One bus ride away from UT campus, a week-long event consisting of an engaging network of people, panels and interactive events takes over downtown Austin. Music beams down Congress as people from all over the world, connect through experiences, passions and more. All of that made up the 40th annual South by South West festival.
Austin has been a home to the festival since 1987, where it was first founded as a hub for creatives based in Austin and across the world. According to the SXSW website, the first year it held 700 registrants on its first day, and this year welcomed 309,000 attendees, including in-person and virtual attendees. It’s evolved into a place where industry leaders discuss the future of media, entertainment and technology. The festival also provides an opportunity for UT students to get involved. From attending the festival through an internship or student organization, SXSW serves as a way for many student creatives to grow too.
“The festival really reinforced to me how much I really love journalism and filming content,” UT sophomore Gabriella Comer said. “It (Journalism) is something that I want to do with my life and I’m really proud that I got to go to cover SXSW.”
Comer, a journalism major, attended through a student media organization,Texas Student Television. She serves as a sports coordinator for the TSTV show Good Morning Longhorns. At the festival, she covered a panel with former tennis player, Serena Williams, sports media panels and conducted interviews for the ‘Family Movie’ red carpet.
“I really want to return next year to cover it,” Comer said. “The opportunity to also network with other journalists was very valuable.”
SXSW gives students the opportunity to further explore their passion for careers in film, music, social media and so much more. It can be a way to find new paths for themselves through meaningful conversations with professionals across the world.
“I think it’s so inspiring to meet these people and have genuine conversations from them and get such helpful advice from them,” UT journalism junior, Priyal Talwar said. “I got to have an experience that was an amazing mix of networking and fun. On top of that, I was able to create a bunch of insightful content.”
Talwar attended SXSW through a music badge from her internship at Waterloo Media. She worked the Waterloo Media Day Party during the festival, capturing social media content, and in her free time would seek out panels and interactive events.
“I went to Spotify’s 20th anniversary at Stubbs where one of my favorite country music artists, Ella Langley, was performing,” Talwar said. “She was incredible live. I would’ve never gotten this opportunity if it wasn’t for the South by.”
Through all of the lasting memories and connections shared through covering panels, students also took part in interviewing artists at the festival.
UT freshman Enzo Moscatello interviewed artists like Icy Orange from the United Kingdom, at the festival for her internship at KVRX FM. .
“We had to reach out to the bands and find unique artists across the world,” Moscatello said. “We wanted to speak with smaller international artists to highlight, which is super cool.”
Moscatello has interned for the largest student-run radio station in Austin for almost two semesters.
“With interviewing people for KVRX, I liked seeing how their culture influences their music and getting to see how it definitely influenced the art that they make as a band,” Moscatello said.
With goals of pursuing a career in film, she also appreciates the opportunity to see the world of media from all perspectives.
“Being an RTF major, it is not just about being on set and seeing and making movies,” Moscatello said. “Coming to SXSW allowed me to experience how film is also about digital media as a whole.”
