The Power of “Yet” As many dream about the future, there are those building it in the present. BY HALEY NOBLE
T
echnology has become an ever-changing, ever-improving form of study and practice in today’s world. We’ve seen things like the iPod evolve into the iPhone, standard vehicles evolve into selfdriving cars and on-screen video games made into virtual reality experiences. It’s a fast-paced industry that students and educators have tapped into to look forward into what’s big, what’s next and what they can do with it when given spaces and time to focus. Two students at UT Austin’s Texas Immersive Institute (TXI) were recently nominated for the 2023 Yugo British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) Student Awards shortlist for their immersive projects. These projects allow students to combine technology and design to create a showcase. Graduate students Brynn Jorgenson and Madison Phelan were each given this opportunity by joining TXI at UT, a program that allows them to look toward the future and where they are given the tools to do so. “TXI is one of the reasons I went to UT Austin,” Jorgenson says. “It’s this wonderful intersection of technology, creativity and storytelling. Being able to think about new media spaces was really important to me.” TXI students are given the creative freedom to apply their personal skills and interests to their work with the program. “I loved being able to connect with audiences and build something out of that,” Phelan expresses. “I was able to marry the two backgrounds I have studied in my undergrad with Texas immersive.” Both students were the creative directors for their projects, Jorgenson’s entitled “The In Between” and Phelan’s, “Roses of the Rubble.” Their direction, along with the help of fellow students, actors and educators, earned them both a spot on the BAFTA shortlist. To receive these nominations came as shocking yet thrilling news.
40 | AUSTIN WOMAN | AUGUST 2023