the chance to apply her journalism training while covering such a large-scale event.

“Attending the festival to cover it gives me that real world experience within my major that I feel Emerson is really known for,” said Zagacki. “When I toured the school, that was a really big selling point for me—the ability to ‘learn on the job.’ Zagacki said she looked forward to attending screenings for upcoming television series debuting at the festival, including Apple TV’s Margo’s Got Money Troubles.

“The festival is really exciting,” said Zagacki. “There is something new to do around every corner and it truly takes over the whole city. The creative energy here is amazing. I really enjoyed all the amazing conversations I  had with filmmakers. I love being able to talk to them about their process and then go watch their film right afterwards.”

Ahead of the festival, Isabel Cravens ’26, SOF student and board president of the student-led National Broadcasting Society (NBS), was excited to attend panels featuring industry legends Steven Spielberg and Larry David.

“It’s a great place for networking. It’s a great place to get funding,” said Cravens. “I’m really excited to see that atmosphere hands-on and with my own eyes rather than talking about it in the classroom. I think you learn the most when you’re in the situation yourself. So I’m really excited to learn more about the festival circuit.” 

Fellow SOF student Samuel Ricot ’27, who serves as an equipment manager for NBS, was also eager to learn from professionals across different creative industries. As a multimedia artist, Ricot hoped SXSW would help him better understand how to combine multiple creative disciplines.

“South by Southwest, which is a celebration not only of just film but of all of these different intersections between mediums, will help me meet a ton of people from different careers and from different creative backgrounds, to be able to take their keynotes or their experiences or the things that they’ve created and kind of form it into a grand synthesis within my own work,” said Ricot.

Ricot said his favorite event at SXSW was attending a screening of Black Zombie, a film that explores how zombies evolved from Haitian culture. 

“[It was] a super important film, especially to me, as someone who was born in Haiti,” said  Ricot. “The world premiere of the film even had the director come in and bring a priest from Haiti to talk about the film. There’s so much to learn from talking with leaders and innovators in this space.”

Back at Emerson in Boston, students have new connections, fresh ideas, and a deeper understanding of how the creative industries operate beyond the classroom.