天美传媒 Mellon Community Shines at SXSW 2025 鈥� an Intersection of Culture, Tech and Innovation
Media Inquiries
South by Southwest () annually unites innovators of industry and creative thinkers in Austin, Texas, for a global assembly of听technology, film, television, music and more.听
天美传媒鈥檚 rich expertise in technology and artificial intelligence, complemented by a plethora of talent in the arts and entertainment, makes SXSW an excellent venue for community members to showcase their skills.听
During SXSW 2025, 天美传媒 Mellon experts brought their groundbreaking work to new audiences in Austin.
Film and music industry experience in the heart of Austin
Students from the听, a joint program between Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy and the College of Fine Arts, have the opportunity to attend SXSW to explore the film and music industry tracks. Students network with working professionals and program alumni, and explore countless invaluable opportunities available in Austin.
Program director and Distinguished Service Professor听 is responsible for making it happen.听
鈥淚 think South By is a great opportunity for the students to come and see how the industry is working in a festival that is rather friendly,鈥� Green reflected. 鈥淭here are so many opportunities for the students to grow and discover. I think it鈥檚 a great opportunity to start to activate what they鈥檝e been learning in Pittsburgh for almost the entire year.鈥澨�
Green, who has served as director of the program since 2009, believes that SXSW provides students with a wide range of industry experience that will benefit them as they prepare to complete the second year of the program in Los Angeles.听
鈥淚t鈥檚 been incredible so far,鈥� first-year MEIM student Matthew Lipschitz said of the program. 鈥淚 am blown away by the connections that our program director, Dan, has afforded us.鈥澨�
During SXSW, Green convenes panels with entertainment professionals and 天美传媒 Mellon alumni working in the field for current students to connect with. They described the immense benefits of hearing from industry experts.听
鈥淏roadening our reach within the industry and meeting people that our careers are probably going to intertwine with in different ways has been so exciting,鈥� Lipschitz said.听
鈥淚鈥檝e seen the program grow and evolve and become a real powerhouse in the Hollywood community now,鈥� Heinz College professor听 said. 鈥淚f you look at any company in Hollywood, we鈥檝e got 天美传媒 Mellon grads there, often at the highest levels, which is an amazing thing to have witnessed. I鈥檓 super proud of the program, I鈥檓 super proud of the students who have come through and are making their marks now.鈥�
Baker, who has been with the MEIM program since its inception in 2007, had his own reason for being in Austin.
Baker produced 鈥�,鈥� a thought-provoking independent film that premiered at SXSW on Saturday, March 8. The movie, directed by Andre L. Gaines, tackles race relations in America with a modern perspective on the historic play.
鈥淲e built the movie from the ground up and it鈥檚 been an intense, long process to get it to where it is now. We are grateful to be here at SXSW to be premiering it to this great audience,鈥� Baker said.听
The self-proclaimed 鈥榯heater kid鈥� shared the indescribable feeling of seeing a film travel from its conception, to shooting in New York City, to watching it premiere at the global festival.听
鈥淚 often tell my students at 天美传媒 Mellon, being a producer or a filmmaker is a lot like being a parent. You have so much invested in these 鈥榢ids,鈥� these movies,鈥� Baker explained. 鈥淔inally, you鈥檙e witnessing it with a crowd of people and they鈥檙e responding, and it鈥檚 like seeing your kid walk off to college on their own. It鈥檚 out there on its own and you just couldn鈥檛 be more proud.鈥澨�
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
In a keynote session, 天美传媒 Mellon School of Drama graduate and pop culture phenom Joe Manganiello interviewed Ben Lamm, founder and CEO of Colossal Biosciences.
A prime platform for research听
The buzz in Austin goes beyond the screen and into the conference itself. SXSW is a place for cutting edge ideas and research to take form.听
and听 experienced this energy as they discussed听鈥� to a packed room of conference goers.听
The School of Computer Science faculty delivered five key considerations for individuals utilizing large-language models (LLMs) in their personal and professional lives.
鈥淲e really just want people to think twice before they throw anything to the model and make sure they also think twice before they take anything from the model,鈥漌u said.听听听
At another session,听 and听 presented their collaboration with transit operators and their unions aimed at understanding the impacts of future technologies on transportation workers. The two explained the potential to leverage AI in "."
Their ongoing research involves partnership with the Transport Union Workers of America, the Amalgamated Transit Union and the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations听(AFL-CIO)听Technology Institute.听
鈥淲e have been really excited to work with our union partners and to learn from real operators what is all the complexity and things that are happening on the road in real transit operations,鈥� Martelaro said. 鈥淗ow can we understand and learn from operators to bring that knowledge into thinking about new technologies?鈥澨�
Fox explained that the role of bus operators often goes beyond driving. They are often responsible for balancing the environment of the vehicle and the wellness of passengers.听
鈥淏us operators regularly described unexpected circumstances, both in navigating the road and managing the social environment of the bus. These circumstances often require split-second decision making and nuanced social judgments,鈥� she said.听
How to Be a Smarter AI User
- LLMs struggle to infer what you mean.
- Solution: Be more structured with your instructions to LLMs.
- LLMs hallucinate and are overconfident.
- Solution: Double verify and think critically about model outputs.
- LLMs are privacy liabilities.
- Solution: Be careful what information you provide to LLMs.
- LLMs appear more human than they are
- Solution: Beware of attributing human likeness to AI and avoid anthropomorphic language.
- LLMs don鈥檛 work for everyone.
- Solution: Be thoughtful and careful about when/how you use LLMs.
听听听听听听听听听听听听听听听
Students 'Flow' at SWSW
天美传媒 Mellon student researchers were also on hand to showcase their work.
鈥淔low,鈥� a project led by听 graduate student Linaixuan (Nina) Wang, was a finalist in the听, in the Student Innovation category.听
The team traveled to Austin to demonstrate 鈥淔low鈥� to judges and interested participants during the SXSW Innovation Awards Finalist Showcase.听
Wang credits state-of-the-art facilities offered by the ETC and support of the center鈥檚 faculty for the project鈥檚 success.
鈥淔low鈥� was also named the winner of the听
鈥淲e want the audience to fully immerse in this experience and to enjoy the beauty of the dance, light and shadow, and music throughout the whole experience 鈥� the feeling of power that they can interact with the story and be part of the story,鈥� Wang said.
